Published: Sunday, August 28, 2011
AquaSox top Yakima in home-season finale
EVERETT -- Sunday evening's home-season finale looked bleak for the Everett AquaSox as they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning of the Northwest League game.
The AquaSox, losers of five straight -- including the first four games of the series with the Yakima Bears -- trailed 3-0 after the Bears' Justin Hilt hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth.
And Everett had just two singles in the first three innings.
But two hits were all the AquaSox would need to score five runs in the bottom of the fourth en route to a 5-3 victory that sent the 4,023 fans at Everett Memorial Stadium home happy.
The victory allowed Everett (19-14 second half, 35-36 overall) to salvage at least one game in the five-game series with Yakima (17-16, 30-41).
"It's nice to get that win," AquaSox manager Scott Steinmann said. "We wish we had a couple more but we'll take this one and hopefully this momentum will take us into the Spokane series and we can take care of some business there."
The AquaSox, seeking a postseason playoff berth, go into the five-game season-ending series with the Indians -- which starts Tuesday in Spokane -- in second place in the Northwest League West Division, trailing first-place Eugene (20-13, 43-27) by one game. Eugene beat Spokane 1-0 on Sunday.
Everett had a three-game lead in the division before losing four in a row.
Eugene was the West-division winner in the first half of the season, and if the Emeralds win the second half as well, the playoff spot would go to the team with the next best overall league record. Vancouver (14-19, 38-33), which lost 6-4 to Tri-City on Sunday, has a three-game lead on Everett.
"We know what's going on," Everett shortstop Marcus Littlewood said. "We know it's close, but we are not changing anything ... We know what we have to do."
The Frogs have to deliver when it counts, which they couldn't do in the first four games of the series.
Littlewood changed that with one swing in Sunday's game.
Everett had tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth when the 6-foot-2 switch-hitting Littlewood stepped to the plate with one out and Jarrett Burgess on third base. Littlewood stepped to the plate batting right-handed against Yakima left-hander John Pedrotty. Entering the game Littlewood was batting .147 from the right side of the plate with a double as his only extra base hit in 35 previous at bats.
That all changed on Pedrotty's 3-1 pitch, which Littlewood hit over the center-field fence for his eighth home run of the year to give Everett a 5-3 lead.
For Littlewood, batting .222 on the season, coming through in the clutch was a relief.
"It felt great," he said. "I haven't really been contributing like I want to lately. It was good to get that one. Hopefully we can gain some momentum going into this last series and win the league."
Cameron Hobson (3-2) picked up his third win of the season after allowing two earned run while striking out six in five innings. Kyle Hunter pitched four innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second save of the season.
The AquaSox, losers of five straight -- including the first four games of the series with the Yakima Bears -- trailed 3-0 after the Bears' Justin Hilt hit a three-run home run in the top of the fourth.
And Everett had just two singles in the first three innings.
But two hits were all the AquaSox would need to score five runs in the bottom of the fourth en route to a 5-3 victory that sent the 4,023 fans at Everett Memorial Stadium home happy.
The victory allowed Everett (19-14 second half, 35-36 overall) to salvage at least one game in the five-game series with Yakima (17-16, 30-41).
"It's nice to get that win," AquaSox manager Scott Steinmann said. "We wish we had a couple more but we'll take this one and hopefully this momentum will take us into the Spokane series and we can take care of some business there."
The AquaSox, seeking a postseason playoff berth, go into the five-game season-ending series with the Indians -- which starts Tuesday in Spokane -- in second place in the Northwest League West Division, trailing first-place Eugene (20-13, 43-27) by one game. Eugene beat Spokane 1-0 on Sunday.
Everett had a three-game lead in the division before losing four in a row.
Eugene was the West-division winner in the first half of the season, and if the Emeralds win the second half as well, the playoff spot would go to the team with the next best overall league record. Vancouver (14-19, 38-33), which lost 6-4 to Tri-City on Sunday, has a three-game lead on Everett.
"We know what's going on," Everett shortstop Marcus Littlewood said. "We know it's close, but we are not changing anything ... We know what we have to do."
The Frogs have to deliver when it counts, which they couldn't do in the first four games of the series.
Littlewood changed that with one swing in Sunday's game.
Everett had tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth when the 6-foot-2 switch-hitting Littlewood stepped to the plate with one out and Jarrett Burgess on third base. Littlewood stepped to the plate batting right-handed against Yakima left-hander John Pedrotty. Entering the game Littlewood was batting .147 from the right side of the plate with a double as his only extra base hit in 35 previous at bats.
That all changed on Pedrotty's 3-1 pitch, which Littlewood hit over the center-field fence for his eighth home run of the year to give Everett a 5-3 lead.
For Littlewood, batting .222 on the season, coming through in the clutch was a relief.
"It felt great," he said. "I haven't really been contributing like I want to lately. It was good to get that one. Hopefully we can gain some momentum going into this last series and win the league."
Cameron Hobson (3-2) picked up his third win of the season after allowing two earned run while striking out six in five innings. Kyle Hunter pitched four innings of scoreless relief to pick up his second save of the season.
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