Unlucky Hops Open Second Half with 5-4 Loss at Tri-City
NWL Hillsboro Hops

Unlucky Hops Open Second Half with 5-4 Loss at Tri-City

Published on June 21, 2025 under Northwest League (NWL)
Hillsboro Hops News Release


PASCO, WASH. --- The stage was set for the Hops to come all the way back.

And then, suddenly, it wasn't.

After allowing four runs in the bottom of the first inning to the Tri-City Dust Devils on Friday night at Gesa Stadium, Hillsboro had trailed throughout the game. In the top of the eighth inning, they had cut the deficit to 5-4, and they had the bases loaded and none out. Anderdson Rojas, facing hard-throwing right-hander Jake Smith with the infield in, hit a blur 104 mph off the bat, right at first baseman Ryan Nicholson for a line drive double play. That left runners at second and third and two out. The next batter, Kenny Castillo, scorched one to third that caromed off third baseman Cole Fontenelle, redirected to the shortstop Arol Vera, who was about 40 feet away. It was hit so hard that Vera had time to throw out Castillo and prevent the tying run from scoring.

A two-out walk gave the Hops one final chance in the ninth inning, but Najer Victor induced Junior Franco to pop out to end the game. Hillsboro is 0-1 in the second half, while Tri-City is 1-0.

The game began as a battle between former ACC pitchers, John West of the Hops (out of Boston College) and Austin Gordon of the Tri-City Dust Devils (out of Clemson). West immediately ran into problems in the first inning, issuing and leadoff walk and four consecutive singles for three runs, with a fourth run scoring when Randy DeJesus grounded into a double play.

West settled in after the game's first five batters, retiring 16 of the final 18 he faced. The Hops hit the comeback trail, scoring a run in the fourth (on Cristofer Torin's first home run of the season) and two more in the fifth (on a two-out walk drawn by Slade Caldwell and consecutive doubles by Ryan Waldschmidt and Ben McLaughlin) to cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Dust Devils plated a run in the bottom of the seventh, which turned out to be the difference in the game. West walked Matt Coutney leading off the inning, then struck out DeJesus. Victor Morales came out of the bullpen and walked Adrian Placencia, then gave up a run-scoring single to Arol Vera. Tri-City left the bases loaded, but they had increased the lead to 5-3.

Then came the top of the eighth. McLaughlin led off the frame with a cue-shot single inside the third base bag, then Torin drew a walk. Smith came out of the bullpen and, on his first pitch, beaned Hops first baseman Jackson Feltner, breaking the ear flap of his batting helmet. Feltner stayed on his feet but was removed from the game in favor of pinch-runner Kevin Sim.

A wild pitch brought home a run to cut Tri-City's lead to 5-4, and Druw Jones drew a walk to re-load the bases. It appeared as though the Hops were finally going to grab the lead, but Rojas and Castillo's ill-fated rockets ended the inning with the tying run still at third.

The Hops, incredibly, are now 2-for-34 with runners in scoring position through the first four games of the series, losing all four, three of them by one run.

Hillsboro will look to capture their first win of the second half on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05PM, with the radio pregame show beginning at 6:50 on Rip City Radio 620AM and www.RipCityRadio.com.

By Rich Burk

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Northwest League Stories from June 21, 2025


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