Checkered Flag: Largest Crowd of Season Sees Rooster Tails Race Past Hops

Sprinting out to an early lead, the Tri-City Dust Devils (17-19) got the inside track and held off the Hillsboro Hops (17-19) for a 4-3 win Friday night at Gesa Stadium in front of 2,911 fans, the largest crowd of 2024 so far.

Playing as the Columbia River Rooster Tails, the home side got out to an early 2-0 lead when a two-out rally in the bottom of the 1^st inning culminated in a two-run double by 3B Cam Williams. RF Jadiel Sanchez (walk) and 1B Matt Coutney scored on the play, staking starter Joel Hurtado (3-3) to an early lead.

That lead grew an inning later when DH Mason Martin launched his first home run of 2024 in front of a hometown crowd. The Kennewick native took a pitch from Hillsboro starter Roman Angelo (0-1) deep over the right field fence for a longball measured at 427 feet. The solo blast made it 3-0 for Columbia River through two innings.

Hurtado put together a solid outing, retiring the first eight batters he saw and keeping the Hops in check for the first four innings. Two errors, though, including one on an errant pickoff throw by Hurtado helped Hillsboro plate a pair of runs in the 5^th to trim the Rooster Tails lead to 3-2 halfway through.

The pickoff error tables turned in the bottom of the 5^th inning, which catcher Christian Cerda trying to catch 2B Caleb Ketchup off the first base bag after drawing a walk. His throw went down the right field line, with Ketchup moving two bases to third and positioning himself to score on a sacrifice fly by SS Andy Blake for a 4-2 edge.

Hillsboro hit back again in the top of the 6^th when 1B Gavin Conticello, who tripled to lead off the inning, came home on an RBI single by RF Neyfy Castillo to get the Hops back within a run at 4-3. The bullpen took over for Hurtado in the inning, with the righty going 5.1 innings and giving up three runs (2 ER) on six hits while striking out seven and walking none. Lefty Dylan Phillips came in and, after hitting a batter, stranded Castillo as the potential tying run at third.

From there he and reliever Willian Suarez finished the job, combining to retire the final 11 Hillsboro batters they faced to clinch Columbia River’s third win in four games to begin the series. Suarez got the last five outs, three by strikeout, to grab his first save of 2024.

Mason Martin and Cam Williams provided steady hitting in the middle of the order, both going 2-for-3 with extra-base hits. 1B Matt Coutney added a 1^st inning single, meaning all five Rooster Tails hits came from the 4-5-6 of the lineup. The win also gave manager Willie Romero’s team eight wins in ten games and got the team a game closer in the Northwest League First Half race due to losses by Eugene and Spokane.

Now just three games out of first place, the Dust Devils return to the field for game five of their six-game series with the Hops at 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at Gesa Stadium. Postgame fireworks presented by Desert Food Mart will light up the night sky, weather permitting.

Tri-City has announced right-hander Jorge Marcheco (2-2, 3.82 ERA) as its projected starter, with righty Ricardo Yan (1-2, 2.70 ERA) countering for Hillsboro. Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 6:10 p.m, both here and with video coverage in the MiLB Zone of the Bally Live app and MiLB.tv.

Tickets for both Saturday night's game and Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. matinee are on sale now, with special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets, visit the team’s official ticketing site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.