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Everett Takes Fourth Straight Over Hillsboro

Melendez Turns in Four-Hit Performance
June 24, 2023

Hillsboro, OR (June 23, 2023) – The Hops ended the first half of the Northwest League schedule on Thursday, closing a chapter they would like to forget about. The first game of the second half was on Friday at Ron Tonkin Field in front of a crowd of 5,000 and

Hillsboro, OR (June 23, 2023) – The Hops ended the first half of the Northwest League schedule on Thursday, closing a chapter they would like to forget about. The first game of the second half was on Friday at Ron Tonkin Field in front of a crowd of 5,000 and the Hops were still stuck in first half form, falling to Everett 10-6. Ivan Melendez had a four-hit game, the first of his professional career, with three of the hits being for extra-bases.

Hillsboro scored first against Brandon Schaeffer in the first on Ivan Melendez’s 14th home run of the season. Melendez is just one home run short of A.J. Vukovich’s single season franchise record of 15.

Spencer Giesting labored in the second inning, throwing 30 pitches and walking three batters. The AquaSox plated three runs on an RBI single by Ben Ramirez, a wild pitch and sacrifice fly by Blake Rambusch.

Jesus Valdez led off the bottom of the frame with a triple, his third of the year, but was stranded to end the inning.

Everett made it 4-1 in the third as the former USC Trojan, Ben Ramirez had another RBI single.

Spencer Giesting pitched four innings, allowing four hits, four earned runs and four walks while striking out seven over 89 pitches.

Everett would score three runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Logan Clayton replaced Giesting and allowed three runs on four hits and an error. There were two extra-base hits in the inning by Blake Rambusch and Harry Ford and a fielding error by Junior Franco, making it 7-1.

Hillsboro responded with three runs of their own in the bottom half, on three hits and three AquaSox errors. Ivan Melendez again had the big hit in the inning, a double for his third hit of the game. He came in to score on a fielding error by Ben Ramirez, bringing the Hops to within three.

Three was the magic number for Everett, as they once again put up a three-spot in the sixth. All three runs scored on a singular play, a wild pitch and two throwing errors with the bases loaded to clear the bases.

Schaeffer was still on the bump in the sixth and Jesus Valdez hit his second of three extra-base hits in the game. The Hops scratched across a run on a single by S.P. Chen, bringing the score to 10-5. Schaeffer left the game after the sixth, allowing eight hits and four earned runs, keeping his season ERA at 2.59.

The Everett bullpen again was solid, as Nunez and Curvelo combined for three effective innings to end the game.

Each team had four errors in the game, with Everett outhitting the Hops 12-11. The 10-6 final gave Everett their fourth straight win over the Hops.

Game five of the series will be on Saturday at Ron Tonkin Field. The pregame show will start at 6:50 with first pitch at 7:05 on Rip City Radio 620 and Bally Live.