HILLSBORO, Oregon – The Everett AquaSox (43-22) opened the six-game series against the Vancouver Canadians (32-35) with a 6-5 win in 11 innings.
HILLSBORO, Oregon – The Everett AquaSox (43-22) opened the six-game series against the Vancouver Canadians (32-35) with a 6-5 win in 11 innings.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Juan De Los Santos wasted little time, giving the Canadians a lead early when he led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run off RHP Dayeison Arias. Arias recovered, retiring the next ten batters and keeping 1-0 through the first three innings.
The AquaSox finally got on the board in the fourth inning. Connor Hoover got things started with a two-out ground-rule double, extending his hitting streak to 19 games. Joseph Rosa then came up and hit a two-run home run off the left-field foul pole to give the AquaSox the 2-1 lead. The Canadians evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning when Spencer Horwitz scored on a passed ball. The AquaSox moved back into the lead in the top of the fifth inning when first baseman Dariel Gomez singled home Jack Larsen, making it a 3-2 game. The AquaSox held their one-run lead until Tanner Morris singled in DJ Neal in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3. The score remained unchanged through the end of the ninth inning.
The game moved into extra innings where the AquaSox put up two runs in the 10th inning, taking the lead on a Gomez sacrifice fly that scored Cade Marlowe. Everett then added an insurance run when Hoover hit a solo home run and the AquaSox took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the tenth. The Canadians were down to their final strike of the game when Morris lined a double down the left-field line that drove in Ronny Brito and Neal, tying the game at 5-5.
The AquaSox went back into the lead for good in the 11th inning when Cody Grosse singled home Rosa. Bryan Pall came in to pitch the 11th inning for the AquaSox and was aided by an outstanding defensive gem when Larsen made a sliding catch in center field for a double play. The catch stole a potential base hit from Sebastian Espino and Larsen completed the double play by throwing the ball to second base, catching Zac Cook before he could return to the bag. Pall got Ryan Gold to fly out to right field where Victor Labrada made the catch to end the game.
WRAPPING IT UP
This marked the Frogs’ third straight win and increased their lead over the Eugene Emeralds to 5.5 games in the High-A West standings. Labrada reached base four times in his Everett AquaSox debut. Gomez, Hoover, Rosa and Grosse each had two base hits and combined to score four runs while driving in all six AquaSox runs. Arias got his first start of the season after appearing in 15 games this season as a reliever. Arias pitched 3.2 innings, allowing only two hits, one earned run, one walk and a strikeout.
LOOKING AHEAD
Game two of the six-game series is Wednesday, July 21. The AquaSox will start RHP Stephen Kolek (2-0, 3.38 ERA) while the Canadians will counter with RHP Nick Fraze (3-1, 1.91 ERA). The first pitch is at 7:05 with the pregame show beginning at 6:50 on KRKO.
