AquaSox rally in 9th, top Vancouver 6-5 on walk-off single

Published 6:00 pm Wednesday, July 27, 2016

EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox have no issue collecting base hits, but getting those hits with runners in scoring position can be a greater challenge.

The AquaSox finally put together enough base hits with runners on in the bottom of the ninth as Eric Filia’s walk-off two-run single gave Everett a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Vancouver Canadians Wednesday before 4,379 fans on Kid’s Day at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Filia’s one-out drive over the head of Vancouver center fielder J.B. Woodman drove in Austin Grebeck and Bryson Brigman with the game’s tying and winning runs. Filia’s hit was Everett’s fourth in an inning that also include a walk to Brigman.

“With less than one out I was just trying to see the ball up and hit it in the air somewhere,” Filia said. “I gotta give credit to everybody else that got on base that had great at-bats. I was just trying to do my part.”

It was the third straight victory for the Frogs (2-0 second half, 20-20 overall), while the Canadians (0-2, 16-24) have now lost eight in a row.

“It was a great win,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “The guys really battled the whole game and never gave up. That was great to see.”

Walk it off @E_Filia4 – AquaSox win 6-5 pic.twitter.com/IwnjA6gHqr

— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) July 27, 2016

All told Everett tied a season high with 17 hits, but also left a season-high 17 runners on base. The Frogs appeared poised to waste all that production as Vancouver took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

But Joe Venturino opened the ninth with his second double of the game, and Nick Thurman followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Grebeck doubled in Venturino, and Brigman followed with a walk to load the bases. Donnie Walton bounced into a fielder’s choice before Filia sent the fans home happy.

“On offense we just won each pitch and tried to not get out of our game plan,” Filia said. “It really just showed in the last inning, just passing that baton and not really trying to hit a five-run home run. It was just at-bat after at-bat.”

The AquaSox received a strong outing from starter Reggie McClain. Though he didn’t figure in the decision, McClain scattered three hits and allowed one run in five innings before leaving with a 2-1 lead.

“I was mixing speeds,” McClain said. “I wasn’t getting ahead as well as I’d like to, but I was able to keep the ball low and get a lot of ground balls and keep them off-balance with off-speed (pitches).”

McClain struck out six and got seven ground-ball outs. He did not walk a batter.

“I thought he threw great,” Mummau said. “He was throwing three pitches for strikes, breaking ball, changeup and fastball, and kept them off-balance very well.”

McClain faced the minimum through three innings despite allowing Cavan Biggio’s leadoff single in the first. Biggio was erased on Josh Palacios’ fielder’s choice before Palacios was picked off by McClain for the second out of the inning.

Palacios broke the string of nine consecutive batters retired with a single in the fourth, and scored when Woodman hit a triple that glanced off the gloved fingers of a diving Grebeck in left-center for 1-0 Vancouver lead.

Jose Leal belted a solo home run to dead center for his second long ball of the season to put Everett on the board, and the Frogs tacked on one more in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead when Filia’s two-out single scored Brigman.

The Canadians evened the game in the top of sixth against Everett reliever Lane Ratliff when Rodrigo Orozco scored on Biggio’s groundout.

Pinch-hitter Thurman then put the Frogs back in front 3-2 with a two-out, two-strike single in the seventh.

The Canadians erased that deficit with a big eighth inning. An infield hit and two walks issued by Ratliff loaded the bases and brought on reliever Joselito Cano, who allowed RBI groundouts by Jacob Anderson and Christian Williams, followed by an RBI single by Andres Sotillo as Vancouver took the 5-3 lead.

Everett left the bases loaded in the first and eighth innings and left a pair in four other innings.

“We had a lot of opportunities at the beginning of this game so it seems like we should have had a lot of runs,” McClain said. “But it feels good to come back with a win like this. It instills confidence in everybody that we can come back from any deficit.”

Brigman finished with four hits and scored two runs. Filia, Nick Zammarelli, Venturino, Thurman and Grebeck all had two hits for the Frogs.

The series concludes at 7 p.m. Thursday. Matt Festa (1-1, 5.59 ERA) will start for Everett against Vancouver’s T.J. Zeuch (0-0, 3.00 ERA).

Notes: The Seattle Mariners signed minor-league free-agent pitcher Dillon Moyer and assigned him to Everett. The son of former Seattle Mariners southpaw Jamie Moyer spent three seasons as an infielder in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization before being converted to a pitcher last season. Moyer pitched in five games this year with the Ogden Raptors of the Rookie-Level Pioneer League before he was released and subsequently signed by Seattle.

For the latest AquaSox news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.