Rally Rooster Rises in 9th: Columbia River Walks Off Spokane

A walk-off single by SS Osmy Gregorio capped a three-run comeback rally for the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-25) in the bottom of the 9^th inning, giving them a thrilling 8-7 win over the Spokane Indians (26-24) Sunday afternoon in front of 1,657 at Gesa Stadium.

Tri-City, as the Columbia River Rooster Tails, was down to its final three outs and trailing 7-5 after Spokane 3B Sterlin Thompson slugged his second solo home run of the day over the right field wall in the top of the 9^th. The two-out blast was the only hit or baserunner allowed by Rooster Tails reliever Nick Jones (2-3) in getting the final six outs.

Columbia River’s rally began with one out in the last of the 9^th. 2B Adrian Placencia took a pitch from Indians closer Angel Chivilli (1-4) out to right field for a no-doubter solo home run, bringing the Rooster Tails within a run at 7-6. The homer was Placencia’s sixth of the season, all coming since May 14.

1B Gabe Matthews stepped up to bat, working the count full after falling behind 0-2. The 3-2 pitch from Chivilli found the strike zone. It also found the barrel of Matthews’ bat, going back-to-back over the fence in right for a game-tying home run that made it a 7-7 game.

The rally restarted after RF Alexander Ramirez hit a fly ball caught on the warning track in right-center for the second out of the bottom of the 9^th. 3B Werner Blakely sent a high bloop down the left field line, falling inside the line fair for an opposite field single. C Gustavo Campero singled to right and Blakely moved up to second and into scoring position as the winning run.

That brought up Gregorio, who grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle and through the infield into center. Blakely rounded third and headed for home, scoring without a throw and setting off a wild celebration. The game-winning was Gregorio’s second of the season, coming weeks after his May 11 walk-off bunt to beat Eugene.

The Rooster Tails bounced back from giving up four home runs in the game on a windless day in the Tri-Cities. Thompson took Columbia River starter Connor Van Scoyoc deep on the first pitch of the game to give Spokane a 1-0 1^st inning lead. The advantage doubled later in the inning on a solo shot to center by LF Jordan Beck, his league-leading 14^th of the season.

Their lead did not survive the inning, as the home nine scored three runs in the bottom of the 1^st on the same play. Placencia reached on an error and Matthews walked, setting the table for Ramirez. He swung at the first pitch he saw from Indians starter Brayan Castillo, crushing a line drive to left center field that rolled to the wall, scoring both Placencia and Matthews. An attempt to throw Ramirez out at third went wide on a throwing error, giving him just enough time to get home and slide in safely for a 3-2 Rooster Tails lead.

Spokane retook the lead in the 3^rd on a two-run double by Beck, who added a double later for a three extra-base hit day. That 4-3 lead would not last long either, with Columbia River getting RBI singles from Gregorio and CF Joe Stewart to lead 5-4 through four innings.

A combination of Van Scoyoc and reliever Nathan Burns held the lead to the 8^th, where the Indians again used the longball to reclaim the lead. RF Yanquiel Fernandez stepped up after a walk to CF Benny Montgomery and homered to right off Willian Suarez to give Spokane a 6-5 lead, but the Rooster Tails’ final salvo sent the fans home happy and secured a series split for Tri-City.

The win kept the Rooster Tails/Dust Devils within 1.5 games of first place Vancouver in the Northwest League First Half race. It also evened the season series at five games apiece with their Inland Northwest rivals Spokane, with any possible tiebreaker between them settled when they meet in the Lilac City in just over two weeks.

Next up for Tri-City: the Eugene Emeralds, with a six-game series scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday night in the original Emerald City. Broadcast coverage of the game begins with the pregame show at 6:15 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.

The next homestand for the Dust Devils begins Tuesday, June 13, when they host the Everett AquaSox on both a Trivia and Coca-Cola Tuesday. Tickets for the Everett series are on sale now, with special ticket rates available for groups of 20 or more. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets, visit dustdevilsbaseball.com, call the team office at (509) 544-8789, or visit the team office (10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on game nights, or Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. otherwise).