Eugene walks off AquaSox twice to complete double-header
Published 10:00 am Saturday, June 27, 2026
The Everett AquaSox suffered not one, but two walk-off losses to the Eugene Emeralds at PK Park on Friday.
After the second-half of Thursday’s originally scheduled double-header got suspended due to rain, the two teams picked up where they left off on Friday. The Emeralds led 6-5 in the top of the third after infielder Gavin Kilen hit a pair of two-run homers in the first and second innings, respectively, and infielder Jhonny Level ripped a two-run single in between to make it 6-0 after two innings.
The AquaSox surged back with five runs in the third as six consecutive players reached base with one out. Outfielder Curtis Washington Jr. started the rally with a single, then stole second and third before outfielder Jonny Farmelo singled him home to cut it to 6-1. Catcher Josh Caron doubled to bring in Farmelo and infielder Axel Sanchez, who worked a walk right after Washington, and shortstop Felnin Celesten and designated hitter Matthew Ellis had back-to-back RBI base hits to cut it to 6-5.
Once the game resumed on Friday, Eugene catcher Daniel Rogers extended the lead to 7-5 with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third, but Caron tied it 7-7 with his 13th home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field in the top of the fourth.
The score remained tied through seven innings as Everett reliever Reid Easterly allowed just one hit across the fourth and fifth innings, and Lucas Kelly allowed one walk through the sixth and seventh to send the game to extras.
Infielder Austin St. Laurent started the eighth inning on second as the ghost runner, and he scored on an errant pickoff attempt by Emeralds reliever Gerelmi Maldonado to give the AquaSox an 8-7 lead.
However, when Christian Little took over for the save opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, he tossed just four pitches before infielder Walker Martin hit a walk-off, two-run homer that scored ghost runner Jakob Christian for the 9-8 victory.
In Friday’s second game, Everett infielder Brandon Eike and Eugene designated hitter Carlos Gutierrez each hit solo home runs in the second inning to make it 1-1, but the Emeralds took a 3-1 lead in the third when Kilen hit an RBI double and Christian hit a sacrifice fly in back-to-back plate appearances.
The AquaSox loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with no outs after singles from Caron and Eike plus a walk from outfielder Carlos Jimenez, and Caron scored from third on a passed ball to cut it to 3-2. Eugene reliever Liam Simon picked up two outs to bring Everett down to its final chance, but Washington hit a game-tying RBI single. St. Laurent was put out trying to advance to third base, so the game went into the bottom of the seventh tied 3-3.
AquaSox reliever Adam Smith allowed a double to outfielder Trevor Cohen, then retired outfielder Dakota Jordan to become one out away from sending the game to extras. However, Kilen had other plans.
The 13th overall pick from the 2025 MLB Draft sent an RBI double to right field, scoring Cohen to walk-off Everett for the second time of the night in the 4-3 win.
The AquaSox will have Saturday off before wrapping up the series on Sunday at 6:05 p.m. PT.
