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Apr. 5—An eight-run inning late in the game usually spells doom for the team that gives it up. But on Sunday, the Spokane Indians showed enough resolve after the blow-up not only to tie the game and force extra innings, but win it in once they got there.
Automatic runner Jacob Humphrey scored on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Hobson — and a throwing error by pitcher Calvin Schapira — in the 10th inning and the Indians edged the Everett AquaSox 10-9 in the finale of a three-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium.
The Indians won two of three to Everett in the season-opening series.
Ethan Hedges hit two of the Indians' four solo home runs. He went 3 for 4 with a double, walk and three RBIs and is 6 for 11 to start the season. Max Belyeu added three hits and two RBIs as the Indians finished with 14 hits, seven for extra bases.
"We've got a lot of resilience. We're never gonna give up," Hobson said. "That's one thing that we preach in the locker room. We're not gonna give up on anything. Doesn't matter what the score is, we've just gonna give it our best ever every single time."
"That tells you a lot about what kind of guys we have in this clubhouse," Indians manager Tom Sutaris said. "We were in the eighth inning of a one-run game. So that's all that matters. Doesn't really matter how you got there, but it's about being able to bounce back and be ready for that moment. ... Our guys showed a lot of resiliency today. They came ready to go, no panic and it was fun to be a part of that."
Humphrey started the 10th at second base. Hobson, who had entered as a pinch-runner and scored the tying run in the eighth, hit the perfect sacrifice bunt, making the left-handed Schapira field the bunt to the third base side. Schapira sent the throw to first down the right field line and Humphrey scored without a throw.
"I've worked my work my butt out to get to this position," Hobson said. "They made a bad throw, made it easy for us. Gets us a win."
"He works so hard at (bunting) trying to get better," Sutaris said. "And he had a big moment there to get a bunt down and execute it. We got it done."
Indians starter Jordy Vargas was a once-promising prospect for the Colorado Rockies, signing for $500,000 as an international free agent in 2021. But Tommy John surgery wiped out half of 2023 and all of 2024.
Vargas started the 2025 season in Spokane, and he made 10 starts but pitched poorly — he never went more than four innings and accumulated a 7.84 ERA and 2.032 WHIP. He was sent to the Rockies Arizona Complex League team and made another four rough starts before the organization removed him from an active roster.
He spent the rest of the season in the Rockies' pitching performance lab in Arizona and worked on his form.
On Sunday, Vargas made it through three innings on 60 pitches, 29 for strikes. He gave up one run on one hit and four walks with four strikeouts.
"I thought (Vargas) was really good," Sutaris said. "Yeah, he had some missed pitches and he got himself into some spots, but I liked how he didn't panic and continued to execute pitches and got out of some some problems."
Vargas gave up a walk and a single in the first but struck out three in a scoreless inning. He walked another in the second but coaxed three fly ball outs.
Hedges staked Vargas to the lead, leading off the bottom of the second with a long home run to left field, his first of the season. Hedges hit three homers in his first 20 professional games in Spokane last season after being selected in the third round of the 2025 MLB draft out of Southern California.
Vargas walked leadoff hitter Jonny Farmelo in the third, then his errant pickoff throw moved him to third. Felnin Celesten walked, drawing a visit from pitching coach Blaine Beatty. Vargas struck out Luke Stevenson on high heat, then a groundout to third brought in the tying run.
It didn't stay tied long, as Humphrey hit the first pitch of the bottom half onto the short porch in right field for his first homer of the season and a 2-1 Indians lead after three full.
The Indians added a run in the fourth. Max Belyeu led off with his second hit of the game but was wiped out on a fielder's choice. Catcher Juan Castillo followed with a double to the left-center gap, plating Jacob Hinderleider from first. With two down Humphrey lined a single to center and Hinderleider hustled home to make it 4-1.
Rockies No. 5 prospect Robert Calez smoked a line drive homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth, measured at 107 mph off the bat, for his first homer of the season. Hedges followed with an opposite field shot, his second homer of the day, to make it 6-1.
"I mean, I was just trying to put hard contact on the ball, find a barrel and, you know, straight to the middle of field," Hedges said. "I got two good pitches to hit and put a good swing on them."
Belyeu added a two-run triple in the seventh to cap his three-hit day.
The seven-run cushion wasn't enough. Everett rallied for eight runs in the eighth off lefty reliever Bryson Van Sickle and righty Nathan Blasick — the capper a three-run homer by Matthew Ellis to put Everett up 9-8.
The Indians tied it in the bottom half. Kevin Fizter reached on a one-out walk and was replaced by Hobson as a pinch-runner. Hobson went first-to-third on a single by Calaz and scored on a nubber to the pitcher by Hedges.
Sidelined: With one down in the sixth, lefty reliever Antoine Jean tried to field a topper down the first base line and collided with the batter, Brandon Eike. Jean stayed down for a moment, was not able to plant on his left leg during a warmup pitch and came out of the game.
