AquaSox pull out wild 12-11 win over Dust Devils
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 19, 2023
EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox experienced the full gamut of emotions in the span of about 20 minutes, ranging from comfort to panic to dejection. But fortunately for the Sox the last of those emotions was relief.
Everett inexplicably squandered an eight-run lead in the top of the ninth, but rallied to win it in the bottom half of the inning as the Sox defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils 12-11 in a Northwest League game on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at Funko Field.
Everett scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth when Tri-City was unable to turn a double play with the bases were loaded and one out, allowing Andrew Miller to score the game-winning run as the Sox bailed themselves out.
“When we were on defense I was a little bit upset, almost like it was a lack of focus from some of the position players,” Everett manager Ryan Scott said about the roller coaster of emotions. “It was good to see those guys use that, be able to take it offensively, put up some good at bats and score those two runs.”
Ben Ramirez, who sparked the decisive rally by hitting and opposite-field double on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, finished 3-for-5, as did Axel Sanchez, who homered for the third straight game for the Sox (11-9 second half, 45-41 overall).
Long before the final fireworks, Everett starting pitcher Raul Alcantara turned in a dominating performance on the mound. The hard-throwing left-hander came into the game with an 8.52 ERA, with control being his biggest issue as he’d walked 45 in 62.1 innings. But he didn’t walk any Wednesday as he allowed just two runs on three hits through seven innings, fanning a career-high 13. It was Alcantara’s fifth solid performance in has past six outings.
“He was elite,” Scott said. “Pretty much all he’s been doing more is getting ahead in counts. When he’s ahead in counts he has really good stuff and he’s able to use his pitches more, then get guys to chase late. When he’s ahead in the counts he’s really, really good.”
Casey Dana and Ryan Hernandez both homered during a nine-run top of the ninth for Tri-City (43-43, 9-11), which nearly pulled off a miraculous victory after entering the ninth trailing 10-2.
Everett used an eight-run sixth of its own, highlighted by homers from Sanchez and Miller, to snap a 2-2 tie and set up what should have been a routine ninth.
However, the Dust Devils opened the top of the ninth by putting the first five batters of the inning on base to generate some unease amongst the crowd of 3,089 at Funko Field. Dana’s grand slam made it 10-8, then Hernandez’s two-out three-run moonshot to left gave Tri-City an unlikely lead.
But Everett wasted no time getting it back. Ramirez’s leadoff double was followed by a single from Miller and a double off the center-field wall by Blake Rambusch, tying the score at 11-11.
Then with the bases loaded and one out, Gabriel Gonzalez hit a potential double-play grounder to second. However, Tri-City second baseman Adrian Placencia stumbled as he pivoted to second, and the delay gave Gonzalez enough time to beat the relay, allowing Miller to score and end the game.
