Tri-City Takes Down Hillsboro for Series Split
Starter Jack Kochanowicz delivered a quality start and 1B Gabe Matthews hit a late two-run homer Sunday afternoon, pushing the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-12) past the Hillsboro Hops (9-12) to a 5-1 win at Ron Tonkin Field that handed both teams a series split. Kochanowicz (1-0) gave the Dust Devils
Starter Jack Kochanowicz delivered a quality start and 1B Gabe Matthews hit a late two-run homer Sunday afternoon, pushing the Tri-City Dust Devils (8-12) past the Hillsboro Hops (9-12) to a 5-1 win at Ron Tonkin Field that handed both teams a series split.
Kochanowicz (1-0) gave the Dust Devils his longest start of 2023, going six innings and giving up only one run on four hits and regularly bringing home a fastball in the mid to upper 90s throughout his outing. Though he hit a batter, the righty from Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania issued no walks and struck out two in 74 pitches, retiring the last seven Hops batters he faced.
The righty also got support from his teammates, both with errorless defense and enough runs at the plate. Tri-City opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd inning when RF Alexander Ramirez scored on an RBI single by LF Osmy Gregorio for a 1-0 lead. Ramirez singled in front of Gregorio, stealing second and moving to third on a balk before coming home to score.
Hillsboro would tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the 4th inning on a two-out RBI single by 2B Channy Ortiz. From there, though, the Dust Devils’ pitching staff did not allow a baserunner for the rest of the game, as the bullpen assisted Kochanowicz’s effort with one perfect inning each from relievers Nathan Burns, Nick Jones and Kelvin Caceres. In total, Tri-City pitching retired the final 16 Hops hitters in order.
The decisive blow came in the top of the 7th inning, which started with a single to left by DH Joe Stewart. Matthews came up and launched an 0-2 pitch deep to right, just out of the reach of Hillsboro RF Gary Mattis, Jr., and over the fence for his first round-tripper of 2023. The blast gave the Dust Devils a 3-1 lead.
The visitors then added two more in the 9th. SS Adrian Placencia drew a leadoff walk and scored from first when Stewart came up and lined a double to right that bounced to the wall, making it 4-1 Tri-City. Stewart, who went 2 for 4 in his third multi-hit game of the series, scored on a Ramirez RBI groundout for the final 5-1 margin.
On a winning note, the Dust Devils will travel northward for the second leg of their road trip, visiting the Everett AquaSox for a six-game series beginning Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Funko Field. Lefty Sammy Natera, Jr. (0-0, 0.87 ERA) will get the start for Tri-City, with the game broadcast beginning with pregame coverage at 6:45 p.m. both here and at the MiLB First Pitch app.
Following the series in Everett, the Dust Devils return home for a two-week homestand beginning Tuesday, May 9th, against the Eugene Emeralds. It’s another Coca-Cola Tuesday, with 21 oz. Coke products for $2 all night.
Tickets for the upcoming homestand are on sale, with special ticket rates are 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).