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One week has passed since the Northwest League has begun their second half of the season. The Boise Hawks have three wins and three losses as they head into their All-Star break.
The Hawks will have four players on the All-Star roster for the 2016 Pioneer vs Northwest League All Star-Game. They are Jacob Bosiokovic, Garrett Hampson, Javier Medina and Julian Fernandez. (To tune in to play-by-play log onto ogdenraptors.com).
This past week, the Hawks coupled sensational wins with frustrating losses. The most disappointing one took place Sunday night against the Eugene Emeralds, as one of the Emeralds players “earned” an in-the-park homerun due to a poor judgement call on the umpire. A line drive to right field put the ball in the Hawks bullpen, leaving Willie Abreu with his hands up because he was unable to make a play on it. According to the umpire, however, the ball was playable and the Emeralds got the run. The game ended 7-6, leaving the Hawks with a bitter taste on that seemingly unearned run.
On a brighter note, there were many great things to take away from the Hawks performances during the week; or, more specifically, during their three-game series against the Emeralds. The game the night before was a solid team effort by the offense and tight pitching on the mound, which led to a win. However, the most exciting game of the week, and maybe the entire season, was on Friday as the Hawks took on the Ems (the South Division first half champions) and went into extra innings to win the game with a walk-off home run.
The Hawks had only scored two runs throughout the entire game, but that all changed in the ninth inning, as Tyler Orris drove two runs in with a single to right. Steven Linkous tripled with two on and followed by scoring the tying run on a wild pitch. With the score was tied in the bottom of the tenth, Abreu hit a soaring drive to right center—it ended up over the fence. “Walk-off Willie” may be his new nickname after he capitalized on the opportunity to be the hero of the night.