Tri-City Dust Devils open homestand this week in Northwest League baseball
After a 1-2 start to the Northwest League season this past weekend, the Tri-City Dust Devils will have a six-game homestand this week, starting Tuesday and all against the Spokane Indians.
Tri-City dropped one-run games on Friday and Saturday at Eugene, before winning 4-3 over the Emeralds (a San Francisco Giants affiliate) on Sunday, April 7.
Left-handed reliever Leonard Garcia picked up the pitching victory, going 1.2 innings, striking out two batters and giving up no runs.
Matt Coutney and Ben Gobbel each had two hits and a run scored for the Dust Devils, a Los Angeles Angeles Angels affiliate.
Gobbel spent most of 2023 with Angels’ single-A affiliate Inland Empire, while Coutney spent much of the second half of 2023 with the Dust Devils.
In fact, there are a number of returning Dust Devils to start the 2024 season at Gesa Stadium in Pasco.
Familiar names include pitchers Roman Phansalker, Dylan Phillips, Jake Smith, Jared Southard and Willian Suarez; catcher Kevin Bruggeman; infielders Andy Blake, Caleb Ketchup and Will McGillis.
Outfielder Joe Stewart, who had 42 stolen bases last season with Tri-City, starts the season in Pasco.
So does Werner Blakely, who was an infielder for the Dust Devils in 2023, but will try his hand in the outfield this season.
New Tri-City manager Willie Romero was the hitting coach for Inland Empire last season. He knows some of the players well.
“This is my second year with the Angels. I had a number of these guys at Low A ball last season,” said Romero. “We have some guys with talent, both pitching-wise and hitting.”
Winning is always a big thing. But Romero knows the key is something else.
“It’s about development,” he said. “The guys need to play every day. And we want to teach them how to win. But you’ve still got to get their development in.”
Romero got his first look at Gesa Stadium last week, and he knows it’s more of a pitcher’s park.
“We’ve been talking about how to adjust with the stadium. The wind blows in, so it’s something that we have to learn how to hit here,” he said.
Games this week against Spokane start at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday nights, with a 1:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday.
Here is the Dust Devils’ schedule for the rest of the season:
APRIL: 9-14, SPOKANE; 16-21, at Hillsboro; 23-28, EVERETT; 30, VANCOUVER.
MAY: 1-5, VANCOUVER; 7-12, at Eugene; 14-19, HILLSBORO; 21-26, at Everett; 28-31, at Vancouver.
JUNE: 1-2, at Vancouver; 4-9, EUGENE; 11-16, at Hillsboro; 18-23, VANCOUVER; 25-30, at Eugene.
JULY: 1-3, SPOKANE; 4-6, at Spokane; 9-14, at Hillsboro; 19-21, EUGENE; 23-28, EVERETT; 30-31, at Vancouver.
AUGUST: 1-4, at Vancouver; 6-11, SPOKANE; 13-18, at Everett; 20-25, EUGENE; 27-31, at Spokane.
SEPTEMBER: 1, at Spokane; 3-8, HILLSBORO.
Vrieling gets first start
New York Yankees officials have been waiting to see Trystan Vrieling pitch in their system for a few years now. Arm injuries have kept the third-round selection in 2022 sidelined — although he was healthy enough to pitch in the Arizona Fall League last October.
On Sunday, Vrieling — pitching for Double-A Somerset — started against Richmond. Vrieling, a Kamiakin High grad who starred at Gonzaga University, went 5 innings for the victory in an 8-0 win.
That included 6 strikeouts for the 6-foot-4 standout.
Hockey
Former Tri-City Americans captain Marc Lajoie, who was traded to the Edmonton Oil Kings before the 2023-24 Western Hockey League season, has signed an amateur tryout deal with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League.
Lajoie went to Edmonton, where his dad is an assistant coach, to finish his 20-year-old season. The defenseman spent four full seasons playing for the Americans before that.
Lajoie signed the deal on April 1. The Condors are an affiliate of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers.
Transfer portal
Last week I mentioned five Mid-Columbia region athletes who have entered the NCAA transfer portal after their current college basketball seasons ended.
They are Tyler Bilodeau (leaving Oregon State), Cooper Dewitt (leaving Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), Talia von Oelhoffen (Oregon State), Maddy Rendall (leaving Idaho State), and Kobe Young (leaving Boise State).
Add a sixth player in Kamiakin grad Nikole Thomas, who just finished her freshman season playing for the Memphis University women’s basketball team.
SCAC East baseball
After pretty much a week off for spring break, the 1A SCAC East baseball teams start picking things up again.
College Place and Royal have the early lead in the standings, but there are plenty of games to be played.
Here are the latest standings through games of April 6:
College Place 2-0 SCAC East, 5-5 overall
Royal 2-0, 4-5
Kiona-Benton 0-0, 4-4
Wahluke 0-2, 1-8
Connell 0-2, 0-9
April 6 scores: Quincy 8, Royal 2; Quincy 5, Royal 1.
April 9 games: Kiona-Benton at River View (2), 3 p.m.; La Grande at College Place, 3 p.m.; Royal at Zillah (2), 3 p.m.
April 12 games: Warden at Wahluke (2), 3 p.m.
April 13 games: Kiona-Benton at Royal (2), 11 a.m.
Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.
