EUGENE, Ore. — Fresh start, familiar story for the Everett AquaSox.
Everett, which finished tied for last in the Northwest League’s West Division during the first half, began the second half with another loss Tuesday night, falling 6-2 to the Eugene Emeralds.
Everett was hoping that t
he beginning of the second half, which grants new life for earning a postseason berth, would change the team’s fortunes. The Sox had some momentum, having won their final two games of the first half against the West’s first-half champion Eugene.
However the Emeralds (1-0 second half, 25-14 overall), who clinched a playoff berth by winning the first half, weren’t cooperating. Four Eugene pitchers combined on a seven-hitter, Jose Dore smashed a three-run home run, and the Emeralds benefited from four Everett errors.
The Sox are 0-1 in the first half, 16-23 overall.
Everett starting pitcher Jose Campos, who was fantastic in his previous two starts, was not quite able to make it three straight. The right-hander was still solid, but he allowed four runs — three earned — on seven hits and one walk over five innings. He struck out six, but fell to 2-3.
Eugene snapped a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth. Mykal Stokes walked, advanced to second on a groundout, then moved to third on Donovan Tate’s infield single. Stokes scored when first baseman Jharmidy De Jesus threw away Daniel Killian’s grounder to make it 1-0.
The Emeralds then took control in the fifth when Dore, who came into the game batting .183, wrapped a three-run homer around the foul pole down the right-field line, increasing the lead to 4-0.
Eugene continued scoring in the sixth against reliever Jeroen de Haas, primarily because of Everett’s defense. Center fielder Jabari Blash dropped Kyle Gaedele’s fly ball for a three-base error, then Jeremy Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0.
Everett finally broke up the shutout in the eighth, Marcus Littlewood’s RBI single and a run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder by De Jesus cut the deficit to 5-2.
But the Emeralds tacked one more on in the top of the ninth, and the Sox went quietly in the bottom half.
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