EUGENE, Ore. — The Everett AquaSox offense was nearly non existent in their Fourth of July matchup against the Eugene Emeralds on Wednesday night.
Everett failed to reach base until the third inning and lost 9-1 in the first game of a three-game Northwest League series.
Eugene pitcher Justin Hancock allowed only one hit over five innings and threw 32/3 innings of no-hit ball.
AquaSox designated hitter Jean Acevedo broke up the no-hit bid when he ripped a single with two outs in the top of the fourth inning.
Hancock began the game by retiring the first six Everett batters before allowing a walk to Marcus Littlewood to lead off the top of the third inning.
Littlewood also was behind the AquaSox’s (15-5) lone run, hitting a two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh to to cut the Emeralds’ lead to 4-1.
The scoring began for Eugene (10-9) in the bottom of the first.
First baseman Dane Phillips belted a two-out RBI single to drive in Ronnie Richardson, who had reached base after being hit by a pitch from AquaSox starter Ambioris Hidalgo. Left fielder Jeremy Baltz drove in Hagerty from first base one batter later with an RBI double off the wall for a 2-0 Emeralds lead.
Eugene added one run in the second inning and another in the third.
The Emeralds didn’t threaten again until the bottom of the sixth when right fielder Bryan Adams reached on a fielder’s choice. Adams then stole second and third bases on back-to-back pitches. However, he was called out at home after attempting to score on Blake Hauser’s pitch in the dirt.
In the bottom half of the seventh inning, Eugene scored three runs on two hits and three walks to make it 7-1.
The offensive burst continued in the eighth when Emeralds center fielder Richardson hit an RBI double and then scored on a throwing error while he was attempting to stretch the hit into a triple. That stretched the lead to 9-1.
Richardson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs scored.
The Emeralds drew 10 walks from the AquaSox pitching staff, including four issued by reliever Dominic Leone in just two innings.
AquaSox right fielder Alfredo Morales ,who last week was named the NWL player of the week, saw his 10-game hitting streak come to end.
Acevedo lead the AquaSox offense, batting 2-for-4.
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