Spokane Indians fall to Boise Hawks in delayed season opener

Sometimes opening nights are so nice you want to try them twice. But extra innings were not extra special for the the Spokane Indians as they fell in 10 innings to the Boise Hawks, 5-4.

After Spokane’s Northwest League season-opener was rained out on Thursday, Friday’s crowd of 6,569 at Avista Stadium saw the team rally late in the game to tie it after trailing 4-0 after five innings.

In the 10th inning, Boise got a one-out walk by Steven Linkous, followed by back-to-back singles from Jonathan Piron and Avery Romero to drive in the go-ahead run. Spokane right-handed relief pitcher Grant Zawadzki was tagged with the loss.

The Indians came up empty in the bottom half despite a leadoff walk.

After a sixth-inning solo home run by Spokane first baseman Andretty Cordero, the Indians scored three runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by doubles from Christian Inoa and Curtis Terry.

Indians starting pitcher Cole Ragans struggled with his control in his professional debut. The Texas Rangers’ 19-year-old 2016 first-round pick gave up four runs on six walks and three hits over four innings, including a third-inning home run to Piron.

Spokane and Boise will play again Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in second of the five-game series.