Late Comeback Effort Falls Short: Dust Devils Held off by Hops

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NWL Tri-City Dust Devils

Late Comeback Effort Falls Short: Dust Devils Held off by Hops

April 24, 2025 - Northwest League (NWL)
Tri-City Dust Devils News Release


Tri-City Dust Devils first baseman Matt Coutney
Tri-City Dust Devils first baseman Matt Coutney
(Tri-City Dust Devils)

HILLSBORO - The Tri-City Dust Devils (9-9) turned what looked like a laugher into a game with late intrigue Thursday afternoon, rallying for five runs in the final two innings but falling 10-6 to the Hillsboro Hops (12-6) on a schoolchildren's day at Hillsboro Ballpark.

A four-run 8th inning brought Tri-City back within shouting distance after trailing 10-1. 1B Matt Coutney, who launched a long solo home run to right-center in the 4th inning to get the Dust Devils on the board, laced a two-run single to right to make it a 10-3 game. SS Capri Ortiz and 3B Ben Gobbel followed with run-scoring singles of their own to get it to 10-5. 2B Adrian Placencia then led off the 9th inning with a triple, coming home on LF Joe Redfield's RBI groundout, but the visitors fell a couple runners shy of bringing the tying run to the plate.

DUST DEVILS NOTES

-Matt Coutney's best day at the plate in 2025 (2-2, HR, BB, SAC, 3 RBI) paced the Tri-City offense, with the left-hand hitting Albertan almost hitting a second home run in the 6th. Coutney sent a shot down the right field line near the foul pole, with the Dust Devils dugout disputing the decision of foul ball. The umpires conferred and let the call stand, with Coutney reaching via walk a couple of pitches later.

-Right-handed starter Keythel Key (0-1) got roughed up for the first time in 2025, giving up eight runs on nine hits in four innings of work. The native of Venezuela had not given up a home run in his first two starts, but Hillsboro sent two over the fence off the young righty. Reliever Sandy Gastón gave up a pair of runs in two innings of work, and Sam Ryan finished the day with two scoreless innings to continue a strong start to the season.

-The Dust Devils had three hitters produce multi-hit games, with Adrian Placencia (2-4, 2B, 3B, BB) and CF Alexander Ramirez (2-5) joining Coutney in that department. DH Ryan Nicholson (1-3, 2B, BB, HBP) extended his on-base streak to 17 games, and Joe Redfield (1-5) singled to start off the four-run 8th inning.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, BASEBALL EDITION

Game four of Tri-City and Hillsboro's six-game series returns to a regularly scheduled time of 6:35 p.m. Friday at Hillsboro Ballpark. The Dust Devils will look to right-hander Chris Cortez (0-1, 5.68 ERA) to help even the series at two games apieces, while the Hops send righty John West (1-0, 4.97 ERA) to the hill as part of efforts to secure at least a split.

Broadcast coverage of the game, available for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, starts with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:15 p.m.

The series continues through Sunday afternoon, with Tri-City then returning home to take on their Inland Northwest rivals, the Spokane Indians, for a six-game series beginning Tuesday, April 29th at 6:30 p.m. For tickets to games in the Spokane series, as well as for all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.

Check out the Tri-City Dust Devils Statistics




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Tri-City Dust Devils first baseman Matt Coutney
Tri-City Dust Devils first baseman Matt Coutney
   

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