Hillsboro Hops Open Season Friday Night With Ben Petrick Honors

HILLSBORO, OR — Play ball! Friday is opening day in Hillsboro as the Hops kick off their 132-game season.

The three-time Northwest League champions will start the festivities by retiring the number of Ben Petrick, a former coach and one of the greatest sports stars that Hillsboro has produced.

Petrick played baseball, football and basketball at Glencoe High School, doing so well that Arizona State University recruited him to play baseball and football. He chose instead to play with the Colorado Rockies, which had made him a second-round draft pick.

After six seasons with the Rockies and a stint with the Tigers, Petrick was pushed to retire from playing by a diagnosis of young-onset Parkinson's disease.

But no longer playing didn't mean that he was done with baseball.

In 2013, Petrick returned to Hillsboro to become a coach for the Hops. He stayed for seven seasons, a stretch during which the team won its three league championships.

He then wrote a book about living with a Parkinson's diagnosis and started an organization, Strength Through Weakness, devoted to helping people living with the disease.

On Friday, the Hops will retire his number and place a plaque that says "Petrick 6" below the press box at Ron Tonkin Field.

"Ben has always exemplified what it means to be a Hop through and through," Hops President and General Manager K.L. Wombacher said. "His representation of the Hops brand has been nothing short of incredible.

"We can't think of a better way to honor Ben than by having him be the first member of the Hops to have their jersey retired. No member of the Hops will ever wear No. 6 again."

After the ceremony, the Hops, an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, will take on the Tri-City Dust Devils, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels, kicking off a three-game series.

Petrick won't be the only face on hand for the Hops.

Tim Tawa, a utility player who graduated from West Linn High School in 2017, will be on the Hops' 30-man roster. He was selected by the D'Backs in the 11th round of last year's draft out of Stanford University.

The Hops also have five players who were picked by Arizona in the first five rounds of recent drafts on their opening day roster: left-handed pitcher Blake Watson, a first-round pick in the 2019 draft; shortstop Ryan Bliss, a second-round pick in 2021; catcher Adrian Del Castillo, also a second-round pick in 2021; catcher/outfielder Caleb Roberts, a fifth-rounder from 2021; and third baseman A.J. Vukovch , a fourth-round selection in 2021.

The Hops are opening their season with a nine-game homestead.

After the Dust Devils leave town, the Everett AquaSox will arrive for a six-game stint.