Late Rally by Dust Devils Gives Them the Win

The Eugene Emeralds dropped the series finale against the Dust Devils by a final score of 6-4. The Emeralds split the series against Tri-City with each ballclub winning 3 games each. The Emeralds currently are rocking a 41-40 record on the year. They’ll have a few days off for the All-Star break before heading North of the border to take on the Vancouver Canadians for a 3-game series starting on Friday.

Arol Vera got the scoring started tonight to give the Dust Devils the lead in the 1st inning. Joe Stewart, the leadoff man, was able to get on base and Vera doubled into the gap to give Tri-City the 1-0 lead. In the 2nd inning they extended their lead to 2-0. Gustavo Campero got a hold of a ball and hit it over the wall for the solo home run.

It didn’t take long for the Emeralds to answer back. Brett Auerbach was able to reach base to start the inning and Luis Toribio ripped a shot past the outstretched arms of the Dust Devils first baseman. It scored Auerbach on the play who was over at 2nd base. In the 3rd inning Eugene evened the game up at 2 runs apiece. Donovan Walton was on 2nd base and Adrian Sugastey hit a linedrive out of the infield to score Walton and tie the ballgame up at 2-2 through the first two innings.

Things slowed down in a big way for both ball clubs as no team scored again until the 8th inning. Hayden Birdsong got the star tonight for Eugene. After giving up a pair of early runs he really settled in on the bump. He pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 runs but just one of them was an earned run. He also walked 1 batter and struck out 8 over those 5 innings. Joe Kemlage and Nick Morreale held things down for Eugene in the 6th and 7th inning as they each threw a frame on the bump. They allowed 3 hits, no walks, and each guy struck out 1 batter in their inning. Brett Standlee pitched the 8th inning and allowed just 1 hit and struck out one batter over his inning of work.

The Emeralds were able to take the lead in the 8th inning. Donovan Walton and Jared Dupere were on base for Adrian Sugastey with nobody out. Sugastey already had an RBI to his name. He ripped a shot down the right field line and was able to record his first triple of the season. Both runs scored and Eugene took the 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was a fantastic day for Adrian Sugastey at the plate as he tallied 3 hits over 5 plate appearances and plated 3 runs. He was one of three Emeralds players with a multi-hit performance tonight, joining Jared Dupere and Luis Toribio who each had 2 base hits.

Things turned sour for Eugene quickly in the top of the 9th inning. Tanner Kiest came in to close things down for the Ems. The Dust Devils put up 4 runs against Kiest to take the lead. Just two of the runs were earned after the Emeralds committed two errors in the inning. Gustavo Campero plated a pair of runs with a ground-rule double that tied the ballgame up at 4-4. The next two runs were unearned, as Campero and Blakely both scored on a ground ball that Luis Toribio wasn’t able to handle and hang onto. In the bottom of the 9th the Emeralds went down in order and fell by a final score of 6-4.

The Emeralds split the 6-game home series against the Dust Devils with each ballclub winning 3 games. The Emeralds sit at 41-40 on the season and 7-8 in the second half. They sit 3 games out of first place as things currently sit in the Northwest League.