Matthew Ellis displays power for AquaSox in dominant win

Published 4:55 pm Thursday, July 23, 2026

EVERETT — Carlos Jimenez hit the sweet spot. The Everett AquaSox designated hitter sent his third hit of the afternoon against the Eugene Emeralds into the right field corner, a deep spot at Everett Memorial Stadium that often leads to triples.

However, the 23-year-old outfielder could not even attempt to get to third since AquaSox infielder Carter Dorighi held up thinking the ball was going foul. Dorighi likely could have scored from first with the right jump, but had to stop at third instead. Jimenez nearly caught up to him on the base path.

For an Everett team that prides itself on aggressive base-running, it was a rare lapse. Granted, with a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth and two runners in scoring position, it was far from a disaster. Yet when catcher Matthew Ellis stepped to the plate, he made it completely inconsequential.

With a blast that cleared the left field wall at a height more than halfway up the foul pole, Ellis pushed the AquaSox lead to 9-0 en route to a dominant 10-2 win on Thursday. Everett (49-44 overall, 16-11 second-half) totaled three home runs, while starter Taylor Dollard & Co. limited Eugene (56-37, 14-13) to just five hits before the ninth inning and seven overall.

“The first couple at-bats, (Emeralds starter Hunter Dryden) went (with) a lot of breaking balls and stuff like that, which I figured he would do,” Ellis said. “He had kind of done that most of the year. In the third at-bat, he went three in a row to start the at-bat, and I had a pretty good idea he was going to keep going to it until I hit the heater, so I was on the heater, and good day to hit today, obviously.”

Ellis finished 2-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, while Jimenez and outfielder Korbyn Dickerson each had three hits and two RBI. All nine players in the AquaSox lineup reached base at least once, and all except for infielder Luis Suisbel — 0-for-2 with two walks — recorded a hit.

“Our guys are getting pitches over the plate to hit, and they’re going to hit them hard,” Everett manager Ryan Scott said. “So that was really cool to see from guys, and that starter (Dryden), we’d already seen a few times, which it’s good to have a little bit of history with some guys and know what’s coming out of the hand. … We didn’t miss a whole lot tonight, so it was good to see.”

Thursday marked just the fifth time Ellis appeared at catcher this season. With Luke Stevenson and Josh Caron splitting most of the time behind the plate, Ellis has primarily been a designated hitter while also slotting in at first base on occasion. With Caron’s promotion to Double-A Arkansas on Monday, there’s now opportunity for Ellis to get more reps at his natural position.

Even when he is DH’ing, Ellis has been in the lineup for just three out of six games in most series. Scott said Ellis is deserving of a lineup spot 4-6 times a week, but the logjam at catcher was the reason for his reduced role. Scott anticipates more work for the Waddy, Kentucky native behind the plate following Caron’s departure.

In the meantime, Ellis’ main focus is keeping up with game speed even on off days. Whether it’s utilizing pitching machines or going through specific hitting drills, he’s learned how to make up for his limited game reps.

“It’s difficult from time to time, not being in there every day and not seeing pitching every day,” Ellis said. “But at the same time, Chase (Miller), the hitting coach, does a phenomenal job making sure I get what I need to stay ready when those couple days or few days a week come in, and make sure I’m ready to go from the first pitch. I think it was something that I had to learn to do a little bit better once we started, but now I think that I’ve got in a better spot for it, and just try to take advantage of all the opportunities that I get.”

Ellis has certainly taken advantage from a power perspective. Despite having just 168 at-bats this season, Ellis is tied for second on the team with 13 home runs. His 12.92 at-bats per home run is best in the Northwest League among players with at least 75 at-bats this season.

As AquaSox infielder Austin St. Laurent put it, speaking in an exaggerated Kentucky twang to imitate Ellis as he walked past him toward the clubhouse: “My name is Matthew Ellis, and I hit bombs.”

Ellis opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single, and Dickerson hit his second home run in three games since his promotion from Single-A Inland Empire to make it 3-0.

Dollard pitched a 1-2-3 second inning, needing just 10 pitches to get through after a 13-pitch first inning, and Everett increased its lead in the bottom of the frame. Suisbel led off with a walk, and outfielder Anthony Donofrio put them both in scoring position with a double off the wall in left field. Jimenez drove them both home with his second hit of the afternoon to push the lead to 5-0.

Dollard went 1-2-3 again in the third, breezing through the first two batters before retiring infielder Isaiah Barkett in an eight-pitch at-bat. Barkett worked a full count as Dollard alternated balls and strikes on the first five pitches, then fouled off two in a row before Dollard finally got him to fly out on the eighth pitch.

“I wanted to challenge him to try to beat me and be competitive,” Dollard said. “And I wanted to not walk him, basically, and give him a free pass, so it was one of those things where it was like, I trusted my stuff and it was basically like I kind of wanted to see what he could do with it, and challenge him over and over.”

Infielder Brandon Eike led off the bottom of the third with his 19th home run of the season to move into a tie for first in the Northwest League. After taking a ball toward the top of the zone, Eike received a pitch right down the middle that he launched over the center field wall to extend the lead to 6-0.

Dollard continued to mow through the Eugene lineup, and St. Laurent brought the AquaSox into double digits with an RBI single after Ellis’ three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. The Emeralds spoiled the shutout with a solo homer from infielder Zander Darby in the top of the fifth, but Dollard retired each of the next four batters he faced to end his day with two hits and five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.

Eugene tacked on a second run in the eighth inning, with catcher Onil Perez scoring from third as designated hitter Jhonny Level narrowly avoided an inning-ending double play by beating out the throw to first, but Calvin Schapira and Casey Hintz combined to allow just five hits and one earned run over 3 2/3 innings of relief.