SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- The Hillsboro Hops followed up a 15-hit effort Tuesday night with 11 hits against four Spokane Indians pitchers on Wednesday. And this time they got the pitching and defense to match the offensive effort.
J.D. Dix extended his hit streak to seven games and Carlos Virahonda added three hits as the Hops (21-29 second half, 53-63 overall) led wire-to-wire in a 5-2 win over the Indians (24-25, 53-62) in front of a crowd of 5,262 at Avista Stadium.
Five of the Hops' hits went for extra bases, beginning with a long home run to center field by Yassel Soler in the second inning.
A pair of doubles in the third inning followed a leadoff walk to Wallace Clark as Kayson Cunningham drove in Clark and Dix with a shot to the base of the left field fence to make it 3-0 Hillsboro.
The Hops added a run in the fifth, but it should have been more. Bases loaded, none out on back-to-back walks to Dix and Jose Mejia and an error by starting pitcher Everett Catlett (5-9) that put Cunningham aboard.
Virahonda ended Catlett's night after an RBI single to right. Run in, none out, bases still loaded, Hops up 4-0 when righty Case Williams took over on the hill.
After two lost years to injury, Williams--a suburban Denver native drafted by his hometown Rockies in the 4th round out of high school--is back in the Northwest League for the first time since he started six games for the Tribe at the end of the 2022 season. Williams promptly struck out Soler on three pitches, before getting Ivan Luciano to ground into an inning-ending double play to quash the threat, keeping the Indians in the game.
The Hops mounted two-out threats in the next three innings, including loading the bases in the eight, but could not deliver the key blow on a night where they stranded 13 on the bases.
Caden Grice (3-6) pitched into the sixth inning for the second straight start, finally surrendering a run in the sixth when the Indians loaded the bases with one out. Cleanup Tanner Thach hit a comebacker to the mound and Grice threw his glove out to knock it down, throwing him out at first as Jacob Hinderleider raced home to make it 4-1 Hillsboro.
Grice departed after striking out six with only one walk and five hits allowed over 5 2/3 innings. The big lefthander from Clemson U. has only walked one batter over his last two starts and 11 2/3 innings pitched.
Joangel Gonzalez took over and walked Tuesday night's hero Kelvin Hidalgo to reload the bases, But Dix was in position to handle Robert Calaz's hard smash up the middle, fielding the ball behind second and throwing him out to end the rally.
Gonzalez allowed a double to Juan Castillo in the seventh, but turned it over to Joe Ariola for the final out.
Ariola fanned three consecutive Indians batters after a leadoff Wilder Dalis single in the eighth.
The Hops finally delivered some insurance in the ninth inning, when Virahonda and Luciano each doubled off Ishmael Luciano (no relation). Pinch-running Adrian Rodriguez scored the run in Virahonda's stead and the Hops took a 5-1 lead into the ninth.
They didn't end up needing that insurance run, but it sure eased the tension. Spokane would make it interesting as Calaz singled and Lorenzo Carrier--a 2026 14th round draft pick out of Pittsburgh making his pro debut--doubled off Luke Craig. Castillo drove in Calaz with a sacrifice fly to right before the southpaw plunked Tommy Hopfe in the back and walked Dalis to load the bases with two outs.
Sacks jammed, tying run on base and Spokane's middle order hitters due up, but Craig got Indians' RBI leader Ethan Hedges to ground out to Cunningham at short to end the game.
THe Hops outhit the Indians for the second consecutive night, 11-9. Dix continues to mash after an extended slump, finishing with two hits, two walks and two runs scored. Virahonda, now second in the league in on-base percentage (.429) added three more hits to raise his Hops batting average to .292. Jakey Josepha added a pair of hits, his fourth multi-hit game during a five-game hit streak.
The Hops picked up a game in the playoff race with Vancouver losing 6-4 at Eugene and now trail the Canadians by seven games with 16 left to play. The Hops also hold the tiebreaker over the C's, having won the season series.
The season series with Spokane is dead even (13-13) heading into game three Thursday night. The game will air at 6:30 p.m. on Rip City Radio 620 AM.