EVERETT -Everett had been looking like anything but the most dynamic offense in the Northwest League lately. The AquaSox, leading the league in runs scored, watched their vaunted offense grind to a halt during their recent road trip to Spokane.
But Everett busted out in a big way Friday night. The Sox pounded out 20 hits, including nine for extra-bases, and broke out of their slump by clubbing the Eugene Emeralds 15-4 before a crowd of 3,184 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
“Coming from Spokane, where we didn’t swing the bats well and didn’t get quality at bats, I was happy with the amount of quality at bats we had today,” Everett Manager Pedro Grifol said. “But this was just one game. We have to try to do the same thing tomorrow.”
Everett (30-24) remained two games ahead of Salem-Keizer, which beat Boise 5-3, for first place in the West Division. Eugene fell to 19-35.
Omar Falcon led the charge for Everett, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and four RBI. Casey Craig, Brent Johnson and Marshall Hubbard each added three hits and Mike Wilson also homered for the AquaSox.
And this from a team that managed just eight hits total in its previous two games in Spokane, both losses.
“This was big for us because we’re in a playoff hunt,” Falcon said. “We’re trying to prepare for Salem (where Everett travels Monday) and we want to build our confidence. This should do it for us.
“Home is a great place to be,” Falcon added. “I love being here. In Spokane it wasn’t like we didn’t hit, but we hit a lot of balls at people and the luck wasn’t on our side. But things happen for us here.”
Everett also got yeoman’s work from reliever Vance Hall.
Hall was forced into the game in the first inning after starter Ruben Flores was knocked out with an injury. Hall pitched into the fifth inning, leaving with a 4-2 lead. He picked up the win to improve to 2-0.
Hall’s performance was necessary after Flores took a vicious liner from Tom Vincent off his right (pitching) forearm with two out in the first. Flores recoiled in pain and after being evaluated by trainer Spyder Webb, was removed from the game. He was taken to the hospital for x-rays.
In another blow to the AquaSox, infielder Asdrubal Cabrera had to leave the game in the seventh after aggravating the back injury that’s plagued him all season while diving for a grounder at shortstop.
But throughout the chaos, the AquaSox just kept hitting.
Everett scored first in the bottom of the first. With Cabrera at third and Wilson at first with two out, Wilson broke for second. When the throw came to second, Wilson put on the brakes and Cabrera took off for home. Cabrera slid in ahead of the return throw and Wilson sauntered into second, giving the AquaSox a 1-0 lead.
The AquaSox extended their lead in the second. Johnson and Falcon began the inning with back-to-back doubles off the wall, making it 2-0. Two outs later Craig lined a single off the glove of diving second baseman Brett Burnham, increasing the lead to 3-0.
Eugene got on the board in the third, Vincent singling in one run, and the Emeralds loaded the bases with one out. However, when Jose Lobaton flew out to right, right fielder Mike Wilson threw a bullet to the plate to gun down Ernesto Garay trying to score from third, leaving the score at 3-1.
But Everett pulled that run right back in the fourth, Falcon doubling to right and scoring when Hubbard bounced a single to center, making it 4-1.
Eugene pulled within two again in the fifth when Vincent’s fielders choice grounder scored Chris Kolkhorst from third, cutting the lead to 4-2.
However, the AquaSox put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth. Navarro began the scoring with a perfect slide around the tag at home. Johnson later added and RBI single and Falcon added a two-run blast right down the right-field line, his third of the season, making it 8-2. Eugene manager Roy Howell was thrown out of the game after arguing that Falcon’s homer was foul.
Eugene scored one more in the sixth when Lachlan Dale led off with a double and later scored on a wild pitch, making it 8-3.
The AquaSox turned it into a rout in the bottom of the sixth. Wilson slugged a three-run home run, his team-leading eighth of the season, and Johnson and Hubbard added RBI singles to increase Everett’s lead to 13-3.
Dale hit a solo homer, his 14th of the season, in the eighth to make it 13-4.
But RBI singles by Falcon and Craig in the bottom of the eighth extended the lead back to double digits.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
