Early Homer Not Enough for Dust Devils to Cool Off AquaSox
EVERETT – 1B Ryan Nicholson continued a hot start to June with a 1st inning two-run home run Wednesday night, but the offense of the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-33) managed only one more hit the rest of the night in a 5-2 loss to the Everett AquaSox (31-28) at Funko
EVERETT – 1B Ryan Nicholson continued a hot start to June with a 1st inning two-run home run Wednesday night, but the offense of the Tri-City Dust Devils (26-33) managed only one more hit the rest of the night in a 5-2 loss to the Everett AquaSox (31-28) at Funko Field.
Nicholson’s longball, his second during the team’s time in the Snohomish County seat this week, came with DH Adrian Placencia aboard and gave Tri-City starter Chris Cortez (1-2) a 2-0 lead before he took the mound. The righty allowed only a walk in his first two innings of work, but things got away from him in the bottom of the 3rd. There he walked two and hit a batter, with all three coming in to score on two-out hits to give Everett a 3-2 lead. The AquaSox would not get more off Cortez, who gutted through five innings to keep the Dust Devils in the ballgame, but two solo home runs for the home nine padded the lead in the 7th. Tri-City could not get anything going against the Everett bullpen, who sent out four pitchers to hold the visitors both scoreless and hitless for the final six innings. Right-hander Taylor Dollard (1-0), once a highly regarded Seattle Mariners pitching prospect before injuries took nearly two seasons away from him, went 2.1 innings for the win in his first affiliate-level outing since April of 2023. AquaSox switch pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje got the start and went three innings, coming up gimpy after covering first base on the final out of the top of the 3rd.
DUST DEVILS NOTES
-3B Ben Gobbel had the other hit for the Dust Devils, an infield single in the top of the 3rd inning. The well-placed grounder extended his hitting streak to five games and his on-base streak to eight consecutive.
-Reliever A.J. Block, pitching not far from his home of Bellevue, Washington, threw a scoreless inning in the bottom of the 8th inning, bringing his ERA for the season down to 1.98.
-Tri-City’s defeat leaves them with a tragic number of three in the Northwest League First Half race. A combination of Dust Devils losses + wins by either Everett or Vancouver will eliminate them from the race. The good news? If the squad cannot make the comeback, they will get another chance to make the NWL Championship Series when records reset a week from Friday for the start of the Second Half. The team with the best record in the Second Half, whether they win it or finish second to the First Half winner, will qualify for the postseason.
ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO GET OFF THE SCHNEID
Tri-City visits Everett for game three of their six-game series at 7:05 p.m. Thursday night at Funko Field. Right-hander Ryan Johnson (0-2, 3.26 ERA) goes for the Dust Devils, with right-hander Ashton Izzi (1-2, 3.50 ERA) taking the hill for the AquaSox.
Free broadcast coverage of the game, available at dustdevilsbaseball.com and the MiLB app, begins with the Dust Devils Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m.
Tri-City returns home after the road series to host the league-leading Hillsboro Hops for a six-game series beginning on a Coca-Cola Tuesday night, June 17th, at 7:05 p.m. The first three games of the series will conclude the First Half, with the Second Half beginning Friday, June 20th.
For tickets to the Hillsboro series, and for all 2025 Dust Devils home games, visit the official ticket site, dustdevilsbaseball.com.
(Note: due to technical issues the recap of Tuesday night’s action in Everett did not go out via e-blast. You may find it HERE.)