The Boise Hawks, in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, have announced that third-round pick Mark Zagunis has been promoted to the Class-A Kane County Cougars.  

No corresponding move has been made.

Zagunis played in 41 games with the Hawks, hitting .299 with two home runs and 27 RBI.  The catcher/outfielder also had nine doubles and two triples in Boise, while stealing 11 bases in 13 attempts.

The Northwest League South Division All-Star had a banner month of July, hitting .324 – along with hit streaks of seven and eight games.

Jesse Hodges clears the bases with a three-run double vs. Eugene on 8/10

Danny Canela ties the game at 1-1 with an RBI single vs. Eugene (8/10)

Mark Zagunis gets the Hawks on the board with a sacrifice fly at Salem-Keizer

In our latest look at the stadium around the Northwest League, we tour Volcanoes Stadium, the home of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

For the third straight year, the Boise Hawks used a travel day to perfection, allowing the team to experience one of the more iconic sights in the Pacific Northwest, Multnomah Falls.

Located a half-hour east of Portland – and on our path to Salem for the upcoming series – Multnomah Falls is the highest waterfall in the state of Oregon.  Split into two different falls, the upper falls is 542 feet, cascading into a pool below, a lower falls is 69 feet high, directly under a footbridge.

The hike was perfect after spending 20 minutes driving through an active wildfire outside of Rowena, Ore., about an hour further up the gorge.  There were flames visible on the hillsides – and got word late this evening that over 250 homes had been evacuated.  A few years back, a similar scene forced the bus to travel to the Washington side of the river to make it home (when a fire shut down the interstate).

Here are some of the photos that were taken while having the respite from the bus.

 

The Northwest League All-Star Break is a special respite for not only the 190 players on the eight teams in the loop who are not taking part in the festivities in Eugene, but also a break for the front office staffs and radio broadcasters.

In fact, Pat Dillon (Voice of the Everett Aquasox) mentioned on Facebook that it was the first time in his 20-year broadcast career that he had three-straight days off during a season.

However, things in the Boise Hawks camp were busy – because of a pair of big events – neither in the City of Trees.

It started (and ended) in Denver – as the 106th former Boise player made his Major League debut – and made a big splash.

Javier Baez, who spent the final two weeks of the 2011 season with the Hawks, received the call-up by the Cubs and started at second base on Tuesday, going 0-for-5 in his first five at bats in Chicago’s marathon game at Coors Field.  However, it was his sixth AB that will live in Cubs lore, as he crushed a fastball over the right-center wall for his first MLB homer – which ended up being a game-winner.

While this was going on, the NWL All-Star Game was played at P.K. Park – with four of the six Boise Hawks finding their way into the starting line-up for the South team (Rashad Crawford in CF, Mark Zagunis in RF, Justin Marra at C, Jesse Hodges at 3B).  Zagunis had the lone hit among the group, roping a fourth inning double and was one of three players in the game to reach third base.

The game would end in a 0-0 draw in 10 innings (per NWL rules) – the lowest scoring All-Star Game (outside of the 1968 MLB All-Star Game won by the NL, 1-0) – next to a football field (Autzen Stadium) which had a 0-0 draw between Oregon/Oregon State in 1983.

ROSTER MOVES – Francisco Carrillo has been promoted to Class-A Kane County, while RHP Zak Hermans (30th round pick in 2013 out of Princeton) joins the club from Kane County.

The Boise Hawks, in conjunction with the Chicago Cubs, have announced that three pitchers have been assigned to  the club prior to today’s 7:15 p.m. first pitch against Vancouver.

2014 draft picks James Farris and Jeremy Null, along with free agent signee Daniel Lewis will join the Hawks bullpen, pushing the number of pitchers on the roster to 18.

Farris will make his professional debut with the Hawks after three solid seasons in the rotation at the University of Arizona.  The ninth-round selection helped the Wildcats to the 2012 NCAA title, going 6-6 with 3.40 ERA this past season.

Null made two appearances in Mesa after being drafted by the Cubs in the 15th round out of Western Carolina, where he was a two-time All-Southern Conference selection.  The 6-7 righty was 6-4 with a 2.92 ERA this past season for the Catamounts.

Lewis took a round-about way to professional baseball after spending four years in the United States Air Force.  The 6-2 righty pitched at Pensacola State CC this spring and showcased a live fastball this summer in the Cape Cod League – and signed with the Cubs.  He will make his professional debut in Boise.

Here is the video (thanks to Chanse Ward) of the Hawks walk-off win vs. the Vancouver Canadians…

We are halfway home in our video tour of the Northwest League stadiums – as our latest look is at Everett Memorial Stadium, celebrating its 30th year as a home to a NWL franchise.