Outfielder Angel Ortiz (3) and outfielder Slade Caldwell (5) of the Hillsboro Hops celebrate as the Hops defeat the Eugene Emeralds 7-1 at Hillsboro Ballpark on June 13, 2025. The Hops split their six-game set with Eugene this past week. (John Lariviere/News Times)

It ended in a tie, but that tie felt pretty good to the Hops who dropped the first three of their six game series with Eugene before winning the last three and evening things with their rival to the south.

Unfortunately for Hillsboro, the three losses combined with the red-hot Vancouver Canadians’ sweep of Spokane resulted in them losing their place atop the Northwest League standings.

The Canadians have now won 10 straight games and lead the Hops by two games with just three games remaining in the season’s first half.

The Hops – who lead the league in batting average – struggled mightily against the Ems, hitting just .222 for the week. But while the minimal average was out of the ordinary, their dearth of power was more of the same.

Hillsboro hit two home runs against Eugene, bringing their season total to just 35 in 63 games – 55 behind leader Everett and 13 behind their nearest competitor, Eugene.

Individually, only one Hop (Ben McLaughlin) hit better than .300 during the week’s six games, and only three bettered .250.

McLaughlin and Ryan Waldschmidt had the team’s two home runs.

Eighteen-year-old Slade Caldwell made his Hillsboro debut against Eugene after being called up from Low-A Visalia on Monday. The Diamondbacks’ 2024 first round pick played in all six games against the Ems and had four hits, an RBI and a couple stolen bases.

Hop starting pitchers–outside of Lorenzo Encarnacion and Daniel Nunez who were roughed up–were solid over the course of the week, with the other four combining to allow four earned runs over 23.2 innings

Hillsboro travels to Tri-City for six games with the Dust Devils this week, needing to pick up two games on Vancouver and a game on Everett over the series’ first three games in order to catch the Canadians for the first-half crown.

Vancouver travels to Eugene this week, while Everett is at Spokane.

Last week’s organizational news and notes…Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez hit .294 with three home runs in five games…Former Oregon Duck pitcher Ryne Nelson pitched five shutout innings in a start for the DBacks…Former Hop Blaze Alexander hit .409 with four home runs and 13 RBI, and three stolen bases in five games with Triple-A Reno…Trey Mancini was 12-for-20 with two home runs and nine RBI with Reno…The Reno Aces hit .360 with 15 home runs as a team over six games…Third baseman Ruben Santana hit .381 with six RBI over six games with Low-A Visalia…Junior Sanchez allowed just four hits in 5.2 shutout innings in a start with Visalia.

Below is a recap of last week’s games:

June 10 – Eugene 9, Hillsboro 6

On a night highlighted by the debut of 18-year-old Slade Caldwell’s Hillsboro debut, it was Eugene that stole the show, defeating the Hops 9-6 on Tuesday night.

The Emeralds broke open a tie game with four runs in the seventh inning, kicked-off by a Charlie Szykowny two-run home run, then held on over the remainder of the game to take the first of the two team’s six games this week.

Eugene took an early 4-1 lead, but watched Hillsboro tie the game with a run in the second inning and two more in the third, capped by a Kenny Castillo RBI double.

Both starters, Hillsboro’s Daniel Castillo and the Ems’ Brayan Palencia, allowed four runs in four innings.

Reliever Eli Saul took the loss for the Hops, allowing four earned in just 0.1 innings of work.

Eugene outhit Hillsboro 14-9 and had five players record two hits, including Bo Davidson who homered and drove in four runs.

Hillsboro had three players tally multiple hits, led by Ryan Waldschmidt who was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored.

Waldschmidt is batting .400 with three home runs over his last five games.

Caldwell, the No. 2-ranked prospect in the Diamondbacks’ organization, impressed in his Hillsboro debut after being called up from Low-A Visalia, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a stolen base.

June 11 – Eugene 7, Hillsboro 2

Hillsboro has been atop the Northwest League standings since day-3 of the 2025 season, but that stay is over as the Hops fell for the second straight time to Eugene, 7-2, on Wednesday.

The loss was the fourth straight overall for the Hops who now sit a game behind both Vancouver and Everett with eight games remaining in the season’s first half.

Despite eight hits, Hillsboro managed just the two runs, only one of which came off of Eugene starting pitcher Shane Rademacher who gave up just six hits while striking out four and walking none in seven innings.

