Opponent: Boise Hawks.
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM).
Probable starters: Everett right-hander Nolan Gallagher (1-1, 0.96 earned run average) vs. Boise right-hander Julio Castillo (0-2, 3.75).
Powell weighs in
Alonzo Powell’s scheduled arrival in Everett appears to have come at a convenient time.
Powell, the Seattle Mariners’ minor-league hitting coordinator, arrived to work with Everett’s batters Tuesday, just as the AquaSox are suffering through their worst offensive swoon of the season.
Powell is with the team through Sunday, and although Everett is struggling with the bats right now, seeing its team batting average fall to .224, Powell likes some of the things he’s seeing.
“It’s never as good as you want it to be, but the guys are doing well,” Powell said. “(Gregory) Halman is swinging the bat really well, (Matt) Mangini is swinging the bat really well. It’s a little bit of what you expect at the rookie-ball level, a little bit of inconsistency. Right now we’re just really working with the kids to try and get them the approach that’s necessary to survive in pro ball.”
When Powell comes in to work with the players, he’s not trying to teach a “Mariners style” of hitting. Instead, he encourages the players to find their own style, then works with them to improve within that individual style.
“There’s no one correct way to hit,” Powell said. “If that was true I’d say hit like Ken Griffey Jr. and you’ll be a hall of famer. But the thing is everybody’s different, everybody’s got a different style. So my idea on hitting is I try to take what the individual does and try to make it better.”
Halman and Mangini aren’t the only players Powell’s seen good things from.
“Ogui Diaz has been playing well,” Powell said. “He’s been consistent. I like what I’ve seen at times from Joe Dunigan. When he sits back and gets a pitch he can handle the ball comes off his bat really well.”
Turnaround: When the AquaSox first played Boise this season, the Hawks were in shambles. Boise opened the season with eight straight defeats and was just 2-11 when Everett rolled into town for a five-game series beginning July 2.
However, it appears a visit by the Sox was just what the Hawks needed. Boise won four of the five games in the series to end its dismal start, and that had a catapult effect for the Hawks. Going into Wednesday night’s game Boise had won 11 of its past 14 games, vaulting into first place in the Northwest League’s East Division.
Not that Boise manager Tom Beyers think the Sox are easy pickings.
“We started out with Salem and Eugene and you can see what’s going on over there (41-15 combined going into Wednesday),” Beyers said. “The first two weeks when the draft picks came in, it’s like a tornado goes off. Everybody’s nervous, nobody knows anyone, you’re kind of throwing guys out there that you don’t know. I think right now everybody’s starting to understand what their roles are.”
Short hops: Everett third baseman Matt Mangini and catcher Craig Hurba remained sidelined because of injury. Mangini, the team’s third-leading hitter at .291, has a sore lower back. Hurba has a sore shoulder. Both are considered day-to-day. … Wednesday was the first real rainy day at Everett Memorial Stadium since the season began, forcing the teams to forego infield and take batting practice in the batting cage. … Because of the threatening weather conditions, minority owner and former Mariners star Jay Buhner did not attend Wednesday’s game as previously scheduled. He is still expected to be in attendance Friday.
Nick Patterson, Herald writer
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