Mother Nature cooperated.

The Eugene Emeralds did not.

A sold-out crowd of 3,442 was treated to beautiful June evening — and a Boise Hawks loss on Opening Night at Memorial Stadium.

Boise, which dropped to 1-5, will host Eugene (4-2) four more times over the next four nights.

“It was the same thing on the road (in Boise’s opening series at Salem-Keizer),” Hawks manager Mark Johnson said. “A couple booted balls and a missed play, and it ends up costing us the game. We’ve just got to focus more on making routine plays.”

Here are some scenes from Opening Night:

‘BASEBALL IS BASEBALL’

There has been a lot of talk about the Chicago Cubs’ affiliation with the Boise Hawks, and whether that partnership will continue after this season.

The Cubs want a stadium upgrade, and the Hawks are working to make that happen.

James Zientek and Ashelie Gross are a couple of Cubs fans who’d like to see prospects continue to come through Boise.

Zientek, wearing a Mark Grace Cubs jersey, said he attends five or six Hawks games each summer.

Part of the appeal for Zientek is seeing young players in the Cubs’ system.

“That’s a huge draw, absolutely,” Zientek said.

That said, if the Cubs leave Boise, Zientek and Gross won’t be organizing a boycott.

“Baseball is baseball,” Zientek said. “I’ll still show up in my Grace shirt.”

Gross, wearing a Carlos Zambrano Cubs jersey, nodded in agreement.

“It’s Opening Night,” she said. “You have to be here.”

BIG PLAY I

Hawks starter Jose Arias found himself in a jam in the third inning. The bases were loaded when Emeralds outfielder Corey Adamson came to the plate. The game was on the verge of getting away from Arias as the count went to three balls and two strikes.

But Adamson struck out swinging and Arias prevented the floodgates from opening.

“He just was aggressive,” Johnson said. “That’s all you can ask for, especially at this level. You want to let guys put it in play, and then let the guys behind you play defense.”

‘KIDS WILL BE KIDS’

John Scott likes children.

“I love working with kids, and I love being around kids,” Scott said.

It’s a good thing, because kids surrounded him as he spoke.

Scott’s job is to monitor the kids who gather inside the small, enclosed diamond that is part of the Kids Zone down the right-field line.

Scott, 21, and his sister, Reilly, 18, were tasked with keeping an eye on the dozen or so children inside the short chain-linked fences Wednesday night. It’s a family affair in the Kids Zone, as their brother, Mike, 20, was manning the obstacle course.

“We have a lot of fun,” said John, who is beginning his fifth season working for the Hawks. “Our goal is for the kids to all have a good time. … Every once in a while a couple kids will fight over this, that and the other thing.”

That wasn’t the case Wednesday.

“So far, so good,” John said. “That’s what we’ll hope for every day for the rest of the summer.”

BIG PLAY II

Trailing 3-1, Hawks third baseman Jeimer Candelario energized the crowd in the bottom of the sixth with a towering home run to left field.

The blast tied the game at 3-3.

“It hit the scoreboard,” Johnson said. “It was a well-hit ball, and it sounded really good off the bat.”

Eugene answered with three runs in the top of the seventh, however, and that thwarted Boise’s momentum.