Indians Clinch NWL North Division First Half Title in Dramatic Final Day
July 25, 2016 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Spokane Indians News Release
SPOKANE, WA - The Spokane Indians are returning to the TicketsWest Northwest League Playoffs. In a stunning finish to the first half of the NWL season, the Indians defeated the Hawks 4-2 in Boise and then clinched the North Division when Tri-City fell at home to Hillsboro. The Indians and the Dust Devils finished the first half with identical 19-19 records but Spokane earned the postseason berth on the strength of a 2-1 head-to-head ledger against Tri-City.
"Winning the first half is a real testament to how hard this team worked to improve," said manager, Tim Hulett. "We're excited to bring the playoffs back to Spokane and can't wait to see all our fans when we return to Avista Stadium tomorrow."
The Indians fell to 10-14 after a loss to the Everett AquaSox on July 10 but closed out the half with nine wins in 14 games - including three of five in Boise - to guarantee a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Spokane received a strong start on Monday night from Tyler Phillips who went five innings against the Hawks and allowed just one earned run while striking out six. Hulett turned the ball over to Johan Juan for the sixth and the Indians reliever proved up to the challenge. The 22-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic etched his name into Spokane Indians' lore with four scoreless innings, punctuating his outstanding outing with a strikeout of Garrett Hampson to end the game.
Spokane's offense scored once in the first and twice in the third to grab an early advantage. After Boise cut the lead to 3-2 in the fifth, the Indians added an insurance run on a Carlos Garay single in the eighth for the game's final margin. Chad Smith and Seth Spivey each collected an RBI while Preston Scott finished 3-for-5 in the win.
Dates of playoff games and ticket information will be released in the coming days.
The first half champion Indians kick off the second half of the season tomorrow with Kid's Night & OTTO's Birthday Bash presented by Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, 95.3 KPND, and Kids Newspaper. OTTO's mascot friends will be on hand and we'll have great activities for kids all night long. Kids are encouraged to stick around after the game and circle the bases courtesy of Supercuts. The game starts at 6:30 PM with gates opening at 5:30 PM. Tickets for all Spokane Indians home games are available for purchase at the Avista Stadium Ticket Office or at spokaneindians.com. Reserve your seats today by calling (509) 343-OTTO (6886) or TicketsWest at 1-800-325-SEAT.
• Discuss this story on the Northwest League message board...
Northwest League Stories from July 25, 2016
- Indians Clinch NWL North Division First Half Title in Dramatic Final Day - Spokane Indians
- Nick Zammarelli Wins Northwest League Offensive Player of the Week - Everett AquaSox
- Devils Dump Hops in Dramatic Ninth - Hillsboro Hops
- Tri-City Wins on a Walk off Single - Tri-City Dust Devils
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
