Hornung Homers Late But C's Fall 5-4

VANCOUVER, BC – A three-run homer from Jackson Hornung in the bottom of the ninth brought the Canadians within a run, but the Spokane Indians [Rockies] managed to close out their fifth consecutive win over Vancouver in a 5-4 C’s loss Wednesday night at The Nat.

Trailing 5-1 to start the final frame, consecutive walks put two men aboard with nobody out. After a fly ball was caught for the first out of the stanza, up stepped Hornung. The former Skidmore Thoroughbred – who had already extended his hitting streak to a team-best six games with a second inning single – cracked an 0-2 pitch to dead centre field for the first High-A homer of his career. His blast brought the tying run to the plate, though it proved to be the last time a C’s hitter would reach base when the next two men made outs to end the game.

The C’s started the scoring with a run in the first after Ryan McCarty was hit by a pitch, stole second then scored when the Indians committed two errors on the same play, but the lead was short-lived. Spokane rattled off five consecutive two out hits in the third to score three runs and lead the game the rest of the way. They added a single run in the fifth and a crucial insurance run in the eighth to hand the Canadians the loss.

Hornung paced the offense with his two hits and three RBI. McCarty, Jace Bohrofen and Nick Goodwin reached base twice apiece. On the mound, Justin Kelly and Anders Tolhurst each put up a zero in their respective innings.

Vancouver – now 0-5 against Spokane this year – will try and crack the win column Thursday night. Gates open at 6 p.m. and first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Catch RE/MAX Canadians Baseball on the C’s Broadcast Network – Sportsnet (radio) and Bally Live (MiLB.TV) – or get tickets to the game via CanadiansBaseball.com.