AquaSox overcome mistakes, execute plan in Game 1 win

Published 9:00 am Wednesday, September 10, 2025

EUGENE, Ore. — For Zach Vincej, the focus was clear.

For the Everett AquaSox to have a chance at defeating the red-hot Eugene Emeralds in the 2025 Northwest League Championship Series, it would come down to a few key factors.

“If we can have good at-bats, you know, working the counts, fighting all the way until the end, I like our chances,” Vincej said on Aug. 31, following Everett’s 7-5 win against Eugene. “I think we just got to limit the at-bats where we give them away, we swing at bad pitches. Those are all super important to think about.”

That win on Aug. 31 marked a breakthrough for an AquaSox team that won the first-half title but sank to the bottom of the Northwest League standings in the second half. After losing five straight to open their final regular-season home series, Everett had the recipe.

Given how prolific the Emeralds have been over the second half of the season (49-17 record), it wasn’t a surprise to see them tie Game 1 of the series 4-4 with a two-run homer from Parks Harber at PK Park on Tuesday.

But based on what Vincej laid out just a couple of weeks earlier, it also shouldn’t have been a surprise to see the AquaSox walk in two runs and bat in two more in the top of the 11th inning to set up a 9-6 win and take a 1-0 series lead.

With five walks in the 11th, two coming with the bases loaded, Everett checked off every part of Vincej’s keys.

“Throughout the game, it just didn’t matter. It felt like we just kept fighting,” Vincej said. “Even (after) that two-run homer by Harber, and we had so much energy going into the dugout, I was not even worried one bit. I knew we were going to fight all the way til the end, and that just shows a lot about our group.”

With the game tied 5-5 entering the 11th, shortstop Felnin Celesten started at second as the automatic runner. Already a major contributor with two RBI on the night, Celesten got himself into a better position by advancing to third on a wild pitch by Emeralds righty Junior Flores during the first at bat.

On the next pitch, designated hitter Matthew Ellis ripped a grounder that bounced just over Harber’s glove at third base and allowed Celesten to score the go-ahead run. After that, Flores just could not find the zone, throwing 12 balls over the next 14 pitches to walk Luis Suisbel, Tai Peete and Josh Caron, the score jumping to 7-5 on the latter with the bases loaded.

Rather than chase and try to force a play — something Vincej said the team had trouble with earlier this season — the AquaSox let the game come to them.

“I think just understanding the situation,” Vincej said. “Like watching the game, understanding those guys were kind of falling behind in counts, and you know, great job by (hitting coach Jordan) Cowan getting those guys ready.”

After a Eugene pitching change, Carter Dorighi worked yet another walk to make it 8-5 before Charlie Pagliarini knocked in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly to deep center field to add to the run support.

The 24-year-old infielder opened the game with a leadoff home run on the very first pitch, setting the tone immediately. Everett eventually took a 4-1 lead, and while the Emeralds erased the lead, the energy never faded.

Coincidentally, Pagliarini also hit a first-pitch, leadoff home run on June 19, when Everett clinched the first-half title with an 8-3 win against the Spokane Indians. The AquaSox didn’t clinch anything this time around, but still took a massive step towards getting there.

“I’ll be honest, it was the thought beforehand,” Pagliarini said about repeating his home run feat. “There’s nothing more I want to do, especially in that spot, (than) give the boys some energy, and (I) was happy to get a pitch to be able to hit and do some damage on. I was fired up, trying to get the boys fired up early, and it was a great, crazy game.”

That ‘craziness’ nearly saw the result slip the other way on multiple occasions. After the game went into extras following Harbers’ game-tying homer in the eighth, Everett took the lead in the 10th.

A Eugene wild pitch allowed Dorighi, the ghost runner, to reach third base, and a walk from Pagliarini set up Jonny Farmelo with runners on the corners. Farmelo grounded into a double play, but Dorighi still scored from third to make it 5-4.

Heading into the bottom of the frame, reliever Jose Geraldo — who already pitched a scoreless ninth — needed to get just three outs to secure the victory. The 25-year-old Dominican Republic native struck out Jean Carlos Sio to get off to a good start before disaster struck.

Jonah Cox hit a comebacker off Geraldo’s ankle on the first pitch, allowing automatic runner Damian Bravo to run to third. Geraldo lost track of the ball off his foot, looking around frantically as Cox hustled to first. Upon finding the ball, Geraldo picked it up and rushed the throw to first, sailing it over Dorighi’s head. Bravo scored to tie the game 5-5.

With Geraldo’s ankle hurting from the impact of the hit, Everett’s trainer Stephanie McClain went to check on him along with Vincej and pitching coach Matt Carasiti. Geraldo delivered a few practice pitches before the game resumed.

Between a hurt ankle and hurt ego, the last play would be enough to make anyone fall apart at the seams. Instead, Geralgo locked in, turning a 3-1 count against Charlie Szykowny into a strikeout before getting Harber to whiff on a 1-2 pitch low and away.

After the throwing error on Cox’s comebacker, Eugene’s win probability jumped to 63.2 percent, according to MiLB. It dropped to an even 50 following Geraldo’s two strikeouts to preserve the tie.

“(We were) just telling him that he’s ‘the guy,’ in that situation,” Vincej said. “And those big moments, you have to forget about those mistakes. It was an unfortunate bounce that kind of took a— he didn’t know where the ball was, and he rushed it, and that stuff’s going to happen. And it’s all about fighting back, and he did exactly that. I’m so proud of him, and he’s a huge, huge guy for us.”

Even after Geraldo’s clutch performance and Everett’s surge in the 11th, the job was not over. Gabriel Sosa took over on the mound and allowed an RBI double to Onil Perez with one out, which cut it to 9-6. Sosa walked the next batter to put the tying run at the plate.

One swing, and the game could be back to square one.

Emeralds infielder Jose Ramos sent a line drive out towards left field, where he almost certainly would have driven in another run if Celesten had not snagged the ball out of the air. It marked yet another flashy glove play from the Everett infield, which gave the defense a significant boost.

“We just continue to do the little things,” Pagliarini said. “I mean, in big-time moments, this team is really special, so to be able to make those plays and help the pitchers out and just to get us back into swing, it was great.”

But just as things were going well, another mistake nearly cost them. With two outs, Bravo sent a grounder to Suisbel, who made a routine throw to Dorighi at first. Instead of securing the game-ending putout, Dorighi dropped the ball, creating a bases-loaded situation with the winning run at the plate.

Once again, the AquaSox could have been rattled, but they got back into position and outfielder Anthony Donofrio made a sliding catch in the next at-bat to get the final out and win the game.

It was a bumpy ride, but Everett gained the upper hand in the series. Every time they could have folded, they stacked the chips and went all in.

“We truly believe in each other,” said starter Ryan Hawks, who allowed two earned runs in six innings. “Everything we do, we’ve been through it all together, so there’s never any fear, doubt, anxiety, nothing like that.

“The message is pretty simple: Just keep swinging it one pitch at a time.”