Episode 2: Home Opener Eve!

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Welcome to Hopscast. Hosted by Jen Ellis. Co hosted and produced by Sonny Phono. Each week we'll take you behind the scenes during the 2026 Hillsborough Hops baseball season. Anything can happen in minor league baseball and we'll bring it all to you. From exclusive interviews with players and coaches, to roster updates, player call ups and even the craziest plays of the week. It's all right here on Hopscast. [00:00:33] Speaker B: What's up? [00:00:35] Speaker A: Okay, so here we are. Episode two. Welcome back everyone. It's Hopscast. I'm Jen Ellis and I'm here with our wonderful producer, Sunny Phono. [00:00:44] Speaker B: Hey, what's up guys? Hey, Jen. We're, we're sitting here in section 202 of the Hobbs ballpark. We're looking right over home plate. And what a view. I mean this is even better than the press box that we used to sit in over at the old Tonk. [00:01:00] Speaker A: It sure is. Yeah. I can't wait for tomorrow night. This is going to be incredible. Opening night at the brand new ballpark here in Hillsboro tomorrow night. And I, I think everyone is just so excited. There are still so many things happening here. People are still building things. Yeah, but you know, I mean, we made it, they, they made it happen and we couldn't be more thrilled. [00:01:20] Speaker B: Yeah, the energy, you can, I mean you can cut the tension in this building in this, in this ballpark. You can definitely feel it. I feel it. You know, it's kind of like the calm before the storm. It's silent. We're not pumping any music through. We're just kind of letting it be the ballpark. So we're here, we're opening tomorrow. I can't believe it. I'm ready to rock. I got some songs, I got music, I got all kinds of things going ready. And I'm, I'm just excited actually to watch a baseball game live because I didn't get to do my normal home opener pilgrimage this year. And I was trying to make it up to Tacoma to catch the Rainiers and Chihuahua yesterday. And then I was reminded by my ever so lovely wife, Taylor. Tony, that is Easter. I'm not going anywhere on Easter. [00:02:15] Speaker A: You ain't going nowhere on Easter. [00:02:16] Speaker B: You're just hanging out. So I ended up, I did end up working most of the day yesterday. One of my other jobs. But you know, we had a nice Easter dinner of Thai. What did you do for Easter dinner? [00:02:26] Speaker A: You know, we didn't have Easter dinner. We just, we're just kind of hanging out and sitting by the tv. And watching baseball. [00:02:34] Speaker B: Watching baseball. All right. [00:02:35] Speaker A: Watching baseball. That's pretty much if, if you want to know what I'm doing at any moment of the day or time of day, it's probably watching baseball. [00:02:44] Speaker B: So we have a, we have a very special guest. Our first guest, Hops play by play. And I guess, well, I guess he's the away play by play. Home color Seth Roiland will be joining us a little bit later on. But you, it seems like you've got some stuff around the league and some baseball. You've been watching a lot of baseball. So why don't you fill me in what happened this weekend? [00:03:06] Speaker A: Well, last week the Diamondbacks had a pretty good start with some Hops players, former Hopps players that were able to start with the D backs opening week, which is really exciting. So one of the ones that I think we are all super excited about is Jose Fernandez. He was here just last season here in Hillsborough. He made his debut with the D backs the other night. He got on base, he got his first hit, then he got his first home run. Then later in the game he got his second home run and it was a go ahead home run. So I mean, just a debut for the ages. It was really incredible to see him do his stuff in Arizona and the D backs fans were just thrilled. It was really awesome to see. And then I think about a day after that, Jordan Lawler hit his first big league homer. Then unfortunately he did get injured and he's on the IL now with a fractured wrist. I believe so. But Adrian Del Castillo got called back up behind the home plate. So, you know, a bunch of guys that we know well from Hillsborough are playing on the field, pro professional major league baseball in Arizona with the Diamondbacks. Pretty awesome. [00:04:18] Speaker B: It really is awesome. And thinking about that is, it's, it's really mind blowing. And we like to affectionately call Hillsborough Walk off City usa. Is that right? [00:04:30] Speaker A: That's right. [00:04:31] Speaker B: And we've seen a lot of walk offs. I, I think I've seen more walk offs here than I can really comprehend sometimes. And, and I wonder if any of that clutch kind of ends up carrying up through into the majors and what it is about this, this place and we'll see about this new ballpark, but at least across the street, I mean, that was walk off. [00:04:54] Speaker A: It was definitely walk off City usa. That was the best name for it. It is the best