Hops' First-Half Hopes Fizzle in 3-2 Loss at Tri-City
June 18, 2025 - Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release
PASCO, WASH. - Tuesday's loss at Gesa Stadium, late in the first-half pennant chase- like the entire first half of the season for the Hillsboro Hops- was a lesson in missed opportunities. The Hops went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position, and Tri-City scored a run in the bottom of the ninth on an Adrian Placencia double to win 3-2. With that defeat, the Hops- who spent 65 days in first place- were eliminated from the first-half playoff chase with two games remaining.
Less than an hour later, the Vancouver Canadians won their 11th consecutive game (and 19th in the past 21), a 12-8 victory in Eugene that would have eliminated Hillsboro anyway. Vancouver leads Everett by one game, and Everett holds the tiebreaker over the Canadians. The 66-game first half ends on the Thursday, and the second-half pennant race begins on Friday as all teams' records revert to 0-0. In September, the first-half winner will face the second-half winner in the Northwest League Championship Series.
The Hops got on the board first in the top of the third inning when Dust Devils' starter Chris Cortez- the Angels' second-round draft choice in 2024 out of Texas A&M- issued a leadoff walk to Anderdson Rojas. Slade Caldwell singled to right field, sending Rojas to third, and Cristofer Torin lined out to center to bring Rojas home and give Hillsboro a 1-0 lead. After Ben McLaughlin walked, a wild pitch sent the runners to second and third. Cortez, though, struck out Ryan Waldschmidt and Angel Ortiz to prevent further damage.
Hops starter Daniel Nunez had a strong outing, his only mistake coming in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, he issued his only walk, and with two out, Randy DeJesus belted a two-run homer to left to put Tri-City up 2-1. Those were the only two runs Nunez allowed over five innings, with two hits and two strikeouts.
Victor Morales worked a pair of scoreless innings for Hillsboro to keep the deficit at one. The Hops erased that deficit in the top of the eighth, but even then they missed a chance for more.
Waldschmidt and Ortiz had consecutive one-out singles in the eighth to put runners at the corners. Tri-City reliever Najer Victor then uncorked a wild pitch to bring Waldschmidt home with the tying run, and it was 2-2. The next pitch- ball four to Druw Jones- also went to the backstop, a second consecutive wild pitch that again set up a first-and-third situation. But Jean Walters struck out and Kenny Castillo grounded out to end the threat. At that point, the Hops had left nine aboard.
After Hops right-hander Joangel Gonzalez came on to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, Hillsboro had one final chance in the top of the ninth. Slade Caldwell drew a one-out, 10-pitch walk, then stole second base. Torin, though, grounded out, with Caldwell taking third. And left-hander Dylan Phillips came on to retire McLaughlin on a ground-out to short to keep the game tied.
Gonzalez walked Ryan Nicholson to start the bottom of the ninth, and Matt Coutney dropped a soft liner into center for a base hit that sent Nicholson to second. Placencia came up and pulled one inside the bag at first and down the right-field line to score Nicholson and end the game.
It was the third walkoff win for Tri-City in 2025, all against Hillsboro, and all by a 3-2 score. And it was just the third win in the last 16 games for the Dust Devils.
There are five more games remaining in the series, Wednesday through Sunday, each game at 7:05PM. The final three games of the series (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) are the first three games of the season's second half.
Wednesday's radio pregame show begins at 6:50PM on Rip City Radio 620AM, and on the internet at www.RipCityRadio.com.
Northwest League Stories from June 18, 2025
- Indians Come up Short in 9-3 Loss to AquaSox - Spokane Indians
- Tri-City Walks off Hillsboro to Open Series - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Tommy Troy Named Texas League Player of the Week - Hillsboro Hops
- Emerson Powers AquaSox to 5-1 Victory - Everett AquaSox
- Hops' First-Half Hopes Fizzle in 3-2 Loss at Tri-City - Hillsboro Hops
- Magic Number Down to 2 After 11th Straight Win - Vancouver Canadians
- Emeralds Rally Fall Short in Game 1 against Vancouver - Eugene Emeralds
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