Hops cap first half with win

Published 12:00 am Monday, July 23, 2018

HOPS

Hillsboro 6, VANCOUVER 3

The Hops capped the first half of the Northwest League season on Monday with a win over the Canadians.

The Hops’ 24-14 record is the best in the Class A Northwest League at the season’s midpoint. Hillsboro build an early 5-0 lead and out-hit Vancouver 14-5 in front of 6,413 fans at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia.

All nine Hops’ batters had at least one hit.

The first-half South Division champions, the Hops begin the second half of the season with a three-game home stand against Boise. The games on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday begin at 7 p.m. at Ron Tonkin Field.

Vancouver, which was eliminated from North Division contention on Sunday, finished the first half at 19-19.

Andy Yerzy was 3 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored for Hillsboro. Tra Holmes, Joey Rose and Francis Martinez had two hits apiece. Rose hit two doubles, and Holmes had one double.

The Hops scored twice in the top of the first. Holmes hit a leadoff double and scored on a Yerzy single. Rose doubled, and Francis Martinez followed with an RBI single.

In the top of the second, Jorge Perez hit a two-out triple and scored when Yerzy singled up the middle.

In the third, Jake McCarthy reached on an error, Ryan January singled, and a bunt single by Alex King plated McCarthy. A two-out single by Holmes knocked home January.

Hillsboro added an unearned run in the sixth when Perez reached on an error, went to third on a Yerzy single and scored on a Rose sacrifice fly.

Hunter Steinmetz was 2 for 4 with a triple and a run scored for the Canadians.

Ryan Miller (1-0) pitched a scoreless third inning to get credit for the win. Matt Mercer pitched the first two innings. Josh Green pitched 2 1/3 innings, scattering three hits and two walks for his fourth save.

Vancouver starting pitcher Josh Winckowski went four innings and was touched for 10 hits. Three of the five runs he allowed were earned.

COLLEGE CROSS-COUNTRY/TRACK AND FIELD

Helen Lehman-Winters, the longtime cross-country and track and field head coach at the University of San Francisco, has been hired to help coach distance runners and cross-country teams at Oregon.

Lehman-Winters guided the San Francisco women to second place in the 2017 NCAA cross-country championships. Last fall, the Dons won their sixth West Coast Conference women’s cross-country championship under Lehman-Winters.

She was named WCC women’s cross-country coach of the year six times and twice named WCC men’s cross-country coach of the year.

At Oregon, Lehman-Winters will be a top assistant coach under Robert Johnson. Her title will be associate head coach for cross-country and track and field.

WINTERHAWKS

Portland has signed 16-year-old forward Robbie Fromm-Delorme.

Selected 135th in the 2017 Western Hockey League bantam draft, Fromm-Delorme had a strong performance during the Winterhawks’ 2017 training camp. Mike Johnston, Portland’s VP/GM/coach, said signing Fromm-Delorme was a priority.

WEST COAST LEAGUE

Ryan Ober, who will be a sophomore at Oregon State, was named the WCL Player of the Week for the week ending July 22.

Playing for the Victoria HarbourCats, Ober was 7 for 17 with three home runs, eight RBIs and five runs scored. He is batting .308 through 39 at-bats since joining Victoria on July 3.

COLLEGE GOLF

Concordia has hired John Wurzer to head its men’s and women’s golf programs.

Wurzer comes to Concordia from Long Beach State, where as the assistant men’s golf coach for three years he was responsible for recruiting. He previously worked at USC as director of golf operations and for nine years was the head girls golf coach at Torrence (California) High.