10-4, Good Buddy: Tri-City Turns Tables on Hillsboro

PASCO – A six-run 5^th inning rally fueled a comeback victory Thursday night for the Tri-City Dust Devils (7-5), who scored ten unanswered runs in a 10-4 win over the Hillsboro Hops (5-7) at Gesa Stadium that gave the home team a two-games-to-one series lead.

Tri-City trailed 4-0 going to the bottom of the 5^th inning. 3B Caleb Bartolero led off with a single to right, and C Peter Burns drew a walk to give the Dust Devils runners at first and second. LF Gage Harrelson then sent a bunt down the third base line that pressured Hillsboro 3B Yassel Soler to field cleanly and make a quick, accurate throw. Soler did the former but not the latter, with his throw wide of first allowing Bartolero to score from third.

Now trailing 4-1, RF Kevin Bruggeman drew a walk to load the bases and 2B Johan Macias grounded into a fielder’s choice with the out recorded at home. Tri-City still trailed by three and still had the bases loaded, now with one out. DH Jake Munroe came up big again, lining a two-run double off the wall in left to score Harrelson and Bruggeman and make it a 4-3 game. SS Capri Ortiz followed suit with a liner to the right-center gap off Hops reliever Nate Savino (1-1), scoring Macias and Munroe to give the Dust Devils their first lead at 5-4. 1B Matt Coutney followed immediately with an RBI single to center, continuing his strong week and pushing the lead to 6-4.

Reliever Zachary Redner (2-0) backed up the six-spot with a scoreless 6^th inning, getting the win by throwing 2.1 innings and giving up just one run. The offense got right back to work from there, with Burns starting the bottom of the frame by laying down a bunt single and advancing to second on a balk. Macias laid down another bunt, and an errant throw from Hillsboro reliever Sandro Santana allowed Burns to score and stretch the advantage to 7-4.

The lead remained three until the bottom of the 8^th, when patience at the plate from Tri-City and struggles with the strike zone from Hops righty Ricardo Yan led to six walks. Three came with the bases loaded, giving the home nine a six-run cushion for the win.

Dust Devils starter Peyton Olejnik went 3.2 innings and struck out five, giving up three runs in a no-decision.

ON TAP FOR FRIDAY NIGHT: BASEBALL AND BALLISTICS

Tri-City and Hillsboro clash in game four of their six-game series at 6:30 p.m. Friday night at Gesa Stadium, where postgame fireworks will light the sky above the Tri. Right-hander Chris Cortez (0-1, 5.40 ERA) gets the start for the Dust Devils, countered by righty Brian Curley (0-0, 2.16 ERA) of the Hops.

Broadcast coverage begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:10 p.m., found for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com (go to Team, then Listen Live) and the MiLB app. The game can also be watched live for free on the Bally Sports Live app and website, and either live or on-demand via an MLB+ or MLB.tv subscription.

For tickets for the weekend’s games with Hillsboro, as well as all 2026 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.