AquaSox hold off Spokane comeback bid

Published 12:50 am Thursday, August 13, 2026

EVERETT — Christian Little was not pleased.

Looking to escape a bases-loaded jam against the Spokane Indians at Everett Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, clinging to a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth inning, the Everett AquaSox reliever thought he got designated hitter Roynier Hernandez to bite on a check swing for what would have been a strikeout. But when catcher Matthew Ellis pointed to first base umpire Ricardo Capois for the ruling, he signaled no swing.

Frustrated, Little shouted an expletive that can’t be printed, but it starts with an F and ends with the K he was looking for. Despite the potential game-altering call, Little made sure it wouldn’t matter. He composed himself, and got Hernandez to whiff on the very next pitch, which he sent down the middle. No debate there.

With two outs, Little attacked outfielder Roldy Brito, who flied out to deep center field on the third pitch. It wasn’t pretty, but Little stranded all three runners and maintained Everett’s slim lead.

“Today was probably the worst my stuff’s been the entire year,” Little said. “Worst my command’s been. I don’t think I walked three guys in an outing this year; it might have been the first time.”

It was.

“I didn’t get much help from the umpire, but the defense showed up where I was lacking today,” Little continued. “And for that, I can’t thank them enough. … I think in this game, there’s a stigma that you have to kind of pretend that certain things don’t go against you in the game. I think that everybody right there recognizes that’s a big pitch in a big situation. I mean, the kid swung and they didn’t call it a check swing. For me there, something the Mariners are really good at is working on our mental process in terms of getting back in the pitches, and I’m able to go up there, put my foot on the mound, reset and throw the next pitch.”

Despite Little’s admittedly below-standard stuff and command, AquaSox manager Ryan Scott had no hesitations about sending him back out for the ninth inning, and despite walking the leadoff batter, Little retired each of the next three to secure a 6-5 win for Everett (56-54 overall, 23-21 second-half, third place), holding off a Spokane (50-59, 21-22, fourth place) side that closed the gap from a 6-2 deficit.

Little’s eighth save of the season moved him into a tie for third with AquaSox teammate Casey Hintz in the Northwest League, and this is only the 23-year-old’s first professional season coming out of the bullpen. An 11th-round pick out of LSU in 2024, Little made 15 starts with Single-A Modesto in 2025 before getting promoted to Everett on Aug. 20, 2025. He made two starts for the AquaSox, and made a single long-relief appearance during the Northwest League Championship in September, but the Mariners organization decided he would be better suited as a closer heading into 2026.

So far, the St. Louis native has rewarded that decision. Little’s ERA sat as low as 0.64 in mid-May, and did not rise above 2.00 until late June. It jumped from 1.89 to 3.09 after he allowed five earned runs across 1 2/3 innings on July 22, but he brought it down to 2.86 on Wednesday. His 1.02 WHIP is among the lowest on the team, and his .151 batting average against is the lowest among pitchers with at least 44 innings pitched in the Northwest League this season.

“Where he wants to get to in the big leagues, he wants to be a high leverage-type pitcher in the big leagues, so he’s going to have to throw in those situations,” Scott said. “So the more we can get him in situations like that to see how he’s going to respond, whether positively or negatively, then we can know and then we can adjust from there. So seeing him go out there and really dominate that moment and really take advantage of it — getting past the leadoff walk he had, get past the other guys getting on base (and) find a way to get an out — that’s ultimately all we’re trying to look for there out of him.”

Everett starter Taylor Dollard allowed eight hits but only two earned runs across five innings of work, and Ellis went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI to lead the offense.

Outfielder Carlos Jimenez put the AquaSox in front early with a leadoff solo shot over the tallest part of the scoreboard in right-center, but Spokane second baseman Wilder Dalis answered with a blast of his own to tie it 1-1 in the top of the second. The next two Spokane batters reached base to put runners on the corners, but Dollard struck out outfielder Cameron Nelson before getting outfielder Tommy Hopfe to fly out to end the frame.

Hopfe exited in the bottom of the second after running down a foul ball from Everett outfielder Anthony Donofrio and falling through an open gate next to the AquaSox bullpen. Derek Bernard replaced him after a long delay, with Hopfe’s right arm appearing limp as he walked off the field.

Spokane jumped ahead 2-1 with an RBI single from infielder Tanner Thach in the top of the third, but Dollard stranded runners on the corners to prevent further damage. Spokane starter Yujanyer Herrera and Dollard traded 1-2-3 innings to bring it to the bottom of the fourth, where Ellis flipped the game around.

Swinging on the first pitch, the 26-year-old catcher crushed a two-run shot off the left field foul pole following infielder Ricardo Cova’s leadoff double, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. It was Ellis’ fourth straight opposite field home run, and eight of the lefty hitter’s 15 long balls this season have went to either left or left-center.

“I knew I had to go, but I was a little nervous it had gone foul,” Ellis said. “Last couple weeks, just having a lot of balls on the right side of the field, really just emphasized trying to get back over there (to the left) today to kind of figure it out a little bit, and then the rest will come on the right side. So did our goal for today and accomplished that.”

After Ellis grabbed the lead, Spokane ended the inning with back-to-back diving catches from Nelson in right field and Wilder Dalis at second base, but Everett shortstop Axel Sanchez turned a double play to make it a quick top of the fifth.

Infielder Brandon Eike and Cova added on crucial run support in the bottom of the fifth, with Eike hitting a two-run triple to deep center before Cova brought him home with a single to make it 6-2.

“His ability to compete and get those pitches, and when he gets that mistake over the plate and not try to do too much with it, and that’s what he did,” Scott said of Eike’s triple. “He got a two-strike pitch over the plate and hit something hard on a line. Didn’t try to do too much, didn’t try to get too big and hit a homer, understanding that if he hits something hard on a line, good things are going to happen.”

AquaSox reliever Jose Geraldo took over for Dollard in the sixth and immediately allowed a solo home run from Thach to cut it to 6-3, but despite walking two batters to bring the tying to the plate, Geraldo struck out catcher Juan Castillo and induced two fly outs to maintain the three-run lead.

Spokane reliever Justin Loer walked three batters to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Eike grounded out in a full count as shortstop Kevin Hidalgo managed to beat him with a long throw across the infield. The Indians reeled it in to 6-4 when Hernandez worked a leadoff walk and Brito ripped an RBI double down the left field line off reliever Calvin Schapira. Brito advanced to third on a wild pitch, then stole home to cut it to 6-5 as Schapira could not get a throw to the plate in time.

“It was a really good baseball play from (Brito),” Scott said. “He took advantage of us not really paying attention, and Calvin being a lefty, it’s always really hard. Your eyes are faced the other way, so it’s always a difficult situation there. … On our end, we know that that’s something that’s potentially going to happen now, so just keeping a little bit more focus on those and making sure that guy’s going to be closer to the base before we’re going to kind of go through our little pre-routine before we’re going to get our next hitter.”

While Spokane whittled down Everett’s lead, and threatened to pull ahead multiple times, Little shut the door over the final two frames. However, it was Cova who capped things off with a diving snag of a Hidalgo line drive, which could have driven in the tying run if not for the 22-year-old’s quick glove.

“Cova’s last play of the game was unreal,” Little said. “I mean, diving catch on a ball that was hit really hard by a really good hitter, and that’s the type of stuff that can push us in a race toward the NWL Championship, and we just got to keep doing that.”

The win moved the AquaSox one game behind Vancouver Canadians atop the league standings, and they will attempt to keep pace in Thursday’s game against Spokane at 12:05 p.m. PT.