Nine-run inning lifts AquaSox to win

Published 8:18 pm Sunday, June 21, 2015

EVERETT — For five innings the Everett AquaSox’s bats were as dormant as Mount Pilchuck, the peak illuminated by the sun beyond the center-field wall at Everett Memorial Stadium.

But once those bats began to rumble, they erupted in a way that would have left Mount St. Helens blushing.

Everett exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and the Sox used that single inning to defeat the Eugene Emeralds 9-8 Sunday afternoon in a wild Northwest League encounter.

Everett managed a mere two base runners through the game’s first five innings and found itself trailing 4-0. However, the Sox blew the top off Everett Memorial Stadium in the bottom of the sixth, sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring nine runs to turn the game upside-down. Everett pounded out nine hits in the frame, including two-run homers by Luis Liberato and Jordan Cowan. The only things missing from the rally were the lava and ash.

“That was a great team effort right there,” Cowan said of the rally. “(Rafael Fernandez) leading off with a double with a great at-bat, and that got our tempo going. We had big hits, (Alex) Jackson had a big two-out hit. It was just a great job of taking it at-bat by at-bat. It was a great overall effort.”

Everett trailed 4-0 and had managed nothing offensively against Eugene starting pitcher Jose Paulino through five innings. However, the Sox broke out in a big way in the sixth to surge ahead.

It began innocently enough when Braden Bishop beat out a potential double-play grounder to get Everett on the scoreboard. But it built from there. Jackson greeted reliever Alex Santana by ripping a liner to center for an RBI double to cut the deficit to two, then Yojhan Quevedo came home on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game.

That brought Liberato to the plate and the 19-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who homered and drove in four runs the previous night, tattooed a two-run homer to right-center to give Everett the lead.

But the Sox weren’t done. Singles by Arturo Nieto and Ryan Uhl re-ignited the rally, and Fernandez followed by grounding a two-run single up the middle — his second hit of the inning. Then Cowan, the 11th batter of the inning, launched another two-run homer into the homer porch in right field, capping off a nine-run frame that turned the game in dramatic fashion.

Eight of the nine runs Everett scored came with two out as Santana recorded just one out from the seven batters he faced. The Sox were given a standing ovation by the crowd when the inning was over.

“That was the third time through the order and guys were getting comfortable,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said when asked what sparked the rally. “Their starter was really good, he had some good sink on the ball and good depth to his changeup. Once we got him out of the game, guys seemed to settle in a little more and put some good at-bats together.”

Everett ended up needing every single one of those runs. Eugene chipped away, scoring once in the seventh and twice in the eighth, cutting the lead to 9-7 with the go-ahead run at the plate in the eighth. But Kyle Wilcox came out of the bullpen to strike out pinch-hitter Justin Marra on three pitches to end the threat. The Emeralds scored again in the ninth and had the tying run at third when Wilcox struck out Kevonte Mitchell looking to end the game.

“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Cowan said. “It gives a reason for the fans to show up. It was a lot of fun as a player. Obviously it would have been nice just to win 9-4, but this is professional baseball and no team is going to just give in.”

Fernandez finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, and Jackson went 3-for-4 for Everett (3-1).

Eloy Jimenez drove in four runs and Ian Happ homered to lead Eugene (1-3).

The Emeralds broke the ice in the top of the third inning. Eugene loaded the bases with one out. Then Jimenez laced a two-run single to left to stake the Emeralds to a 2-0 lead. Eugene could potentially have scored more, but a clever fake throw by Sox third baseman Logan Taylor allowed him to catch Mitchell off third base to end the inning.

Eugene doubled its lead in the fifth, and again it was Jimenez who delivered the scoring blow. With runners at second and third with one out, Jimenez grounded a single up the middle through a drawn-in infield, with both runners scoring to make it 4-0.

Short hops

Everett’s originally scheduled starting pitcher for Sunday’s game, left-hander Lane Ratliff, was scratched. Ratliff had to be taken to the hospital Saturday night because of kidney stones. He was released, but as of Sunday evening still had to pass the stones. … Monday is scheduled to be the professional debut of Everett pitcher Andrew Moore. Moore is the Seattle Mariners’ top pick from this year’s draft who’s currently on the Sox roster. The right-hander was selected in the compensation portion of the second round out of Oregon State University. … The one saving grace for Eugene in Sunday’s game was that the Emeralds, who committed 13 errors in the first three games of the series, played error-free ball.