Don’t look now, but the Everett AquaSox have put themselves into playoff position.
The Sox are on a roll, winning five of six on the road against the Tri-City Dust Devils last week. With Everett having won five straight and eight of its last nine, the Sox find themselves in good shape for a postseason berth with two weeks remaining in the regular season.
“I think the biggest (reason for the team’s recent success) is these guys understand that this time of year the days can get so hard,” Everett manager Ryan Scott said. “Our messaging to the guys has been to show up every day and be ready to compete. We want to keep it simple that way, we don’t want to put pressure on players. They know what’s at stake, they know what they’re playing for, there’s no need to consistently hound them. The messaging has been simple, show up and compete, that’s all we can expect, and they’ve done a great job showing up ready to play every time we’ve stepped on the field.”
Everett’s recent run improved the Sox’s record to 32-22 in the Northwest League’s second half (66-54 overall). That’s three games behind first-place Vancouver, so Everett still has work to do if it wants to claim the second-half title.
However, Vancouver won the first half, meaning the Canadians have already earned a berth in the league championship series. If Vancouver also wins the second half, then the team with the second-best second-half record joins the Canadians in the championship series. Everett is solidly in second place in the second-half standings, five games ahead of third-place Eugene. Therefore, the Sox are in pole position for a playoff spot.
Everett finishes the season with a six-game home series against Eugene next week, meaning the league’s second playoff berth could come down to a head-to-head contest between the Sox and Emeralds. However, with a good series this week in Spokane, the Sox could have their spot clinched before the Eugene series even begins.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Scott said. “We’ve played some really good ball of late. We have a big week ahead in Spokane, and Spokane has played some good baseball, too. They’re knocking on the door and want to come after us this week. It’ll be a good challenge for these guys. They get to feel that energy and what baseball feels like when you’re really playing for something. It’ll be an exciting week for us, but all we can worry about is playing well in the next game.”
Players of the week
Hitter: Hogan Windish. The 24-year-old infielder, who was the Seattle Mariners’ seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft, batted .409 with a 1.136 OPS in six games. He drove in seven runs, including slugging a grand slam in the first inning of Thursday’s 12-5 victory over the Dust Devils. For his efforts he was named the Northwest League Player of the Week. Windish now leads the league in RBI with 74 and is tied for second in homers with 18.
Pitcher: Peyton Alford. It’s not often a reliever at this level makes three appearances in a week, but that’s what Alford did to great effect last week. The 26-year-old lefty, who was signed by the Mariners as a non-drafted free agent in 2021, earned the save with a perfect inning in Wednesday’s 5-2 victory, put out a fire in Friday’s 2-1 victory, then tossed a scoreless frame in Sunday’s 7-3 triumph. In total he allowed no runs on two hits and one walk in 3.1 innings, striking out seven as he picked up two holds and a save.
The week ahead
The Sox stay on the road for a second straight week as they head to Spokane for a six-game series against the Indians. Everett is 11-13 against Spokane this season.
Spokane, an affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, is treading water at 25-27 in the second half (58-59 overall), which is good for fourth place in the Northwest League. However, Spokane is coming off a 4-2 series victory at league-leading Vancouver.
Spokane is the highest-scoring team in the league, but the offense has been gutted as all the team’s top performers are now in Double-A. The best of the rest includes middle infielder Nic Kent (.282, 11 homers, 59 RBI) and center fielder Benny Montgomery (.260, nine homers, 45 RBI).
Spokane has also given up the most runs in the league, but has one solid starter in right-hander Jarrod Cande (4-4, 3.25 ERA, 26 walks and 109 strikeouts in 105.1 innings).
This story has been modified to correct the playoff format.
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