The Vancouver Canadians slipped past the Hillsboro Hops 6-5 at Nat Bailey Stadium on Friday.
The Canadians got to Hops starter Logan Clayton for the first run of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Dylan Rock doubled to left field after Juan Franco could not make a diving catch in left-center. Robert Brooks doubled over the head of Hops center fielder Jack Hurley to drive in Rock.
The Hops tied it up in the top of the fifth against C’s starter Connor O’Halloran. A leadoff single to left by Kevin Sim got to second on a wild pitch, made it to third on a fly out to right by Gavin Logan and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Cole Roberts.
Hillsboro would take its first lead in the top of the sixth. A one-out walk to Gavin Conticello was in the middle of two fine defensive plays for the C’s. Jamari Baylor was able to throw out Jean Walters from third and Jeff Wehler snared a liner at second base by Hurley. The C’s defence would betray them when a wild pitch and a Brooks throwing error from behind the plate allowed Walters to get all the way to third. Junior Franco singled up the middle to drive in Walters to give Hillsboro a 2-1 lead.
Vancouver got Clayton out of the game when Nick Goodwin led off with a single to left field. Landon Sims walked the first two batters he faced in Je’Von Ward and Wehler. A one-out sac fly to right field by Brooks after falling behind 0-2 in the count and facing a heater of 98 miles per hour drove in Goodwin for the tying run. A passed ball by Logan allowed Ward to race home to put the C’s up 3-2. A Jommer Hernández walk led to another Hillsboro pitching change as Zane Russell entered the game. Baylor fell behind in the count at 0-2 but had to leave the game after what may have been a hand or wrist issue. Jean Arnaez was brought in to pinch-hit but he struck out swinging to end the inning.
The C’s lead would disappear quickly in the top of the seventh when Sim rudely greeted Conor Larkin with a leadoff home run to left-center field. Larkin struck out Logan and was an out away from getting out of the inning but he walked Juan Corniel before Walters lined a ball off Larkin’s leg and made it to first base for a single. Lefty Naswell Paulino replaced Larkin and struck out Conticello on three straight pitches to strand Corniel and Walters and keep the game tied.
Vancouver got a leadoff walk from Jace Bohrofen in the bottom of the seventh off Russell. Ward extended the inning with a two-out base hit to right that nearly hit Bohrofen. Wehler fell behind in the count at 0-2 before pulling a 1-2 pitch into the seating area of the C’s bullpen in left field to give Vancouver a 6-3 lead.
The Hops would give the C’s a run for the money in the ninth. Paulino issued a couple of one-out walks to Logan and Roberts and he left the game in favour of Johnathan Lavallee. Pinch-hitter Christian Cerda struck out on three pitches for the second out but a Walters single to left and a Conticello base rap to right drove in Logan and Roberts respectively to make it a one-run game. Conticello would steal second to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position but Lavallee struck out Hurley on a 3-2 pitch to put the Hops away.
C-Notes
O’Halloran had a shaky start by missing the strike zone by a good margin on his first fourth pitches of the game to walk Walter. The Mississauga, Ontario native battled back to strike out Conticello and Hurley on the way to a scoreless first inning.
The second inning saw O’Halloran defend himself after snaring a liner that got on him quickly from Peña to start the inning. The lefty then dispatched Sim and Logan with consecutive strikeouts to conclude a perfect frame.
Walters singled to right that just stayed fair down the line with two away in the third but O’Halloran ended the inning by striking out Conticello. In the top of the fourth, O’Halloran only had to face three hitters. A Franco one-out single to center field was nullified when Peña grounded out to second. Wehler put the tag on Franco before completing the inning-ending 4-3 double play.
The winning pitcher was Paulino who got five outs, including a striking out of the side by fanning Hurley and Peña looking and Franco swinging in a perfect eighth inning.
Ward and Wehler had two-out singles to right field in the fourth inning to set a first-and-third situation but Clayton got Rock to fly out to left.
The C’s put two more runners on base in the fifth when Ward made it to first base on a two-out throwing error by Corniel at short. Bohrofen drew a walk and he and Ward advanced a base on a wild pitch. They were left on base when Peyton Williams grounded out to first.
Before Hernández drew his walk in the sixth, he bailed out Wehler from a pickoff at first base by calling timeout. Sims was able to pick off a frustrated Wehler who spiked his helmet to the ground but it did not count.
The C’s and Hops play again on Friday with Carson Pierce getting the start for Vancouver. Game time is 1:05 p.m. and it will be on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV with Tyler Zickel and Chris Georges on the call.
Radar Gun Rundown
Connor O’Halloran was at 75-92 miles per hour with strikeouts at 90, 90, 89, 89, 83. Conor Larkin was at 85 with a strikeout at 97. Naswell Paulino had punchouts of 78, 85 and 77 and was up to 91. Johnathan Lavallee was at 87-98 with a K of 95.
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