SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- The rollercoasters at Silverwood had nothing on the ups and downs of last night's game at Spokane's Avista Stadium.
In front of a season-high crowd of 6,814, the Hillsboro Hops (23-30 second half, 55-64 overall) had season highs in hits and runs and overcame an early eight run deficit to outlast the Indians 15-13 Saturday night.
All nine Hops contributed hits, but three players had particularly memorable performances. First baseman Chris Katz went 5-for-6 with a double and a home run in his professional debut. Abdias De La Cruz put his 0-for-12 start in a Hops uniform in the rear view mirror with a monster game, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth, four RBI and four runs scored. And 19-year-old catcher Ivan Luciano hit three consecutive RBI doubles, reaching base four times and driving in four runs.
Four days after Spokane (25-27, 54-64) stormed back from an eight-run deficit to defeat Hillsboro in the opening game of the series, the Hops returned the favor. The Indians sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning, scoring eight runs after Hillsboro had taken a 1-0 lead in the top half.
The Indians made it a 9-1 lead when Kelvin Hidalgo drew a bases loaded walk off Luke Dotson in the second. Starting pitcher Junior Ciprian had already departed after surrendering six runs on three hits and two walks in the first. Robert Calaz smashed a three-run homer to right in a frame that also featured a wild pitch, a failed attempt to throw a runner out at the plate, two errors and a bloop single that bounced off an infielder's glove on an attempted basket catch. In short, perhaps the ugliest inning of the season for the Hops.
By inning four, the game was a complete reset. The Hops scored three in the third. J.D. Dix followed a leadoff walk to De La Cruz with a one-out, two-RBI homer just to the right of the scoreboard in left field. With two outs and none on, Katz blooped a single to left center and Luciano's first double sent the former Mercer Bear home to make the score 9-4 Spokane.
The Southern Conference Player Of The Year, Katz is the first 2026 draft pick to join the Hops roster after being selected in the 9th round by the Diamondbacks. The Raleigh native picked right up from his record-setting year in Macon and All SoCon Tournament Team performance by collecting hits in his first four plate appearances, starting with a first-inning double that put Dix in position to score the Hops first run on a balk.
The two-out, none on scoring rally was just the start as the Hops would score 11 of their 15 runs on the night with two outs. In the fourth, a Jose Mejia single and Wallace Clark walk set up De La Cruz for an RBI double off the top of the right field wall. Indians starting pitcher Angel Jimenez left the game after striking out Slade Caldwell for the first out of the inning. Case Williams came out of the Indians bullpen to fan Dix, but then the two out magic returned.
Kayson Cunningham laced a single to left to plate two. Katz singled to left center field, then Luciano followed with a two-RBI, two-bagger and the Hops had pulled even 9-9.
Not for long. Alan Espinal greeted Hops reliever Joangel Gonzalez with a leadoff home run tin the bottom of the fourth to put the Indians back up 10-9. After the struggles of Ciprian and Dotson (six hits and two walks, three runs allowed over two innings), Gonzalez pitched pretty effectively, limiting the Tribe to the one run over 2 2/3 innings, despite three walks and two hits.
Ten different pitchers would toe the slab on this night and all took some measure of punishment. Tyler Hampu took over on the mound for the Indians in the sixth and retired the first two batters to face him. But Cunningham walked, Katz got his fourth consecutive hit and Luciano evened the score 10-10 with his third double, a one-hopper off the left field fence.
The Hops repeated the scenario in the seventh. Hampu again retired the first two, but De La Cruz smashed a double off the left field wall and Slade Caldwell followed with an RBI triple to the right center gap to give the Hops their first lead, 11-10.
Joe Ariola (2-0) came out of the Hops pen with one out in the sixth inning and ran into trouble when Derek Bernard ripped a grounder off his leg for an infield hit and Hidalgo walked on four pitches. A wild pitch moved them into scoring position, but the former Wake Forest lefty fanned Tommy Hopfe and Roldy Brito back-to-back to end the threat, then set down the first two Indians batters in the seventh before Calaz stepped back to the plate.
At one time the #4 prospect in the Rockies organization, Calaz has struggled much of the season, but has been destroying the ball all week. Already on base four times in this game, Calaz belted his second home run of the night out to right to even the score 11-11.
But the Hops pulled another two-out rabbit out of the hat. Luciano drew a leadoff walk from righthander Dylan Crooks (6-2) to start the eighth. Two outs later, Clark singled through the shortstop hole. De La Cruz, hitting in the nine-hole, stepped in and crushed a 1-1 pitch over the wall in center to give Hillsboro the lead for good, 14-11.
Katz's final hit of the night, a solo homer to left in the ninth off Isaiah Coupet, turned out to be a little extra seasoning, although the Indians made it interesting in the bottom of the inning, putting the first three batters aboard against lefty closer Luke Craig.
Ethan Hedges drove in Tommy Hopfe with a line single up the middle to bring power-hitting cleanup man Tanner Thach and his 100 RBI to the plate, representing the tying run with nobody out. Craig struck out his former UNC Wilmington teammate and became the first pitcher to get Calaz out when he grounded into a 6-4 fielder's choice, which scored Brito from third.
Two outs, 15-13 Hops lead and Roynier Hernandez walked on four pitches to put the tying run on base. But Craig got Espinal to ground out to Yassel Soler at third and the incredible comeback was complete after three hours and 42 minutes, the second-longest nine inning game the Hops have played since the institution of the pitch clock.
Ariola struck out five Indians over 2 2/3 innings, giving up two hits, one run and one walk. Hillsboro went 7-13 with runners in scoring position on the night. Spokane was just 3-17 and stranded 12 on the bases.
The Hops will try to clinch the season series Sunday when the teams wrap up the series at 1:05 p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 12:50 on RIp City Radio 620.