Jack O'Dowd draws walk-off walk, Spokane Indians edge Hillsboro 2-1 | NWL baseball

A manager will try everything in the book to steal a win, but sometimes the other team ends up gifting it to you.

Jack O'Dowd walked with the bases loaded in the ninth inning - the third consecutive walk in the inning - and the Spokane Indians edged the Hillsboro Hops 2-1 in the third of a six-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium on Thursday.

The Indians (22-32) had lost four of their last five and were eliminated from the first-half race with their loss on Sunday.

"We've just got to keep showing up, keep playing, keep trying to get better," O'Dowd said. "We just want to try and be as good as we can going into that second half."

Kevin Fitzer led off the ninth with a line drive off the top of the left field wall for a long single, but Kelvin Hidalgo popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt and Fitzer held at first. Tommy Hopfe doubled to right and Hillsboro threw to the wrong bag so manager Tom Sutaris waived Fitzer home, but the average-speed runner was thrown out at home by several steps.

"We were hoping to get that lead off guy on, bunt him over, and that didn't work out," Sutaris said. "Then Tommy had a big hit, and we probably got a little over aggressive on the send."

Hops reliever John West intentionally walked Jacob Humphrey - the Indians leading hitter at .304 - but then couldn't find the strike zone again when asked to. He walked Ethan Hedges on four straight pitches, then O'Dowd worked the count to 3-1 before West's 64th pitch of the night, a fastball, sailed wide.

"I knew after that four pitch walk to Hedges right before me, I knew (West) was kind of feeling it a little bit," O'Dowd said. "I knew I had to be patient in that spot, and he missed a couple early in the count. I was ready to go 3-1, but he missed up, so it worked out."

"That's about guys, you know, taking what the game gives them, and hunting pitches," Sutaris said. "One of our big focuses is making sure we swing at the right pitches, and we take the right pitches, and we did a nice job of that to finish up the game. It's kind of nice to see it show up in real time."

Indians starter Lebarron Johnson Jr. made just one mistake, a solo home run. Otherwise, he was solid over five innings, allowing four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Johnson threw 69 pitches, 45 for strikes.

He was outdone - slightly - by Hillsboro starter Wellington Aracena, who limited the Indians to four hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 52/3 shutout innings.

Hillsboro (24-30) finally broke the scoreless tie in the fifth inning, when Yassel Soler clubbed a long drive down the left field line where the only question was if it would stay fair. It did, for his fifth home run of the season and a 1-0 lead.

The Indians stranded runners in scoring position in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings against Aracena.

Alan Espinal led off the seventh with a single against reliever John West, and Kelvin Hidalgo drew a two-out walk. But reliever John West got Tommy Hopge to roll over for the third out.

Ethan Hedges delivered a one-out single in the eighth, and a wild pitch sent him over to second with two down. This time, Robert Calaz's bouncer got between the first base bag and the Hillsboro fielder for a single and Hedges scored without a throw to tie it.

Calaz, the Colorado Rockies No. 5 prospect, went 2-for-3 and is hitting .251 this season - up from a season-low .203 at the end of April.

"(Calaz) is 20 years old, he's a really uber talented kid, and he's learning the game, and he keeps getting better," Sutaris said. "If you look at where he's been and where he's going, that's what it's all about."

Max Belyeu drew a walk, prompting a mound visit, but Espinal lined out hard to center to end the rally.

"The message, as it has been, is be ready for tomorrow," Sutaris said. "Come out, prepare and go play tomorrow's game."

The Indians went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the game and left 12 runners on base.

The series continues Friday at 6:35 p.m.

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