name for it. And I did get one of the new sweatshirts that says walk off city. [00:05:01] Speaker B: Oh, you did? [00:05:01] Speaker A: On the back. Yeah. It's pretty cool. Our, our Hops store downstairs is really incredible. [00:05:08] Speaker B: I need to go take a gander through it. I need a new hat and you know, I want to send my parents some stuff. So my parents are listening. Hey, the box is coming, but I haven't had a chance to get in there while they're open yet. So. What, what else has been going on? We had a. We had a bad series and we're just, we're just avoiding the topic. [00:05:27] Speaker A: Right. [00:05:27] Speaker B: Lost three straight and Eugene and yeah, [00:05:30] Speaker A: great way to start the season. But again, we are also super excited about tomorrow night and we are just going to look ahead and move forward with the rest of the season starting tomorrow. Here's our conversation with Seth Hoyland. All right, we are here at the beautiful brand new ballpark in Hillsboro getting excited for opening night tomorrow night. This is our second episode of Hopscast. Welcome. I'm Jen Ellis, your host and we have our producer, Sunny Fono. Here we have a special guest, our very first guest of our show, Seth Hoyland. Please introduce yourself and let everyone know who you are and what you do here. [00:06:13] Speaker C: Yes, yes. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm the director of communications for the Hopps and then also one of the radio broadcasters. So kind of a little bit of everything in the front office, but everything from PR to media relations to website design, press releases, all of that fun stuff kinda thrown into one job. So it's a lot of fun. And yeah, thanks. Thanks again for having me. [00:06:37] Speaker A: Yay. We are so glad to have you. Yes, we all wear multiple hats here at the ballpark, but we wouldn't have it any other way. I don't think we'll just jump right in. And no mincing words. It was kind of a rough start to the season down in Eugene, so. So we won't really go into it. Just want to ask you a couple of questions about the roster this year and opening day. [00:06:57] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the, the Eugene series, specifically Eugene is really, really talented. You look at their opening day roster, they got nine or 10 of the Giants top 30 prospects. So there's going to be a lot of teams that aren't going to have great success against Eugene this year. So kind of look at it that way too where I don't think it's just going to be us. So hopefully throw those games to the side. And the team has talked a lot about too when you know, most of the series are six games and kind of looking at them as many three game series. If you win two out of three in a six game series, you're going to be fine. So again, kind of just moving forward and knowing that Eugene is going to be really good this year. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Yeah, good way to look at it for sure. So tell us a little bit about who you are excited to see grace the field this year. [00:07:41] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. I mean I think you look at the Hops roster again talking about the prospect status of some of the guys and you know, the other teams in the league, we have a lot of pride and you know, 68 former hops have made it to the major league since 2013. It's an incredible number. But not only that, but also the guys on the other side of the field are very talented and there's a lot of big name players that have played in this league in the old ballpark and now coming to the new ballpark. So that's always exciting. You look at, you know, our roster this year, top 30 guys, whatever that means, you know, it changes a lot. So it doesn't mean a ton. Honestly at the beginning of the season you'll look at the top 30 list. Now look at the top 30 list at the end of the year they'll be very, very different. Guys play their way in, they play their way out. We have five of the top 30. So you look at seasons pass, again we're probably in this 8 or 9 range as far as prospects go. But I mean our teams the last couple years have been quote unquote loaded with talent and it's, you know, the minor leagues is so interesting because obviously every player, you know, their end goal is to make it to the major leagues obviously while wanting to win games. And it's a fine line between individual player development and also winning games. And the coaching staff has to balance that too. Where they want guys to individually get better, but they also want to have a team that wins. So anyway, with that being said, I think you look at our team this year, the, the main guy that sticks out is Slade Caldwell, 19 years old. He's a first round pick out of high school. Was the back to back Gatorade, Arkansas Player of the Year. Got drafted by the Diamondbacks, 29th overall last year in 2025. He was here for 65 games last year. Really, really young, powerful, athletic guy who can, you know, play