AquaSox drop opening series in Spokane
Published 9:01 am Monday, April 6, 2026
The Everett AquaSox rallied late, but fell in the 10th inning Sunday to lose 10-9 to the Spokane Indians on Sunday.
Spokane automatic runner Jacob Humphrey scored on a sacrifice bunt by Caleb Hobson and a throwing error by Everett pitcher Calvin Schapira in the 10th inning, and the Indians edged the Everett AquaSox 10-9 in the finale of a three-game High-A Northwest League series at Avista Stadium.
The AquaSox lost two of three in the season-opening series.
Ethan Hedges hit two of the Indians’ four solo home runs. He went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and three RBIs and is 6-for-11 to start the season. Max Belyeu added three hits and two RBIs as the Indians finished with 14 hits, seven for extra bases.
“We’ve got a lot of resilience. We’re never gonna give up,” Hobson said. “That’s one thing that we preach in the locker room. We’re not gonna give up on anything. Doesn’t matter what the score is, we’re just gonna give it our best every single time.”
“That tells you a lot about what kind of guys we have in this clubhouse,” Indians manager Tom Sutaris said. “We were in the eighth inning of a one-run game, so that’s all that matters. Doesn’t really matter how you got there, but it’s about being able to bounce back and be ready for that moment. … Our guys showed a lot of resiliency today. They came ready to go, no panic and it was fun to be a part of that.”
Humphrey started the 10th at second base. Hobson, who had entered as a pinch-runner and scored the tying run in the eighth, hit the perfect sacrifice bunt, making the left-handed Schapira field the bunt to the third base side. Schapira sent the throw to first down the right field line and Humphrey scored without a throw.
“I’ve worked my butt off to get to this position,” Hobson said. “They made a bad throw, made it easy for us. Gets us a win.”
“He works so hard at (bunting), trying to get better,” Sutaris said. “And he had a big moment there to get a bunt down and execute it. We got it done.”
Indians starter Jordy Vargas was a once-promising prospect for the Colorado Rockies, signing for $500,000 as an international free agent in 2021. But Tommy John surgery wiped out half of 2023 and all of 2024.
Vargas gave up a walk and a single in the first but struck out three in a scoreless inning. He walked another in the second but coaxed three fly ball outs.
Rockies No. 5 prospect Robert Calez smoked a line drive homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the fifth, measured at 107 mph off the bat, for his first homer of the season. Hedges followed with an opposite field shot, his second homer of the day, to make it 6-1.
“I mean, I was just trying to put hard contact on the ball, find a barrel and, you know, straight to the middle of the field,” Hedges said. “I got two good pitches to hit and put a good swing on them.”
Belyeu added a two-run triple in the seventh to cap his three-hit day.
The seven-run cushion wasn’t enough. Everett rallied for eight runs in the eighth off lefty reliever Bryson Van Sickle and righty Nathan Blasick — the capper a three-run homer by Matthew Ellis to put Everett up 9-8.
The Indians tied it in the bottom half. Kevin Fizter reached on a one-out walk and was replaced by Hobson as a pinch-runner. Hobson went first-to-third on a single by Calaz and scored on a nubber to the pitcher by Hedges.
Saturday’s game
The Everett AquaSox hit three solo home runs as they edged the Indians 3-2 in the second of a three-game series at Avista Stadium.
Everett catcher Josh Caron skied the first pitch he saw from Jackson Cox into the netting above the tall left field wall for a two-out solo homer.
Luis Suisbel followed with a double into the right field corner, but Cox bounced back to get Matthew Ellis looking to end the inning.
Indians outfielder Robert Calaz, the Colorado Rockies No. 5 prospect, ripped a two-out triple in the bottom half and scored on an infield single by Ethan Hedges to tie it.
Reliever Fisher Jameson took over in the fifth and was greeted rudely, as Carter Dorighi and Jonny Farmelo hit back-to-back one-out homers to put the AquaSox up 3-2. It was Dorighi’s second professional homer in 141 games.
It was quiet until the bottom of the eighth inning. The Indians loaded the bases with two down on a single by Ethan Hedges and consecutive walks. That brought up Max Belyeu, but he swung through a 98-mph heater from Christian Little to end the burgeoning rally.
Everett’s 6-foot-5 closer Brock Moore struck out three in the ninth inning, hitting 99 on several occasions, for his first save of the season.
Friday’s game
Kevin Fitzer and Max Belyeu hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning and four Indians pitchers held the Everett AquaSox to just five base hits in a 4-1 win in the Northwest League season opener at Avista Stadium.
The Indians took the lead for good in the fourth. Ethan Hedges singled off AquaSox starter Colton Shaw, and after a pitching change Fitzer jumped on reliever Chase Centala’s first pitch for a two-run home run. Belyeu followed, and he hit the first pitch he saw for a solo shot and a 4-1 lead.
Six-foot-5 lefty Justin Loer handled the seventh and eighth without incident and righty Nathan Blasick pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
The AquaSox face Tri-City 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Funko Field in Everett.
