NWL: Tri-City holds off late Vancouver rally
Vancouver managed to load the bases and push a run across in the bottom of the ninth, but in the end the Dust Devils prevailed Monday, beating the Canadians 4-1 in Vancouver in the final game of a three-game series.
The Dust Devils (14-11) salvaged the final game of the set after dropping the first two, and in turn reclaimed their lead in the Northwest League North division.
Tri-City took a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and looked to be well on their way to a victory with one man on and two outs, but the Canadians (13-12) wouldn’t go quietly. Christian Williams walked and Bryan Lizardo singled to load the bases, then pitcher Will Stillman walked in Vancouver’s first run with Yelstin Gudino at the plate. Dust Devils manager Ben Fritz then decided to bring in David Bednar with the bases loaded, and he delivered, striking out Javier Hernandez to strand the bases loaded and pick up his second career save.
Tri-City scored the first runs of the game in the fourth when Nate Easley scored on a throwing error by Vancouver catcher Javier Hernandez. Luis Asuncion then drove in Buddy Reed with a two-out single to give the Dust Devils a 2-0 lead.
Aldemar Burgos hit a two-out double in the seventh and then was driven by Easley, who later scored by advancing to second on a balk, and then came home from second via a throwing error on a hit that didn’t leave the infield.
In his second professional start, Padres second-round draft pick Joey Lucchesi lived up to the hype, allowing just one baserunner in his three innings of work. Evan Miller (1-0), Chasen Ford and Mark Zimmerman carried the Dust Devils into the ninth and pitched five innings of three-hit, shutout relief.
The Dust Devils have their first off-day of the season Tuesday and will travel back from The Great White North to Gesa Stadium to begin a five-game series with the Eugene Emeralds on Wednesday. First pitch for all home games is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.
Dust Devils 4, Canadians 0
Tri-City ab | r | h | bi | Vancouver ab | r | h | bi | ||
Easley 2b | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Biggio 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Magee cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | L.Jones rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Baker ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Woodman cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ovrstreet c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | J.Anderson dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
B.White 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | C.Williams 1b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Asuncion rf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Lizardo 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Mattison 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gudino ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Mgdlno dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | J.Hrnandez c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Burgos lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Orozco lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals 32 | 4 | 6 | 2 | Totals 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | ||
Tri-City | 000 | 200 | 200 | — | 4 |
Vancouver | 000 | 000 | 001 | — | 6 |
E—J. Hernandez (1), Lizardo (7). DP—Tri-City 1, Vancouver 1. LOB—Tri-City 4, Vancouver 4. 2B—Overstreet (2), Burgos (4), C. Williams (4). SB—Reed (4).
Tri-City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Lucchesi | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
E.Miller | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
C.Ford H, 2 | 1 1/3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Zimmerman | 1 2/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Stillman | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Bednar | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Vancouver | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Higuera L, 1-3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Noyalis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Huffman | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Hartman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Smoral | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
WP—Miller, Ford, Zimmerman, Higuera. Balk—Huffman . Umpires—H, Ben Phillips; F, Joe Gonzalez. T—2:50. A—6,413.
This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 10:28 PM with the headline "NWL: Tri-City holds off late Vancouver rally."