Fantastic Fontenelle Helps Tri-City to Bounce Back Win
HILLSBORO – 3B Cole Fontenelle fell just a double short of the cycle Saturday night at Hillsboro Ballpark, scoring three times to pace the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-13 2H, 46-49) in a 9-7 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (7-22 2H, 40-55) to give the visitors the opportunity for a road
HILLSBORO – 3B Cole Fontenelle fell just a double short of the cycle Saturday night at Hillsboro Ballpark, scoring three times to pace the Tri-City Dust Devils (16-13 2H, 46-49) in a 9-7 victory over the Hillsboro Hops (7-22 2H, 40-55) to give the visitors the opportunity for a road split Sunday.
The switch-hitting hot cornerman first struck at the plate in the top of the 2nd inning, sending a triple into the left center gap to score LF Rio Foster for a 2-0 lead after 2B Adrian Placencia’s 1st inning sacrifice fly. Fontenelle’s second at-bat proved yet more productive, hammering a 4th inning pitch off Hillsboro starter John West (5-7) over the fence in right field and into the net protecting Century Boulevard, moving Tri-City ahead 4-1. A 6th inning single gave Fontenelle an opportunity to hit for his second cycle of the season, having given Double-A Rocket City its first cycle in franchise history in April, but he struck out in the 8th to complete what was still an outstanding performance.
Dust Devils starter Ryan Costeiu (4-5) went five-plus innings for the win, retiring eight in a row at one point and holding back the Hops to give his teammates the chance to put up more runs. Also, C Peter Burns had a fine night on both his sides of the plate, going 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a bases loaded RBI walk as well as throwing out a runner trying to steal second.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-Lefty relievers Leonard Garcia (2 IP, 1 H, 2 Ks) and Dylan Phillips (1 IP, 1 H) covered three innings out of the bullpen without giving up a run. Both have been major factors in relief for Tri-City in 2025, especially in the Second Half.
-RF Randy De Jesus hit his team-leading 15th home run of the season to start off a four-run 6th inning. Rio Foster had a four-game hit streak end but walked twice to extend his on-base streak to 14 games in a row.
-Around the league Hillsboro Ballpark ended up, thankfully, hosting the only non-walkoff game of the night. Vancouver’s Sean Keys socked a three-run home run over the high right field wall at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium to give the Canadians a 5-3 win over the Eugene Emeralds in 10 innings. At Funko Field, a wild pitch in the bottom of the 9th allowed the Everett AquaSox to take a 3-2 win over the Spokane Indians, leaving Tri-City in second place in the standings by themselves.
SUNDAY SPLIT SOUGHT
Tri-City and Hillsboro face off in the series finale of their six-game set at 1:05 p.m. Sunday, also serving as the final game for the squad from Pasco, Kennewick and Richland at Hillsboro Ballpark before the Hops move to a new stadium across the parking lot in 2026. Right-hander Yeferson Vargas, who fell an out shy of getting his first win for the Dust Devils on Tuesday night, gets the start.
Free broadcast coverage, found as always at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 12:45 p.m.
After completing their nine-game Oregon road trip, Tri-City heads home to host the Vancouver Canadians for six games starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night, July 29, where it will be both Ben Hill Night presented by Circle K and a Coca-Cola Tuesday.
For tickets to the Vancouver series, and all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.