Tri-City Walked off by Hillsboro
August 31, 2022 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release
Tri-City Dust Devils third baseman Christian Sepulveda
(Tri-City Dust Devils)
The Tri-City Dust Devils (22-33 2H, 51-67) had the Hillsboro Hops (25-30 2H, 54-65) on the ropes Tuesday night, down to their final out, but the home side came back to throw the knockout punch in a 5-4 walk-off win at Ron Tonkin Field.
The Dust Devils held a 4-3 lead with two outs and no one on in the bottom of the 9th inning, in part due to a great defensive play by 3B Christian Sepulveda in which he barehanded a chopper and threw out Hops 3B Deyvison De Los Santos for the second out.
Hillsboro put together the winning rally from there, though, stringing together three hits off Tri-City closer Ivan Armstrong (1-3) and stealing second base twice to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. RF Neyfy Castillo's chopped single off the turf tied the game, and DH Adrian Del Castillo's long fly ball to left center ended it, a single scoring Castillo for the win.
Despite the loss, the Dust Devils got big hits in big moments throughout the game. Tri-City got on the board via a two-out rally in the 4th inning, when Sepulveda doubled to deep left center field to score RF Casey Dana, who singled ahead of him. DH Dylan Phillips followed with a bloop single to left center to score Sepulveda for a 2-1 lead.
After Hillsboro retook the lead in the bottom of the 4th, the visitors came back to tie the game and take the lead late. CF Joe Stewart was hit by a pitch to lead off the 6th inning, scoring on another two-out bloop single by Phillips, this time to right center, to tie the game at 3-3.
1B Gabe Matthews led off the 8th inning with a double to right field, his second of the game. Dana then hit a ball to deep right, past a diving Neyfy Castillo for a triple to score Matthews and give the Dust Devils the 4-3 lead they took to the 9th. The lead would not hold, though, and the Dust Devils' loss, combined with Eugene's 6-1 victory over the Everett AquaSox, officially eliminated the team from postseason contention in 2022.
Despite that Tri-City had solid pitching contributions from both starter Brent Killam, who struck out eight despite only making it 4.2 innings, and relievers Brandon Dufault and Hayden Seig. Dufault threw 2.1 scoreless innings, and Seig followed with a scoreless 8th inning.
The Dust Devils will look to bounce back in game two of their series with the Hops at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday night. Righty Braden Olthoff (2-1, 1.38 ERA) returns to start for Tri-City, and righty Chad Patrick (1-0, 3.07 ERA) gets the nod for Hillsboro.
Tickets for Tri-City's final home series of the regular season, September 6-11 vs. Spokane, are on sale now with special ticket rates are 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 dustdevilsbaseball.com or call 509-544-8789.
Images from this story
 Tri-City Dust Devils third baseman Christian Sepulveda |
Northwest League Stories from August 31, 2022
- Marco Luciano's Homecoming Leads to a 6-1 Win over the AquaSox - Eugene Emeralds
- James Parker Homers in Loss - Everett AquaSox
- Tri-City Walked off by Hillsboro - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Mendoza's Gem, Early Attack Power Series-Opening Win - Vancouver Canadians
- Del Castillo Caps off Three-Hit Night with Walk-Off Single - Hillsboro Hops
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.
