Dust Devils Fight Hard, Emeralds Shine Late
Published on August 17, 2025 under Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils catcher Juan Flores at bat
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
PASCO - The Tri-City Dust Devils (25-22 2H, 55-58) fought back from a 3-0 deficit to tie up Saturday's contest with the Eugene Emeralds (34-13 2H, 66-47), but the visitors piled up seven runs late and six runs in the top of the 9th alone to pull away for a 10-3 win that guaranteed the league leaders a split series at minimum.
Tri-City first got on the board in the bottom of the 5th inning when C Juan Flores launched a solo home run over the wall in left to get his club within two at 3-1. An inning later, the Dust Devils tied it after loading the bases with one out in the 6th. 3B Cole Fontenelle hit a high fly deep to left in foul territory that was caught on the warning track. All three runners initially advanced 90 feet, with CF Anthony Scull scoring easily from third. SS Capri Ortiz, who started the play at second, got to third but saw the throw rolling aimlessly to the infield. He raced home and scored to tie the game at 3-3.
The tie held to the 8th, where the Emeralds got back in front on a two-out RBI single by CF Jonah Cox off a pitch from Tri-City reliever Yendy Gomez (0-2). The 4-3 lead then expanded further in the 9th, with Eugene stringing together four two-out hits off of Gomez to get a pair of insurance runs and drive him out of the game. The Dust Devils found themselves out of pitchers for the second time in the series, so catcher Peter Burns was called upon to get the final out of the frame. Three more hits later three more runs had scored, salting the game away. The win gave the Emeralds both the Second Half tiebreaker and the season series.
Starter Chris Cortez went 3.2 innings for the home nine, giving up two runs on three hits and striking out five for Tri-City. Eugene reliever Josh Wolf (5-3) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings late to get the win.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Capri Ortiz reached base three times, singling once and drawing two walks including a 10-pitch plate appearance in the bottom of the 1st. Ortiz has hit .438 (7-16) for the series, with a pair of doubles and a run driven in.
-Reliever Angelo Smith threw a second scoreless inning for the week, continuing his strong debut both as a Dust Devil and as a professional. The right-hander recently joined the Los Angeles Angels organization as their 18th round draft pick out of the University of Central Florida.
-Around the Northwest League the Hillsboro Hops scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th to walk off the Everett AquaSox 3-2 at Hillsboro Ballpark. At Spokane Valley's Avista Stadium the Vancouver Canadians, Tri-City's next opponent, blew out the Spokane Indians 12-2 to join the Dust Devils in a tie for second place.
ONE MORE, THEN THE ROAD
Tri-City and Eugene close up their 2025 slate in the finale of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Sunday night at Gesa Stadium. It's the team's annual Hat Giveaway, presented by Community Real Estate Group, with the first 500 fans receiving this year's baseball cap.
Tuesday's pitchers face off in a rematch, with Tri-City's Ryan Costeiu (5-6, 5.56 ERA) and Eugene's Josh Bostick (6-5, 3.98 ERA) taking the mound. Bostick struck out a career-high 14 in getting the win Tuesday.
Free broadcast coverage stars with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m., available in the MiLB Zone of Bally Sports Live and at dustdevilsbaseball.com/the MiLB app.
Following the game the team embarks on a 12-game road trip. The squad first crosses the border to take on the Vancouver Canadians before heading to Spokane Valley for six with their Inland Northwest rivals, the Spokane Indians.
For tickets to Sunday night's game with Eugene and the regular season-ending series with Hillsboro, visit the official ticket site: dustdevilsbaseball.com.
Images from this story
 Tri-City Dust Devils catcher Juan Flores at bat |
Northwest League Stories from August 17, 2025
- AquaSox Drop Series Finale to Hops - Everett AquaSox
- Caldwell Delivers Four-Hit Game in Series Finale Win - Hillsboro Hops
- C's Do It All to Win Spokane Finale - Vancouver Canadians
- Cafecitos Can't Brew up a Win in Series Finale - Spokane Indians
- Ryan Sloan Stars in AquaSox Debut - Everett AquaSox
- Dust Devils Fight Hard, Emeralds Shine Late - Tri-City Dust Devils
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