Although the Boise Hawks (10-9) have been on the road in
Spokane for the last three games against the Indians, that doesn’t mean there
hasn’t been plenty of notable baseball news for Hawks fans.

After losing two or three games against the Indians, the Hawks
have once again joined the Yakima Bears (10-9) as co-leaders of the Northwest
League’s East Division. Though the series may be viewed as a failure in the
form of wins and losses, it is still a mystery why Boise is even in the
position of division-leading contention.

Boise is currently last in the NWL in hitting with a
combined .219 batting average and a seventh ranked (out of eight) run
production at 72. Only Vancouver has fewer runs this season with 58. The
Canadians are also in a three-way tie for the worst record in the league.

The secret to their “success” isn’t their pitching either –
save the consistency of closer Corey Martin. Boise has a combined ERA of 4.23,
third worst in the NWL, while Martin has an ERA of 1.00 in nine innings
pitched, with a league leading seven saves to match. The next closest pitcher
is Vancouver’s Mike Hart who has four in seven innings.

Tuesday, Austin Kirk earned his second win of the season, and
second in a row, striking out three and allowing four hits in five innings.
Richard Jones tied Brandon May for the team lead in home runs after he belted
his third of the season in the eighth inning of the final game against Spokane,
adding another insurance run to their 4-2 win to salvage a small piece of the
series.

Six Hawks hitters had multi-hit games against the Indians –
Alvaro Ramirez, Pierre LePage, George Matheus, Runey Davis, Richard Jones and
Jesus Morelli – while six also had multi-strikeout games: Micah Gibbs, Jose
Guevara (2), Arismendy Alcantara, Kyung-Min Na, Jones and Morelli.

A bright spot for the Hawks following the holiday break was
the return of center fielder Na, who was sidelined for three games after
suffering an elbow injury against the Emeralds in Eugene. Na had previously
played in 11 straight games before the injury.

Some rust was apparent with Na in Spokane, however. Na only
reached base in one plate appearance in 10 opportunities.

LePage continues to show off his various talents on the
field; both offensively and defensively. He went 4-for-13 against the Indians,
and is currently hitting .351 for the Hawks with 13 hits and 10 RBI.

The Hawks will face off against the Eugene Emeralds (8-11) in
their next home stand that begins on Thursday, with the routine fireworks show
on Friday, in an inter-division matchup. The series spans five games across the
weekend, and could pose as another exciting couple of games for Hawks fans. The
Emeralds are second in the league with a .266 batting average and 175 hits;
trailing only the explosive Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.