Hoskins Walk-Off Lifts Elks Over the Nighthawks

Jake Hoskins’ walk-off hit sealed the 4-3 victory for Bend. (Andrew Green)

Bend, OR. - In a low-scoring non-league affair between the Bend Elks and Northwest Star Nighthawks, Jake Hoskins found a way to come through when it mattered most, delivering a walk-off hit to give the Elks the 4-3 win.

The Elks nearly blew an early lead for the second straight game but prevailed on a Hoskins drive that landed over the head of the left fielder.

Bend scored the West Coast leading twelfth first-inning run on a one-run single by Avery Ortiz, who made his return to the lineup after a four-game break. The Elks tacked on two more in the sixth inning on an RBI single from USC freshman Luca DiPaolo and a bloop RBI double by Brennan Davis that got lost in the sky in right field. Dipaolo, who played for the Corvallis Knights last season, had two hits in his debut in Bend.

Mountain View High product Simon Lemke struggled to follow up the dominant shutout start from Japan native Mahiro Tomita, allowing the Nighthawks to score three runs in the eighth inning to even things up.

Nevertheless, the Elks' offense would prevail in the end with its first walk-off of the season. Bend, who is back at .500 with a 5-5 record, will look to get over the hump and complete the sweep over the Nighthawks Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. at Vince Genna Stadium.