Hillsboro Hops Baseball

Ron Tonkin Field

Saw the Hops play the Tri-City Dust Devils last Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?). Great fun. Early on in the game a player broke a bat when he hit the ball. The broken part flew as far as the pitcher's mound. One of our player's hit a home run, there was even a double play. Three or four foul balls came down on the roof of the stadium, one of them was right above us and it was loud!  A couple of batters got glancing hits to the foot from foul balls. We had a woman umpire calling the balls and strikes and a man out in the field.

This place started with a football / soccer stadium. I think it was for high school teams that didn't have their own, I dunno, but a couple of years later they built the baseball stadium in back of it. The lower roof on the left side of the picture covers the baseball seats. The four towers at the top support the roof over the football stands which back up against the baseball stands. The place is wire rope heaven. The roofs of both stadiums supported by cables, there are nets in front of the stands made of wire rope and the nets are supported by more cables.

Theoretically, baseball is a simple game, and it seems to move slowly, but you can mosey along until you have a precarious position and then something will happen to trigger an avalanche of activity. You have to be paying attention to catch it all, and even then you might not.

The only bad thing is getting out of the parking lot. We left after the 8th inning so it wasn't too bad. I would have liked to stay for the whole game, but needs be. I don't know how long it takes the parking lot to clear out. Maybe long enough to drink a beer in the bar, if they are still open.