Extra Innings, Hops Get Best of Dust Devils

An out away from victory Thursday night, the Tri-City Dust Devils (24-34) found themselves forced into extras and walked off by the Hillsboro Hops (30-28) in ten innings by a score of 5-4 at Hillsboro Ballpark.

Tri-City led 4-3 with two outs in the bottom of the 9^th and no one on, with closer Cam Minacci (1-4) striking out the first two batters he faced with ease. The righty then walked Hillsboro DH Andrew Pintar, just missing on a couple of pitches in the at-bat. Pintar went to first and then scored all the way from there on a double to right by RF Gavin Conticello, tying the game 4-4. Minacci then bounced back with a third strikeout to send the game to extras.

The teams went to the top of the 10^th, with the Dust Devils getting the first chance with the automatic runner. 1B Matt Coutney went out to second and DH Kevin Bruggeman led off the frame with a sacrifice bunt attempt. Hops 1B Kevin Sim, though, got to it quickly and threw to third where 3B Jean Walters tagged Coutney out to take out the lead runner. Hillsboro reliever Alfred Morillo (2-0) then induced C Ronaldo Flores to hit into a 6-4-3 double play ending the inning and putting Tri-City up against it.

Sim started as the automatic runner in the bottom of the 10^th and Minacci stayed on, starting the 10^th as he did the 9^th with two strikeouts. In an eerily similar manner SS Jean Walters drew a two out walk, with the first ball a wild pitch in the dirt that allowed Sim to get to third. That put runners on the corners for CF Jack Hurley, who Minacci struck out to start the 9^th. Their encounter in the 10^th would end differently and end the game, with Hurley lining a single to right to score Sim and walk off with the win.

The walkoff ended on a sour note a game in which Tri-City had come back from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead midway through. 2B Caleb Ketchup crushed a two-run home run in the 3^rd inning over the fence in left-center, his fourth longball of 2024. That made it a 3-2 game, and Ketchup tied the game two innings later with an RBI single that scored RF Jorge Ruiz for a 3-3 tie. LF Jadiel Sanchez then popped a double just inside the right field line to plate Ketchup for the 4-3 lead that held to the 9^th. Both Ketchup and Sanchez had three hit games for the Dust Devils.

Starter Joel Hurtado went 5.1 innings, giving up three runs (2 ER) on five hits and holding the Hops off the scored in his last three-plus innings of work. Dylan Phillips (1 IP) and Brady Choban (1.2 IP) both authored scoreless outings out of the bullpen for the visitors.

Game four of the series between Tri-City and Hillsboro has been marked for a 7:05 p.m. start at Hillsboro Ballpark. The Dust Devils, needing to sweep the weekend for a split, will send right-hander Jorge Marcheco (2-3, 4.75 ERA) to the mound. The Hops will counter with righty Roman Angelo (0-2, 3.09 ERA), whom Tri-City beat in his High-A debut in May.

Broadcast coverage of Friday night’s matchup begins with the pregame show at 6:45 p.m. both here and on the MiLB app.

After the six-gamer in Hillsboro concludes the Dust Devils return home to host the Vancouver Canadians for a seven-game series that begins with a doubleheader of seven-inning games starting at 4:15 p.m. Tickets for the Vancouver series 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.