Hops starter Casey Anderson too was good, allowing two earned runs on just five hits in 6.2 innings of work. But Hillsboro was again done-in by their bullpen which allowed three runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth.

The game was tied 1-1 before Cole Foster gave the Ems a 2-1 lead with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Charlie Szykowny, and Eugene put things away in the eighth when Luke Shliger cleared the bases with double to right that scored Szykowny, Bo Davidson and James Tibbs III.

Tibbs III and Szykowny had two hits apiece for the Ems, while Ryan Waldschmidt led the Hops, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

June 12 – Eugene 1, Hillsboro 0

For quite some time now, it’s pitching that’s been the problem for the Hops. But on a night when their pitchers came to play, the bats didn’t, and the result was a 1-0 loss to Eugene.

Hillsboro starting pitcher Daniel Eagen was good, but Eugene’s Dylan Carmouche was better, allowing just three hits while striking out six and walking none in six innings of work.

Eagen allowed one earned on five hits while striking out eight in 6.1 innings.

The Emeralds’ run came in the top of the first inning after leadoff hitter Scott Bandura bunted to third for a hit, then after consecutive outs, James Tibbs III doubled to left field to score Bandura for what would amount to the game-winner.

The Hops’ scoring opportunities were few and far between, but they went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.

Slade Caldwell, Cristofer Torin, and Jean Walters accounted for the Hops’ only hits of the night, all of which were singles.

June 13 – Hillsboro 7, Eugene 4

Finally.

After four consecutive losses, three of which were to Eugene, the Hops got right with a 7-4 win over the Emeralds on Friday night.

Hillsboro took an early lead, then hung as Eugene made a late rally before Hops reliever Sam Knowlton shut them down in the ninth.

The Hops scored three runs in the second inning, and single runs in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh, while the Ems got a run in the seventh before scoring three off of Jorge Minyety in their half of the ninth.

Hillsboro starting pitcher John West had one of his best outings of the season, allowing one earned run on three hits while striking out eight in 6.2 innings of work.

Offensively, the Hops had 11 hits, with five players tallying two hits apiece.

Druw Jones and Anderdson Rojas were two of those players with two hits, while also tallying two RBI apiece.

Ben McLaughlin hit his fifth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning.

Eugene’s Charlie Szykowny led the Ems, going 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two run scored.

June 14 – Hillsboro 7, Eugene 5

Early ripe, early rotten. That’s what it turned out to be for the Emeralds as the Hops came from five runs behind to defeat Eugene 7-5 on Saturday night.

After relinquishing five runs in the top half of the second, Hillsboro responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the second, four more runs in the fourth, and two final runs in the sixth en route to a second straight win over the visiting Ems.

Ben McLaughlin and Jackson Feltner had two hits apiece, while seven different Hop players notched an RBI.

Hillsboro starting pitcher Lorenzo Encarnacion didn’t get out of the second inning, allowing five runs on six hits over 1.2 innings of work.

The Hops bullpen was more than up to the task of bailing the 23-year-old out, however, allowing just five hits while striking out eight over 7.1 shutout innings to allow for the comeback win.

Hillsboro’s four-run fifth inning in which they tied the game, resulted from a walk double, two singles and a couple well-placed infield outs.

The winning runs came after Eugene pitcher Tyler Vogel was replaced by Cesar Perdomo in the sixth inning, when after a leadoff walk and a Dayson Croes error, Druw Jones doubled to right field, scoring Anderdson Rojas, and a batter later, Cristofer Torin scored on a Slade Caldwell sacrifice fly to left.

June 15 – Hillsboro 4, Eugene 2

Despite just two hits, Hillsboro managed four runs in what amounted to a 4-2 win over Eugene in their series finale on Sunday.

Hops starting pitcher Yordin Chalas threw four perfect innings before yielding to relievers Ricardo Yan, Joangel Gonzalez and Edgar Isea who combined to allow two hits over the game’s next four innings, then ultimately Sam Knowlton and Eli Saul who closed things out in the ninth, with Knowton allowing the Ems’ two earned runs prior to Saul getting the final two outs.

Offensively, Hillsboro scored two runs in the second inning, one in the fourth, and one more in the seventh.

Ben McLaughlin and Ryan Waldschmidt had hits for the Hops.

The win was the third straight for Hillsboro after dropping the first three games of the six-game set with the Ems.