Tri-City Blanks Vancouver to End 2023 on Winning Note

The Tri-City Dust Devils (24-40 2H, 58-72) got big hits late and strong pitching throughout their 2023 season finale to shut out the Vancouver Canadians (39-27 2H, 77-54) by a 3-0 score Sunday night at Gesa Stadium.

Neither team scored through the first six plus innings of the contest, held off the board by sharp pitching by both sides. Starters Keythel Key of Tri-City (3.2 IP, 1 H, 4 Ks) and Rafael Sanchez of Vancouver (4.2 IP, 2 H, 7 Ks) set the tone early, with neither pitcher allowing a runner past second base in their outings.

Dust Devils reliever Julian Smith (1-0) took the torch from Key, covering the middle frames by going 3.1 innings with four strikeouts and only allowing two hits. The lefty from Concord, North Carolina made six outings for Tri-City on the season after coming over from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, holding teams scoreless in all but one of those appearances.

Canadians hurler Eric Pardinho (2-2) started similarly, taking over for Sanchez in the 5^th and matching Smith to two outs in the bottom of the 7^th. There LF Joe Stewart drew a two-out walk to extend the inning and put a speedy runner on first. 1B Cam Williams came up and continued his slugging ways, sending a line drive to deep left center out of the reach of Vancouver C Dasan Brown and rolling to the fence. Stewart flew around from first to score and give the Dust Devils a late 1-0 lead.

Though the Dust Devils had broken through, it was still just a one-run lead on a Vancouver offense that has excelled in late-game situations throughout 2023. Big hits in groups had both helped them to the First Half title and the 2023 Northwest League Championship Series, as well as a six-game sweep of Tri-City four weeks previous in Vancouver.

It would not be so on this night, on which the Dust Devils would get the big hits they needed for two insurance runs in the bottom of the 8^th inning. SS Caleb Ketchup drew a one-out walk and quickly stole second. CF Joe Redfield then singled him home to double the lead to 2-0. Later in the inning RF Alexander Ramirez got a two-out, two-on opportunity and converted by chopping a ball through the right side to score Redfield for the final 3-0 margin.

Righty Ben Thompson would take it from there for his first professional save. The South Bend, Indiana native went six up/six down with at times dominating stuff, striking out three via a mix of fastballs and off-speed pitches, to complete the save. He was also the beneficiary of an interference call in the top of the 9^th inning involving SS Josh Kasevich, who was ruled to have interfered with Thompson as he attempted to field a swinging bunt down the first base line. Canadians manager Brent Lavallee argued the call and was ejected, with the skipper missing the final two outs.

As well, the win tonight for Tri-City gave the Northwest League Second Half title to the Everett AquaSox, who needed a Dust Devils win to secure it. Everett and Vancouver will play in the Northwest League Championship Series, beginning with Game 1 of the best-of-five series at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night at Funko Field in Everett. Game 2 will be held the following night, also at 7:05 p.m., with the scene shifting to Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium for Game 3 on Friday, September 15^th. Games 4 and 5, if necessary, will also be held in Vancouver on Saturday and Sunday at the Nat.

A crowd of 2,210 enjoyed the final game of the season at Gesa Stadium for Tri-City, who set a new single-season attendance record with 120,417 fans streaming through the gates. The crowd enjoyed one more postgame fireworks show to close out the year, presented by CO-Energy, and also were greeted by the players and staff on the way out in thanks for their support.

With the final out recorded, the Dust Devils both close the books on the 2023 campaign and look toward 2024, their fourth year as the proud High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. For more information on Dust Devils single game, season, mini-plan (11, 22, 33) and group tickets for the 2024 season, 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). The office will be closed on Monday, September 11, reopening on Tuesday, the 12^th.