Eugene Earns Very Nice Win To Wrap Regular Season

The Eugene Emeralds (69-50) will head into the postseason after taking four-of-five against the Tri-City Dust Devils (43-68) thanks to a series-ending 8-4 win that wrapped the regular season.

THE DETAILS:

• Winning Pitcher: Nick Morreale (2-0, 6.27 ERA): 1.0 IP | 3 H | 3 R | 3 ER | 1 BB | 1 K

• Losing Pitcher: Dakota Donovan (1-1, 4.02 ERA): 1.0 IP | 4 H | 4 R | 2 ER | 0 B | 3 K

• Save: N/A

• HR(s): Eugene: Genovés (7) | Tri-City: Yovan (5)

HOW IT HAPPENED: Having clinched a series win the night prior behind a 5-0 win, the Emeralds took the diamond on Sunday in Pasco, Washington looking to head to Spokane with wind in their sails ahead of the High-A West Championship Series.

Eugene struck first behind a three-run third inning behind a Jairo Pomares 2-RBI single and a Sean Roby RBI single.

That 3-0 advantage held until the top of the fifth when the Dust Devils leveled the score thanks to a Kyren Paris RBI single, a Kevin Maitan RBI double, and a wild pitch by Nick Morreale that scored a runner from third.

It stayed only 3-3 for a matter of minutes, though, as the Emeralds responded in the home half of the inning by batting around and plating four runs in the process. Eugene retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Marco Luciano singled to score Kwan Adkins, thanks in-part to an error by Tri-City right fielder William Rivera.

Later in the inning, Sean Roby made it 5-3 with an RBI single to score Brett Auerbach, Tyler Fitzgerald made it 6-3 with an RBI double to score Marco Luciano, and Franklin Labour helped make it 7-3 by reaching on a fielding error by Dust Devils second baseman Kevin Maitan that resulted in another Emeralds run scoring.

Tri-City got a run back in the seventh on a Kenyon Yovan solo homer, but Eugene responded with a solo homer of their own when Ricardo Genovés launched his seventh homer as an Emerald in the eighth inning to restore Eugene’s four-run advantage and cap an 8-4 victory on the final day of the regular season.

With Spokane’s game against Everett cancelled on Sunday, the Emeralds finish the regular season in sole possession of first place in the High-A West. Therefore, Eugene will enter the postseason as the top seed and will be the ‘home’ team for Games 3-5 while playing as the ‘road’ team for Games 1-2.

WHAT’S NEXT: The High-A West Championship Series will start on Tuesday at Avista Stadium. First pitch on Tuesday is slated for 6:30pm PST.

You can catch all the action in Spokane with road broadcaster Alex Stimson on the call via 95.3FM The Score, MiLB.com or on the MiLB app.

Tickets to Emeralds home games are available at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

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