EVERETT — There’s a concept commonly bandied about in sports circles: bend, but don’t break.
The Everett AquaSox pitchers elevated that concept to an art form Tuesday night. And as a result, the Sox will be playing for the Northwest League title.
Everett’s pitchers came up clutch time and time again, and the Sox defeated the Vancouver Canadians 3-1 to advance to the league championship series.
Everett swept the best-of-three divisional series 2-0. The Sox face Spokane, which swept Yakima in the East divisional, in a best-of-three championship series beginning Thursday in Spokane.
“It’s a great feeling,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “The kids deserve it, the played so hard year round. Since spring training this is what it’s all been about, you work to play in September and be in the playoffs. We’re going to be playing in the final, and it’s a good feeling.”
Before a boisterous Everett Memorial Stadium crowd, supplemented by a small section of enthusiastic Canadians fans, Everett’s pitchers did the business when it mattered most. Vancouver put 16 runners on base, but only managed to push one across the plate. Hurlers Anthony Fernandez, Willy Kesler and Tyler Burgoon combined to strand 13, including five at third base.
“I haven’t seen that before this year,” Sox catcher Steven Baron said of Everett’s pitchers’ elusiveness. “Every inning there were two or three runners on base. It was definitely hectic.
“But it’s really nice,” Baron added. “We’re excited about playing for the title.”
Fernandez played the lead role of Houdini in this escape act. The left-hander from the Dominican Republic tossed six scoreless innings, despite surrendering six hits and four walks, allowing the Sox to build a 3-0 lead.
And Fernandez was at his best at the game’s most-critical junctures. He struck out eight, and five of those strikeouts came with a runner perched at third. His willingness to throw offspeed pitches with full counts left the Vancouver batters flailing.
“That was something we’ve done all year. Especially Anthony, he has that tough mentality,” Baron said. “He’s able to stay confident and stay with his pitches. He was able to make some tough pitches, 3-1 curveballs, 3-2 changeups. He’s pretty much been like that all year.”
Pitchers can’t strand 13 without a little help from the defense. The Sox didn’t play their best defensive game Tuesday, but they came up with the big play when it mattered most. In the eighth inning with two runners on, Vancouver’s Josh Whitaker sent a high pop shallow in the infield. Third baseman Kevin Mailloux and Baron both went for it and interfered with one another. However, with the ball looking like it was going to pop free, Mailloux reached out while going to ground and managed to make a snow-cone catch, ending the inning.
Fernandez earned the win. Kesler went two innings, allowing one unearned run and stranding three. Burgoon struck out three of the four batters he faced in the ninth to pick up the save.
Robbie Anston continued his hot hitting at the top of Everett’s lineup, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI. He went 5-for-7 in the two playoff games against Vancouver. Kalian Sams also was 2-for-3 for the Sox.
Michael Choice went 3-for-5 to lead Vancouver. Starter Nathan Long took the loss, allowing three runs in five innings.
The game’s tone was set in the top of the first inning when Vancouver loaded the bases with one out, but was unable to score. Fernandez struck out Doug Landaeta and Ryan Lipkin to end the threat.
Everett got on the board in the bottom of the first when Anston led off with a double, was sacrificed to third and scored on Mailloux’s sacrifice fly. Then the Sox made it 3-0 in the second on RBI singles by Sams and Anston.
Then Fernandez pulled off his magic act again. He found himself in identical jams in both the fifth and sixth innings as Vancouver put runners at second and third with two out in both frames, and each time he escaped in an identical fashion. First in the fifth, with the crowd hanging on every pitch, Fernandez worked the count full on cleanup hitter A.J. Kirby-Jones before fanning him with a slider. Then in the sixth he again went to a full count, this time on Whitaker, and again he went to the slider to get the swinging strikeout, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Vancouver finally got on the board in the seventh, but inevitably it was at the expense of a bigger rally. The Canadians had runners at the corners with nobody out. Choice got the run home, but by grounding into a rally-killing double play, making it 3-1.
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