KEIZER, Ore. — The Everett AquaSox proved on Wednesday night just how important one play can be.
Second baseman Hawkins Gebbers’ bobble cost the Sox what likely would have been an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the fifth. If Gebbers would have made the play, it would have preserved a 3-1 AquaSox lead.
Instead, by the end of the inning Salem-Keizer had sent 10 batters to the plate and put six runs on the board en route to an 11-6 Northwest League win.
Salem-Keizer’s Kyle Mach led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single to center field. Everett’s Anthony Fernandez walked the next batter, Chris Lofton, and then gave up a single to Raynor Campbell. With the bases loaded, Fernandez was able to get the next batter, Jose Medina, to fly out to center field. The ball was hit shallow enough that Mach, the runner at third, wasn’t able to tag up and score.
Salem-Keizer’s Daniel Brock was the fifth man to the plate for the Volcanoes, and likely could have been the last if his grounder up the middle hadn’t gotten past Gebbers. Gebbers was charged with an error on the play and Mach and Lofton scored to tie the score. Campbell advanced to second base, giving the Volcanoes runners on first and second with one out.
AquaSox reliever Jason Markovitz came in for Fernandez following the error, but the Volcanoes continued to punish Everett. Ryan Scoma and Carter Jurica hit back-to-back singles to score both Campbell and Brock, giving Salem a 5-3 lead.
Markovitz struck out the next batter, Adam Duvall, to record the second out of the inning, but couldn’t keep the damage to a minimum. Alexander Burg hit a double to score Scoma and Jurica before Markovitz was able to get Mach to fly out.
All of the damage that Salem inflicted on the AquaSox in the bottom of the fifth came after Everett had just taken a lead in the top of the fifth inning. The first two Frog batters were retired quickly by the Volcanoes, but Salem-Keizer reliever Brennan Flick walked Kevin Rivers to start a two-out rally. Gebbers followed by tripling to center field to score Rivers. Evan Sharpley followed with a triple of his own to score Gebbers and give the AquaSox a temporary 3-1 advantage.
The Volcanoes added insult to injury in the eighth inning when Jurica hit a three-run triple. Jurica batted 4-for-5 with two doubles, two triples and four RBI.
The AquaSox added three more runs after the disastrous bottom of the fifth inning, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the game.
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