US baseball game recreates Heated Rivalry with same-sex kiss
The baseball team shared the clip online, showing a batter's legs wrapped around a pitcher's waist
By Aaron Sugg
A Portland Pickles baseball game in Portland, Oregon, hosted a themed event called ‘Heated Riv-Dill-ry Night’, honouring the hit gay hockey series Heated Rivalry.
The baseball game took a steamy turn when two players – a pitcher and a batter – appeared to confront one another, only to lock lips in a Heated Rivalry-style make-out moment.
The Portland Pickles’ social media team shared the clip online, showing the batter’s legs wrapped around the pitcher’s waist. “A simple at-bat turned spicy when the batter was hit,” the team captioned the post.
Portland Pickles baseball game Heated Rivalry kiss goes viral
@picklesbaseball Heated Riv-Dill-ry Night took a turn! A simple at-bat turned spicy when the batter was hit #heatedrivalry #hollander #shane #cottage #allthethingsshesaid ♬ original sound – Portland Pickles
A video of the intense kiss went viral after it was posted online, receiving a wave of Heated Rivalry praise and encapsulating the drama that actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie brought to the show.
The team promoted the night with playful Heated Rivalry-themed innuendos ahead of the event, editing scenes from the acclaimed hockey series alongside Portland Pickles merchandise.
“Stop staring and just do it. Get those tickets, feel the tension, feel the jealousy, feel the love. DO IT!” the team wrote the day before the event.
Portland Pickles host 2026 Pride match
Following the “Heated Riv-Dill-ry Night”, the Portland Pickles are putting on their 2026 Pride game on 16 July, inviting 15 local LGBTQIA+ organisations to set up in the berms.
Promoting the game on social media, they wrote: “Our iconic Pickles Pride merch is back, and you can come party with the freakiest, most loving community around! It’ll be a night full of pride, love, joy, and briny baseball!”
Based on Reid’s bestselling novel of the same name, Heated Rivalry follows the decades-long relationship between rival hockey stars Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie).
When is Heated Rivalry season 2 coming out?
The six-part series premiered in November 2025 and was renewed for a second season shortly afterwards.
Production on the new season is expected to begin in August ahead of a planned April 2027 release on Sky in the UK.