Spokane Indians mash three homers, rout Hillsboro 12-5 | NWL baseball

The Spokane Indians took some frustrations out on the baseball Friday night.

Jack O’Dowd, Max Belyeu and Roynier Hernandez homered, leading a veritable hit parade, and the Indians beat the Hillsboro Hops for the second game in a row, 12-5, at Avista Stadium.

The Indians (23-32) and the Hops (24-31) have split the first four of a six-game High-A Northwest League series. Spokane mashed 13 hits, five for extra bases, and went 6-for-14 (.428) with runners in scoring position.

Belyeu’s homer, a two-run shot in the sixth, was his first since May 5 and fifth overall.

“I was just trying to put a good swing on something, got a pitch, and did it,” he said.

Belyeu, the 74th pick overall by the Colorado Rockies in the 2025 draft out of University of Texas, is hitting .211 for the season and has been moved up and down the lineup. But since his batting average bottomed out at .172 on May 22, he’s gone 13-for-38 (.342).

“When you’re just struggling so bad, you kind of got to reset and realize it’s really not that big of a deal,” he said. “I had to take some of the pressure off myself. … Sometimes, you know, it’s hard to sleep at night, you’re so frustrated. But that’s just part of the game. You’ve got to move past that.”

Indians starting pitcher Jackson Cox only needed 16 pitches in the first to strike out the side – with two caught looking.

Jack O’Dowd staked Cox to an early lead with his fourth home run since his promotion to High-A on May 21, a solo shot leading off the second off the giant scoreboard in left center.

The Indians made it 3-1 after three on a run-scoring groundout and RBI single by Robert Calaz (3 for 4, three RBIs).

The Indians defense didn’t distinguish itself in the next inning – with an error on a routine potential inning-ending double-play grounder and two other defensive miscues – which led to three runs for the Hops. Cox struck out Alberto Barriga, his sixth K of the game, to finally end the inning.

Kevin Fitzer led off the bottom half with a double and scored on a single by Alan Espinal to even it up again.

Cox took defense out of the equation – for the most part – in the fifth, recording four more strikeouts, getting the extra one as the result of a batter reaching on a strike three wild pitch.

All told, Cox (4-1) was charged with four runs, three earned, on seven hits over five innings. He did not issue a walk and struck out 11, throwing 86 pitches – 65 for strikes.

The bats stayed hot in the bottom half. Ethan Hedges walked, went to third on a single by O’Dowd and scored on a single by Calaz. Belyeu’s groundout to second plated another run, then Espinal knocked in O’Dowd with a single up the middle.

Kelvin Hidalgo reached on an infield single, and third base Yassel Soler’s throw went into the right field corner allowing Calaz to score and the Indians led 8-4 after five.

In the sixth, Calaz added an RBI double ahead of Belyeu’s two-run home run.

Hernandez hit the longest homer of the night in the eighth, a no-doubt shot over the short porch in right and into the auxiliary parking lot for his fourth of the season.

Austin Emener pitched the final four innings, needing just 49 pitches. He allowed one run on three hits and no walks with two strikeouts to earn his first High-A save.

The series continues Saturday at 6:35 p.m. when pitcher Gabriel Hughes makes his second minor league rehab appearance for the Indians.