EUGENE, Ore. — The Everett AquaSox proved to be a bit of a contradiction, showcasing two very different sides, during a 6-1 Northwest League loss to the Eugene Emeralds in front of 3,456 fans Thursday night at PK Park in Eugene.
The good side — in which the AquaSox grabbed a 1-0 lead and played immaculate defense — lasted four innings.
Everett left fielder Kevin Rivers staked the AquaSox (15-13 second half, 42-24 overall) to an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single through the right side in the first inning. Second baseman Terry Serrano scored after leading off the inning with a flare-single over third base.
On the defensive side, shortstop Anthony Phillips saved a run in the third inning with his diving stop on a Wesley Cunningham infield single. While Cunningham loaded the bases with his hit, Phillips’s sliding stop kept a run from crossing the plate and tying the score.
The bad side arrived in the fifth inning and stayed around for the rest of the night; the offense disappeared and poor defense reared its head for the first time in three games allowing Eugene to grab the lead.
Following a Rico Noel lead-off single, Everett starting pitcher Edlando Seco (2-3) unleashed back-to-back wild pickoff throws, ultimately handing Noel third base with no outs. Everett third baseman Kevin Mailloux saved a run with a nice grab and throw home to get Noel on a grounder, but Seco walked a batter following the out and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third base with one out.
Things then got interesting.
Cunningham chased a third-strike pitch that was out of Everett catcher Steven Baron’s reach, allowing Oscar Garcia to score the tying run. Cunningham safely reached first base on the wild pitch.
Serrano bobbled a double-play ball from the next batter that allowed Eugene’s Tyler Stubblefield to score the go-ahead run.
Seco pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four base hits but the right-hander walked four and unleashed two throwing errors and two wild pitches.
Serrano finished 2-for-4 for the Frogs and Rivers drove in his 41st RBI of the season.
In the seventh, relief pitcher Taylor Lewis recorded Everett’s fourth error with a low throw to first base.
Stubblefield hit an RBI single to left field, punishing the AquaSox for the earlier throwing error, to give Eugene a 3-1 lead.
Eugene shortstop Chris Tremblay hit a sacrifice fly and catcher Emmanuel Quiles hit a two-run single to round out the four-run inning for Eugene (14-14, 29-37).
Eugene pitching retired 13 consecutive Everett batters following a two-out walk by first baseman Evan Sharpley in the fourth inning. Emeralds starting pitcher Matt Branham (5-3) had six strikeouts through seven innings on the mound.
Eugene is now 7-1 against the AquaSox this season.
The series continues tonight with a 7:05 p.m. contest at PK Park in Eugene.
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