good defense, run the bases and hit the ball. He kind of does a little bit of everything. Multi tool guy. He's definitely the kind of headline guy on the roster. Another top prospect, Madefi Marte, a little older, he's 23 from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, but has some really great power. He hit a home run on opening night in Eugene, hit 12 homers last year in Visalia. So he should be kind of an anchor in the middle of the lineup. And then you look at the pitching, I think the pitching is definitely exciting. There's some young arms that throw really hard. Definitely want to keep an eye on that radar gun that will now be working at the ballpark. So that's always exciting. Looking forward to that. But there, there's some really good young arms you have Brian Curley, as far as prospect status, he was drafted out of University of Georgia, third round pick. He, he was dominant in his first start. He was the opening day starter. I think he struck out seven or eight and in like four innings didn't allow a run. But he's kind of making his pro debut this year. So he's still a young pitcher who went to college. And then kind of an interesting guy to watch is Kaden Grice. 23 year old, 66 lefty. Drafted out of Clemson, second round pick in 2023. Missed all of last year with Tommy John surgery. So he's just returning to the field. And he was actually when he was in college, he was named the top two way guy in college. So he, he hit and pitched and did it at a very high level. They expect him to just pitch moving forward. But he's also an interesting guy to kind of look, look to as he starts to pitch again. [00:10:59] Speaker A: Awesome. Sounds good. Besides Slade Caldwell and Mode Marte, who else is returning this year that was here last year? [00:11:08] Speaker C: Yeah, I think of our. We had 28 guys on our opening day roster. We can to 30. I think the number was 13 returners, 15 newcomers. So Kenny Castillo, Adrian Deleon, catchers, they were on our team last year. You mentioned mte, Adrian Rodriguez, played a couple games here, Slade Caldwell as far as the position players. And then you got John West, Nate Savino, Jr. Sanchez, Rocco Reed, Sam Knowlton, Johan Hell Gonzalez and Kyle Ayers as the returning pitchers. [00:11:42] Speaker A: Very cool. So lots of familiar faces to look forward to seeing. Yeah, some new ones that we will all be excited to see here at the brand new ballpark. And Seth, real quick, one thing that you are really looking forward to tomorrow night for our home opener. [00:11:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I just can't wait for everybody to come see what we've seen, you know, over the years leading up to it. Obviously from all the planning to seeing the renderings to getting the funding, I mean there's been so many milestone Steps. And now we finally feel like we're ready to show off the ballpark and have people see it for the first time. Obviously a couple weekends ago, having the fan fest, that was really the first kind of time that people were in the ballpark. But you know, pictures only do it so much justice and I think the reaction when people come and see it for the first time. I mean, our players, our coaches, you know, a lot of our coaching staff played baseball in the major leagues. Mark Reed, he was, he's our manager. He's a high draft pick by the Chicago Cubs. Jim Aduci, he's our hitting coach. He played for the Chicago Cubs as recently as 2022. So he's got major league experience, gift and gape. Our bench coach also played in the major league. So these are guys who have seen a lot of ballparks and they're absolutely in awe of this place. [00:12:53] Speaker A: So that's awesome. Yeah, facilities are really. [00:12:56] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Just really can't wait for, for everybody to see it and just kind of the look on people's faces when, you know, they come and see it for the first time. There's a lot of memorable things that are unique about the new ballpark and yeah, just, just showing it off I think is what we're most excited about. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Very cool. I'm excited. I know, I know that for sure. [00:13:16] Speaker B: Yeah, right. [00:13:17] Speaker A: I think that's all we have for you today. I mean, you know, we will have you on again. [00:13:21] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:13:22] Speaker A: Next week and the week after and the week after. [00:13:24] Speaker C: Yeah, let's do it. