A wild and crazy night at County Stadium – on the diamond and off, as the Hawks were blown out of a game for the first time this season, as Yakima scored 10 unanswered runs to win 10-1.

Ian Dickson struggled for the second straight night, allowing a three-run homer in the second, then failing to get out of the third inning after allowing four more runs.

The bright spot was Xavier Batista, who singled and doubled in the loss and is 3-for-6 in the last two games after a 2-for-30 slump.

However, the story of the night was the wild weather – beginning with 106 degree game-time temperatures at the ballpark (with the radio booth hovering around 125 degrees), ending with a fierce thunderstorm.  I began tracking a line of storms in Oregon early in the ballgame (which had severe winds and hail), with lightning in the distance beginning to be seen in the fourth inning.  In the middle of the fifth inning, Yakima GM K.L. Wombacher talked with field upmire Andrew Risley – with the crew sending the teams to safety at the conclusion of the fifth, though a drop of rain hadn’t fallen.

The stadium seating bowl was evacuated first, then the press box – as within 15 minutes, winds upward of 50-60 miles per hour hit the stadium, with nearly continuous cloud-to-ground lightning hitting the Yakima Valley.  Power was knocked out in the area (and multiple transformers blew) and the stadium BP Shell (cage to take on-field BP) was blown out of the stadium, across Pacific Avenue, halfway to Yakima Speedway.  In fact, I had to conduct the postgame show from the restrooms under the stadium, which was designated as a safe place.

More wild weather is expected tomorrow…stayed tuned…