AquaSox lean on pitching to win series-opener vs. Spokane

Published 11:38 pm Tuesday, April 21, 2026

EVERETT — The ball barely eluded Jonny Farmelo’s glove as the Everett AquaSox outfielder slid across the grass at Everett Memorial Stadium on Tuesday in an attempt to rob Spokane Indians outfielder Max Belyeu of a hit.

Belyeu got on base with one out in the fifth inning, looking to start a rally with Spokane’s second hit of the evening. AquaSox starter Taylor Dollard did not bat an eye.

Dollard fell behind 2-1 in the count during the next at-bat against shortstop Kelvin Hidalgo, who fouled off the fourth pitch to even it up 2-2. Attacking low in the zone, the 27-year-old righty got Hidalgo to whiff for strike three, and he only needed three pitches to retire second baseman Roynier Hernandez, who also swung on a low pitch to end the inning.

“It was just keeping competitive, man,” Dollard said. “I felt like the stuff was there, and just because one guy gets on, doesn’t mean anything changes. … Josh (Caron) did such a good job behind the dish today. There was full trust there, and there was never any doubt in my mind today that we would be able to get out of it.”

Dollard kept the game scoreless through five with just two hits allowed and seven strikeouts, and a four-run eighth inning for Everett provided the run support needed for a 5-2 win against the Indians to kick off a six-game homestand.

Relievers Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman and Christian Little combined for three hitless innings, and while closer Brock Moore allowed a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, he shut the door with two consecutive strikeouts to secure the win.

“(Dollard) definitely set the tone,” AquaSox manager Ryan Scott said. “He had really good momentum going throughout that game, where the energy was up and he was working quickly so the defense could stay engaged with him, and as soon as he starts to slow down, everyone else can slow down behind him, and that’s kind of what we want to avoid. We want to keep the tempo up a little bit.”

After allowing nine earned runs across his first two starts of the season, Dollard’s productive outing on Tuesday was a welcome sign. His seven strikeouts marked his most in a single outing since Aug. 23, 2022, when he registered eight punch outs with Double-A Arkansas.

The Seattle Mariners’ 2020 fifth-round pick spent most of the 2025 season in Everett working back from a shoulder injury that cost him most of 2023 and all of 2024. Dollard added a cutter to his arsenal over the offseason, and is overall just trying to build more consistency in his game. It showed on Tuesday, as dramatic drops in velocity with his off-speed pitches had Spokane hitters struggling to find timing as he kept getting ahead in counts.

“It’s been a slow start to the year, but so far it’s been good,” Dollard said. “I haven’t gotten all the results I wanted, but everything feels right. The process is right, and we’re kind of getting there. Baby steps.”

Dollard went 1-2-3 in the first inning, striking out Spokane first baseman Kevin Fitzer to start things off. He pitched two more clean innings, but allowed his first hit of the night to outfielder Jacob Humphrey, who singled to left field to lead off the fourth. However, Dollard executed a pick off to first baseman Luis Suisbel to erase the runner, and he retired the next two batters on a pair of grounders.

In the meantime, the bats could not generate any run support. Through five innings, each team had only two hits.

Lunsford-Shenkman took over on the mound in the sixth and picked up where Dollard left off. Despite walking designated hitter Tommy Hopfe to start, he struck out Fitzer on a full count as Hopfe attempted to steal second, and Caron managed to gun him down from behind the plate for a double play.

“There’s definitely things we want to be able to cover, and we know that they’re not the end-all, be-all to win games, but they make a huge impact,” Scott said. “… But we get in those situations. We have our catchers learn to make good throws and pick off plays. They’re only going to happen probably less than 10 times a year, so it’s always cool to see those ones happen and see the boys execute one that well.”

Lunsford-Shenkman followed it up by making Humphrey whiff on another full count to end the inning, and the AquaSox finally broke the scoreless tie in the sixth.

Farmelo legged out an infield single to lead off the frame, and shortstop Felnin Celesten worked a walk on a full count to put two runners on. Designated hitter Luke Stevenson reached on a fielder’s choice when the potential double play put out pulled the first baseman off the bag, which left runners on the corners. With just one out, Caron was able to send a sacrifice fly to right field and score Farmelo from third to make it 1-0.

“Before the game, we had a hitters meeting just talking about being really good in hitter situations,” Stevenson said. “Moving the guy over, just driving in, just playing real good, clean baseball. So being in that situation, all I want to do is sacrifice myself to get it over, so I’ll take it.”

Little hit the second batter he faced in the seventh inning, but retired each of the other six across his two innings of work to protect the 1-0 lead, and Everett finally padded its lead in the eighth inning.

Celesten led off with a full-count walk, and Stevenson took three pitches before ripping an RBI double to left field. The 21-year-old catcher went in knowing that Spokane reliever Hunter Mann threw a lot of sinkers, so he just waited for any ball in his window and finally got one down the middle on the fourth pitch of the at-bat.

Stevenson advanced to third on a passed ball before Caron worked a walk, and Suisbel brought Stevenson home with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. Second baseman Axel Sanchez continued the rally with an RBI single down the third base line, and after third baseman Austin St. Laurent put runners on the corners with a single, outfielder Curtis Washington Jr. brought home Sanchez with a sacrifice bunt to push it to 5-0.

The rally came at the perfect time, as Humphrey’s two-run shot in the ninth ended the combined shutout bid, but Moore settled in to retire the next three batters to give the AquaSox their second win in a row after losing five of their previous six games.

Everett’s four runs in the eighth inning continued a team-wide hot streak in that particular frame, as the AquaSox scored 16 eighth-inning runs across the past six games, including a six-run spot against Eugene in a 7-4 win on April 17.

“As the game goes on, you’re just going to see guys better and better,” Stevenson said. “So I think the eighth inning’s kind of been our lucky inning. We’ve been doing a lot of good work in the eighth innings, so like I said, we put a lot of good at-bats together, and I think sooner or later, it was going to come.”