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Yes, for sure. Thank you for coming to our little Hopscast. [00:13:28] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. [00:13:30] Speaker A: The inside scoop. [00:13:31] Speaker C: Yeah, anytime. And one more note too, I think that's interesting. You look at the roster, we have two guys from University of Oregon, so kind of local ties, obviously the last couple seasons having Gavin Logan, former Beaver, but we have two guys who pitched at University of Oregon. Rio Britton and Logan Mercado. They'll both be in our rotate in our rotation this year. Logan was a four year guy at a University of Oregon. He's actually from Pasco, so he just in his first series just pitched at U of O. And then next week he'll be pitching in his hometown. And he grew up talking about, you know, coming to Northwest league games, like watching the Hops when he was younger and stuff. So keep an eye on those guys as well. [00:14:10] Speaker A: Very cool. Yeah, we were talking about Ryan Nelson. Yeah. And I was the on field MC when he made his debut with the Hop. Super Excited about that was super cool. [00:14:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it's always fun to see the local guys. You know, Tim Tawa, obviously, in the majors now, went to High School 20 minutes away from here, and being an Oregonian myself, it's always cool to see guys who are from the area, whether it be high school or college, come to play for the team. And, you know, they got friends and family and seeing, you know, their Duck jerseys and stuff in the crowd is always, I'm sure, extra special for them. [00:14:40] Speaker A: Yeah, that's really cool. Very cool. Awesome. Thank you so much. [00:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, guys. [00:14:44] Speaker A: Thanks. All right, thank you so much to Seth for joining us on our second episode of Hopscast. One more quick thing. Last week, we talked about the immaculate inning that Daniel Egan threw here last year, and we also saw one by one of the Vancouver Canadians a few years back. However, that very same night, I went home and I watched the DBacks game, and a veteran pitcher who's now new to the Diamondbacks, Michael Soka, threw an immaculate inning that night for the D backs, which I thought was so cool because we were literally just talking about. I was like, hey, we made that happen. [00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's. That's even more major rarity in the big leagues because you're facing big league hitters. So for that to happen and on the same day, like, what a coincidence. Who knows what we could be willing down here in high A to happen in the major leagues? [00:15:40] Speaker A: So I have a question for you real quick. For people who don't know what an Immaculate inning is, how would you explain it? [00:15:48] Speaker B: I had to do this just this last weekend because picture that I'm a fan of was close to one, and I was like, let's see it. Let's see an immaculate inning. And my wife was like, what's an immaculate inning? So I tried to explain to her quickly, it's three batters out, three batters out in a row on nine pitches total. And that seems simple enough to you and I, right? But it's only nine strikes. It's nine strikes, three outs, all in a row. And it's also striking out the side, which could, you know, you could give up seven runs while you're striking out the side. But immaculate inning is so super rare. It's just nine pitches, nine strikes, three outs, three batters, and the inning is over. [00:16:39] Speaker A: Yes, it is. You don't even know it happened when it happens. Sometimes it happens so fast. And it is. And it is a very rare occurrence. [00:16:49] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, weird baseball. Let's go do you have any predictions for tomorrow or. I mean, it's so hard to call it. [00:16:56] Speaker A: I hope we see something really bizarre and funky tomorrow night. That would be so cool to start. To start the brand new ballpark with a. A strange rarity in baseball. We're hoping for it. [00:17:07] Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe we should do this thing as this podcast grows, because we're. We're only at a couple dozen listeners now. I know it's going to grow. Maybe as the season wears on, you and I can collaborate and we can make a weird baseball bingo card for home games. [00:17:22] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good idea. [00:17:23] Speaker B: And as they fill out, you know, we can maybe distribute them or something and, you know, we'll just figure out some kind of way to make that fun. [00:17:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that'd be awesome. That sounds like a good idea. I love it. [00:17:36] Speaker B: All right, well, I'll see you here tomorrow. I'm going to be here early. I'm going to be pumping music through the sound system. I'm going to be getting myself pumped up. Hopefully getting the boys pumped up. [00:17:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:17:47] Speaker B: And we'll be back next week. We might even have a little bonus episode this week, depending on how things go. We might be a little bit hopped up and want to get in here. [00:17:54] Speaker A: Yes, Hopped up, indeed. I can't wait. I'm super excited. So be sure to follow us on social media. We are at Hopscast on Instagram, and we can also be found on Apple and Spotify. At Hopscast. [00:18:08] Speaker B: All right, let's go, Hops. [00:18:10] Speaker A: Let's go.