McCanna and Shaffer Shut Down Volcanoes

The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes shut out the Hops on four hits in the opening game of their current four-game series only to be eclipsed in game two.
Hillsboro pitchers Brian Shaffer and Kevin McCanna combined on a two-hit shutout as the Hops defeated the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.

The Hops scored all of their runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Luis Lara and run-scoring groundout by Dan Swain. Ryan Grotjohn had two of Hillsboro's six hits off Volcanoes' starting pitcher Julio Benitez, who became the first Northwest League pitcher to throw a complete game this season.
Shaffer limited the Volcanoes to an infield hit over three innings with one strikeout before giving way to McCanna in the fourth. 
Signed out of the independent Frontier League by the Diamondbacks at the end of July, McCanna has been nothing short of dominant in four NWL appearances. The righthander from The Woodlands, Texas struck out seven batters with one walk and one hit batter and was a pitch away from completing six, no-hit innings for the second time in his Hops tenure, when Logan Baldwin hit a sinking liner to third for an infield hit, putting runners at first and third in the ninth. With the tying runs aboard, McCanna struck out NWL RBI leader Ryan Kirby to end the game, improving to 3-1 on the season. McCanna has not allowed an earned run in 22 1/3 innings pitched in the NWL.
The Hops are now tied with the Boise Hawks atop the NWL South Division standings at 12-13. Salem-Keizer slipped a game back of the division leaders with two games remaining in the series. Hillsboro and Boise will meet six times before the end of the regular season, beginning Aug. 24 at Ron Tonkin Field. Hillsboro sewed up a playoff berth by winning the first-half division championship. The second-half winner will face the Hops in the first round of the playoffs starting Sep. 6 at Tonkin Field.
Mondays game at Salem-Keizer has received national attention and is expected to be played in front of a sellout crowd, with the first pitch coming at 9:35 a.m. After one inning, the game will be halted until the completion of the total eclipse. Keizer, Oregon is within the path of totality and many visitors are expected to be in the area to witness the event. All fans at the ballpark will be provided with eclipse glasses.
Pregame airtime is at 9:05 a.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.