AquaSox drop three straight against Eugene to open August

Published 7:30 am Monday, August 4, 2025

After splitting the first two games of their series against the Eugene Emeralds on July 29–30, the Everett AquaSox went 1-3 to close out the final stretch of the road trip.

Following Sunday’s 7-2 loss, the AquaSox (51-51) are at .500 for the entire season, but sit second-to-last in the Northwest League second half standings at 14-22. After clinching the first-half title on June 19, Everett will play in September’s Northwest League Championship Series regardless of their second-half record.

Thursday’s game: Everett 6, Eugene 1

The AquaSox trailed early when Emeralds second baseman Zander Darby hit an RBI single in the bottom of the second to score Zane Zielinkski, but Everett starter Evan Truitt would allow just one other hit across five innings of work.

The 22-year-old righty had a career-high seven strikeouts, and the AquaSox offense pulled ahead thanks to a solo shot from Charlie Pagliarini in the fourth followed by a two-run blast by Carson Jones in the fifth to make it 3-1.

Luis Suisbel joined the home run party with a solo homer in the sixth, while Pagliarini and Carter Dorighi set up the 6-1 final with a pair of RBI base hits in the eighth and ninth, respectively. The AquaSox relievers — Elijah Dale, Ben Hernandez, Natanael Garabitos and Gabriel Sosa — collectively allowed just two hits and one walk to keep the Emeralds off the board down the stretch.

Friday’s game: Eugene 9, Everett 8

In a back-and-forth contest, the Emeralds once again took the early lead on Friday, but a much larger one compared to the day before. After Zielinski singled on a soft bunt to score outfielder Jakob Christian, catcher Luke Shliger hit a three-run homer off AquaSox starter Taylor Dollard to make it 4-0 in the second inning.

However, once again, Everett battled back to tie it. In the next frame, Pagliarini reached first on a bunt single with two outs, and the next three batters drove in runs to make it 4-4. Shortstop Colt Emerson doubled to score Pagliarini, and first baseman Brandon Eike brought Emerson home with a single. Suisbel tied it with his second home run in as many days, and his 17th of the season.

The tie was short-lived, as Christian homered in the bottom of the third to give Eugene a 5-4 lead, but the AquaSox broke things open in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Pagliarini hit a single to advance each runner, tying it 5-5 before Emerson cleared the bags with a double to right field. The AquaSox took an 8-5 lead, aided by an error from Christian on Emerson’s hit.

Despite the three-run lead, Everett would slowly let it slip away on RBI hits from Eugene’s Shliger in the sixth and Charlie Szykowny in the eighth to cut it to 8-7. AquaSox reliever Shaddon Peavyhouse would ultimately blow the lead when Zielinski hit a go-ahead, two-run single later in the eighth to make it 9-8 Emeralds.

The top of the AquaSox order came to bat in the ninth in an effort to tie the game once again, but both Pagliarini and Eike struck out while Emerson grounded out in between them.

Saturday’s game: Eugene 4, Everett 2

In what ended up being his last appearance with Everett before his promotion to Double-A Arkansas on Sunday, Jurrangelo Cijntje set a career-high with 10 strikeouts. However, his final pitch in an AquaSox uniform was sent over the right field wall by Szykowny, whose three-run homer gave the Emeralds a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Calvin Schapira replaced Cijntje on the mound, making his debut for Everett following his promotion from Low-A Modesto on Friday, and allowed one hit and one walk over 1.1 innings.

Tai Peete opened the scoring with an RBI double in the fourth, but Szykowny tied it with a tying RBI single in the bottom of the frame before giving Eugene the lead in his next at bat.

Suisbel cut it to 4-2 in the eighth with a solo home run, but the AquaSox only generated one other hit and a walk across the final three innings after Szykowny’s go-ahead home run for the Emeralds.

Sunday’s game: Eugene 7, Everett 2

The Emeralds wasted no time in the series finale, scoring five runs against Everett starter Nico Tellache in the bottom of the first. After Zielinski’s RBI ground out made it 1-0 with two outs, Eugene’s next four batters reached base to bring the score up to 5-0 before Pedro Da Costa Lemos took over for Tellache to kick off his High-A career.

Lemos struck out three batters and allowed no hits or walks in 2.1 innings, but Eugene’s lead proved too big to overcome. Szykowny hit a solo home run to extend it to 6-0 in the fifth before Pagliarini responded with one of his own in the sixth to put Everett on the board.

Curtis Washington Jr. scored Milkar Perez on a ground out to cut it to 6-2 in the seventh, but Emeralds outfielder Jonah Cox wrapped things up with an RBI single in the eighth.

After dropping three straight, the AquaSox return home for a six-game series against Tri-City beginning Tuesday.