On Saturday night, in front of 3,901 fans at
Memorial Stadium, the Boise Hawks held on to defeat the Yakima Bears, 4-3, as a
preemptive celebration of  our great nation’s
birthday. The real story of the night was, however, the collaborative team
success by the Hawks; and ultimately the triumph of closer Corey Martin, who has
the Northwest League best, six saves in as many opportunities.

Martin has a 1.23 ERA in 7.1 innings pitched for the
Hawks and shut down an attempted comeback by the Bears in the eighth and ninth
innings. In little over one inning pitched Saturday, he also had three
strikeouts, fanning three of the final four Yakima batters with one home run
allowed.

Boise’s famed closer wasn’t the only contributor
against the Bears; however, first baseman Richard Jones provided the majority
of the Hawks offensive production in the sixth spot in the lineup. Jones went
2-for-4 with a double and a single that drove in two strong RBI in the sixth
inning, despite striking out twice to start the game.

NOTES:

The first five hitters in the Hawks lineup – Alvaro Ramirez,
Pierre LePage, Jose Morelli, Brandon May and Micah Gibbs – went  3-for-17, and average of .176.

On the mound for the Hawks, John Mincone had 4.2
quality innings pitched, giving up six hits and two runs to match his three strikeouts.
Making his third professional appearance, Eric Jokisch was awarded his first
win of the year, throwing one inning Saturday, with four strikeouts and one
walk.

HAYDEN SIMPSON UPDATE:

According to MLB.com’s Chicago Cubs beat writer,
Carrie Muskat, first-round draft pick Hayden Simpson was expected to be
assigned to a minor league team this month, but has come down with a “viral
infection” and won’t be reporting until he is healthy.