Dust Devils Bounce Back, Beat AquaSox

EVERETT – Shaking off Wednesday’s extra-inning heartbreaker the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-14) grabbed the lead early Thursday night and never let it go, taking a 7-3 win over the Everett AquaSox (12-18) at Funko Field and retaking the series lead at two games to one.

RF Randy De Jesus had a big night at the plate, starting off with a long home run to right-center off of Everett starter Ashton Izzi (0-1) that gave Tri-City a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2^nd inning. The Dust Devils added two more in the frame, one on an RBI double by DH Ben Gobbel and another on a fielder’s choice off the bat of 2B Adrian Placencia. The AquaSox responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 2^nd, but starter Ryan Costeiu stranded the bases loaded to preserve a one-run lead. The Tri-City returnee went three innings in his 2025 debut for the club, striking out four and handing the torch to Logan Britt (2-0).

Britt picked up where he left off last Friday, collecting a second straight win by throwing four scoreless innings and also striking out four. A De Jesus RBI groundout in the 5^th pushed the Dust Devils lead to 4-2, and the visitors put up three more runs in the 6^th via an RBI single by Placencia and a two-run double to left by SS Capri Ortiz. Everett made one more late push, but Bellevue, Washington native A.J. Block came in and again shut down any hopes of a home comeback, getting the last four outs for his MiLB-leading eighth save.

DUST DEVILS NOTES

-Tri-City’s record when scoring first improved to 8-3 with the win, the second-best mark in the Northwest League in that category. The win also moved Pasco, Kennewick and Richland's team into a solo second place position in the NWL First Half race, two games behind the Hillsboro Hops.

-3B Arol Vera contributed at the plate for the second straight night, going 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. The switch-hitting infielder has gone 5-for-8 in his two games in Everett this week, bringing some added punch to the bottom of the order.

-Randy De Jesus (2-4, HR, RBI groundout), Ben Gobbel (2-3, RBI 2B, SAC) and Adrian Placencia (2-5, RBI 1B, R) assembled multi-hit games for the Dust Devils, part of a ten-hit attack. The AquaSox, meanwhile, had 11 hits, all of which were singles.

STARTING THE WEEKEND EARLY

Tri-City and Everett play an early afternoon ballgame Friday, slated for 1:05 p.m. at Funko Field. Right-hander Austin Gordon (2-1, 5.61 ERA) ascends the mound for the Dust Devils, facing off against AquaSox right-hander Ryan Hawks (3-2, 5.48 ERA).

Broadcast coverage, available for free at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 12:45 p.m.

Following the series, Tri-City returns home to host the Hillsboro Hops for a six-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 13^th at Gesa Stadium, where it will be Mental Health Awareness Night presented by Coordinated Care as well as another Coca-Cola Tuesday.

For tickets to the upcoming Hillsboro homestand and for all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.