EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox rallied from behind twice to defeat the Hillsboro Hops 6-5 in 11 innings Friday night at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Everett trailed 4-0 going into the eighth inning. However, the Sox took advantage of struggles by Hillsboro’s bullpen and defense, tying it in the ninth on Jack Reinheimer’s two-out single. Then after the Hops went ahead in the top of the 11th, the Sox again were aided in the bottom of the 11th. Two walks set up D.J. Peterson for a tying RBI double with two out. Then the winning run came home when Hillsboro’s Randy McCurry booted Reggie Lawson’s roller down the third-base line.
Peterson and Justin Seager each had two hits for the Sox (6-1). For Peterson, the Seattle Mariners’ first-round pick in this year’s draft, it was his first two hits as a professional in his second career game. Seager, the younger brother of Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager who was making his professional debut, singled in his first at bat as a pro.
The Hops (2-5) wasted a gem tossed by starting pitcher Ross Gerdeman. Gerdeman threw seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out four.
Saving the day
For eight innings of Wednesday’s game against Tri-City, the Sox were in complete control. So when the Dust Devils rallied in the ninth to make it a one-run game, it was easy to forget how important Phillips Castillo’s work in the field earlier in the game proved to be.
Castillo made two sterling catches in left field, both of which saved runs and allowed the Sox to prevail 4-3.
Castillo had his struggles in the field earlier in the series. Even in Wednesday’s game he had an unfortunate incident when, trying to chase down a foul ball, he tripped on the bullpen mound and fell on his face.
But in the third inning he made a reaching catch on a full sprint to snag Mike Tauchman’s fly down the line and prevent two runs from scoring. Then in the fifth, he came in to make a diving catch on Cesar Galvez’s sinking liner to save another run.
“He was huge,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “Those were two really big plays which probably saved the game for us.”
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