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Automatic runner Jacob Humphrey scored on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Hobson — and a throwing error by pitcher Calvin Schapira — in the 10th inning and the Indians edged the Everett AquaSox 10-9 in the finale of a three-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium.
The Indians won two of three to Everett in the season-opening series.
Ethan Hedges hit two of the Indians' four solo home runs. He went 3 for 4 with a double, walk and three RBIs and is 6 for 11 to start the season. Max Belyeu added three hits and two RBIs as the Indians finished with 14 hits, seven for extra bases.
"We've got a lot of resilience. We're never gonna give up," Hobson said. "That's one thing that we preach in the locker room. We're not gonna give up on anything. Doesn't matter what the score is, we've just gonna give it our best ever every single time."
"That tells you a lot about what kind of guys we have in this clubhouse," Indians manager Tom Sutaris said. "We were in the eighth inning of a one-run game. So that's all that matters. Doesn't really matter how you got there, but it's about being able to bounce back and be ready for that moment. ... Our guys showed a lot of resiliency today. They came ready to go, no panic and it was fun to be a part of that."
Humphrey started the 10th at second base. Hobson, who had entered as a pinch-runner and scored the tying run in the eighth, hit the perfect sacrifice bunt, making the left-handed Schapira field the bunt to the third base side. Schapira sent the throw to first down the right field line and Humphrey scored without a throw.
"I've worked my work my butt out to get to this position," Hobson said. "They made a bad throw, made it easy for us. Gets us a win."
"He works so hard at (bunting) trying to get better," Sutaris said. "And he had a big moment there to get a bunt down and execute it. We got it done."
Indians starter Jordy Vargas was a once-promising prospect for the Colorado Rockies, signing for $500,000 as an international free agent in 2021. But Tommy John surgery wiped out half of 2023 and all of 2024.
Vargas started the 2025 season in Spokane, and he made 10 starts but pitched poorly — he never went more than four innings and accumulated a 7.84 ERA and 2.032 WHIP. He was sent to the Rockies Arizona Complex League team and made another four rough starts before the organization removed him from an active roster.
He spent the rest of the season in the Rockies' pitching performance lab in Arizona and worked on his form.
On Sunday, Vargas made it through three innings on 60 pitches, 29 for strikes. He gave up one run on one hit and four walks with four strikeouts.
"I thought (Vargas) was really good," Sutaris said. "Yeah, he had some missed pitches and he got himself into some spots, but I liked how he didn't panic and continued to execute pitches and got out of some some problems."
Vargas gave up a walk and a single in the first but struck out three in a scoreless inning. He walked another in the second but coaxed three fly ball outs.
Hedges staked Vargas to the lead, leading off the bottom of the second with a long home run to left field, his first of the season. Hedges hit three homers in his first 20 professional games in Spokane last season after being selected in the third round of the 2025 MLB draft out of Southern California.
Vargas walked leadoff hitter Jonny Farmelo in the third, then his errant pickoff throw moved him to third. Felnin Celesten walked, drawing a visit from pitching coach Blaine Beatty. Vargas struck out Luke Stevenson on high heat, then a groundout to third brought in the tying run.
It didn't stay tied long, as Humphrey hit the first pitch of the bottom half onto the short porch in right field for his first homer of the season and a 2-1 Indians lead after three full.
The Indians added a run in the fourth. Max Belyeu led off with his second hit of the game but was wiped out on a fielder's choice. Catcher Juan Castillo followed with a double to the left-center gap, plating Jacob Hinderleider from first. With two down Humphrey lined a single to center and Hinderleider hustled home to make it 4-1.
Rockies No. 5 prospect Robert Calez smoked a line drive homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth, measured at 107 mph off the bat, for his first homer of the season. Hedges followed with an opposite field shot, his second homer of the day, to make it 6-1.
"I mean, I was just trying to put hard contact on the ball, find a barrel and, you know, straight to the middle of field," Hedges said. "I got two good pitches to hit and put a good swing on them."
Belyeu added a two-run triple in the seventh to cap his three-hit day.
The seven-run cushion wasn't enough. Everett rallied for eight runs in the eighth off lefty reliever Bryson Van Sickle and righty Nathan Blasick — the capper a three-run homer by Matthew Ellis to put Everett up 9-8.
The Indians tied it in the bottom half. Kevin Fizter reached on a one-out walk and was replaced by Hobson as a pinch-runner. Hobson went first-to-third on a single by Calaz and scored on a nubber to the pitcher by Hedges.
Sidelined: With one down in the sixth, lefty reliever Antoine Jean tried to field a topper down the first base line and collided with the batter, Brandon Eike. Jean stayed down for a moment, was not able to plant on his left leg during a warmup pitch and came out of the game.
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