Early errors sink AquaSox against Hillsboro

Published 12:30 am Wednesday, June 17, 2026

EVERETT — Perhaps the fans at Everett Memorial Stadium could have guessed what they would be in for on Tuesday when the Hillsboro Hops’ leadoff hitter JD Dix ripped a line drive through Everett AquaSox shortstop Felnin Celesten’s glove as he attempted to make a jumping catch. Dix reached second base on the error, and Hops designated hitter Jose Mejia brought him home with an RBI double to the wall that Everett outfielder Anthony Donofrio could not get under in time.

Call it foreshadowing. Call it coincidence. Either way, the AquaSox (32-32) would commit two more errors in the second inning to allow Hillsboro (31-33) to take a 4-0 lead, and finish with four total on the night en route to a 12-5 loss, snapping a three-game win streak to kick off the six-game homestand.

Outfielder Carlos Jimenez, infielder Axel Sanchez and Donofrio each had two hits with one RBI and one run scored. Everett starter Taylor Dollard got tagged for seven runs — just four earned — after allowing eight hits and three walks through 2 2/3 innings, but relievers Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman and Calvin Schapira combined to allow just three hits and two walks over 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

Hops outfielder Jakey Josepha pushed the lead to 2-0 in the second inning with a bloop RBI single, and he advanced to second base when AquaSox outfielder Jonny Farmelo threw out Hillsboro infielder Modeifi Marte trying to advance to third for the second out.

Dix sent a grounder to Everett third baseman Brandon Eike, but his potential inning-ending putout throw to first forced Luis Suisbel to jump off the bag. Josepha scored on the error, and Dix later made his way to third when catcher Josh Caron’s attempt to catch him stealing rolled into the outfield. Mejia brought Dix in with an RBI single on the next at-bat to make it 4-0.

The Hops kept putting the ball in play in the third inning, loading the bases on a bouncing infield single from Marte that Eike could not secure. Catcher Kenny Castillo scored as Josepha grounded into a fielder’s choice at second, leaving runners on the corners, and Hillsboro executed a double-steal to allow outfielder Avery Owusu-Asiedu to score from third as another Caron putout attempt to second went wide into the outfield.

“The biggest thing is make sure they know there still is a lot of game left, and a lot of time for us to start climbing our way out of that hole a little bit,” AquaSox manager Ryan Scott said. “But more keeping them focused and keeping them energized. Always going to try to go down the dugout and make sure those guys are staying up a little bit, and not kind of just settling into thinking we’re already going to lose that game.”

Mejia pushed the lead to 7-0 with an RBI single in the next at-bat, and that marked the end of Dollard’s night. Lunsford-Shenkman allowed his first batter to reach base with a single, but he finally got out of the inning by inducing a grounder.

Hops starter Kyle Ayers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the third, but Lunsford-Shenkman responded with a clean frame of his own to stall Hillsboro’s momentum in the top of the fourth. The 23-year-old righty ended the inning by getting Castillo to whiff on three out of four pitches for a strikeout.

“They got themselves into good counts,” Scott said of Lunsford-Shenkman and Schapira. “And the more they got themselves into good counts, the more they were able to get those guys out and kind of limit those pitch counts. … Wyatt, to go two-plus, 2 1/3 (innings) there, cleaning up Dollard’s third inning, (he) did a great job.”

Despite trailing 7-0 through three innings, Everett managed to cut the deficit down to 7-5 through six before the Hops pulled away. Eike ripped a two-out single to center in the bottom of the fourth, and Jimenez drove in Everett’s first run of the game with an RBI triple that just managed to stay fair in the right field corner.

The 23-year-old from Los Alcarrizos, Dominican Republic did not know the ball was fair until he reached first base.

“I knew I put a good swing on the ball, but it was kind of in between,” Jimenez said, with translation from AquaSox outfield coach Edgardo Rivera. “When I saw it was fair, I (went) full speed and tried to make it as far as I can, so I make it to third.”

Jimenez has ramped up his production at the plate this month, slashing .359/.447/.538 since June 1 after hitting in the .240s through the first two months of the season. He spent all of last year in Single-A with the now-defunct Modesto Nuts, where he shared the California League lead with 14 home runs. Jimenez also drove in a team-high 63 runs while posting a .258 average and a .777 OPS in 105 games.

Since making the jump to Everett this season, Jimenez has worked primarily on hitting the ball out front more often, which is starting to lead to more productive base hits.

“Now, we see the results,” Jimenez said. “Ups and downs, it’s baseball, but right now I’m feeling good. (I) keep focusing on that, and keep hitting the ball up front is going to be the main focus for me.”

The AquaSox picked up two more runs after Sanchez and Donofrio led off the fifth with back-to-back singles. Sanchez scored from third on a balk to cut it to 7-2, and Donofrio scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to make it 7-3. After a scoreless inning from Schapira, Everett closed the gap even further in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Sanchez and a sacrifice fly from Donofrio to make it 7-5.

“Donofrio down at the bottom did a great job. (Sanchez) with a hit down there,” Scott said. “So those guys are going to go out there and compete, and that’s really all we wanted them to do, and not give any at-bats away and find a way on base.”

The AquaSox had the tying run at the plate when Farmelo came to bat with two outs, but he struck out swinging to end the rally.

From there, Hillsboro shortstop Kayson Cunningham pushed the lead to 8-5 with an RBI single in the top of the eighth, and Castillo loaded the bases with a single before Marte brought another run across with a bat-breaking infield single. Everett reliever Sam Whiting replaced Gabriel Sosa and managed to strike out Josepha to strand the remaining runners.

The Hops loaded the bases again in the top of the ninth, and another run scored when Cunningham grounded out to Celesten before Castillo hit a two-run double off the center field wall to make it 12-5.

“We got to keep competing,” Jimenez said. “They got to throw the ball. We got to do our job. When they take that lead, we got to stay focused and maybe double up the focus. This is baseball, so maybe double up the focus and try to keep having good at-bats to try to get back in the game.”

The AquaSox will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. PT.