AquaSox clinch second-half division title

Another big night at the plate from Nick Zammarelli has landed Everett in the postseason.

The Mariners prospect went 4-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored Friday night as Class A Short Season Everett beat visiting Vancouver, 9-2, to clinch the Northwest League North Division second-half title.

"It was huge for me and the team," Zamarelli said. "We knew we needed just the one win to clinch and everybody seemed to have brought their A-game today, which is exactly what we needed to stay hot."

The 22-year-old third baseman hit an RBI double to right field in the first inning, then followed Donnie Walton's solo homer in the fourth with a double to center.

"I wasn't really picking up much of a pattern tonight, so I wasn't looking for anything in particular," Zammarelli said. "They were mostly throwing fastballs and changeups and I was lucky that the changeups that they threw me ended up staying up in the zone and I was able to drive it."

After singling to center in the sixth, the Rhode Island native drilled an RBI triple to center in the eighth for his team-leading 70th hit, breaking a tie with Eric Filia.

In his first professional season, the Elon University product is slashing .321/.380/.463 with five homers and 35 RBIs in 56 games.

"It's a great feeling to be [second in] the league in hits," Zammarelli said. "Hopefully, I can just continue with my offense and helping the team in any way I can."

Offensive outbursts are nothing new for Everett, which leads the Northwest League with a .279 batting average and a .360 on-base percentage. 

"It's all a mindset," Zammarelli said. "We still have some games to play and we have to keep coming in confident every game and know that these final games are going to carry over into the playoffs."

Walton and Filia each contributed three hits, while first baseman Kristian Brito knocked in three runs for Everett. 

AquaSox starter Matthew Festa (5-2) allowed two unearned runs on three hits and a walk with six strikeouts over five innings.

"When you have a guy throwing the way Festa did tonight, it really puts us at ease at the plate. We can just look for our pitches and put our swings on the ball because it's not going to take many runs to win a game behind him," Zamarelli added.

Vancouver starter Andy Ravel (3-1) surrendered four runs on eight hits and struck out two in two frames.