Today’s Game
Opponent: Yakima Bears
When: 7:05 p.m.
Where: Everett Memorial Stadium
Radio: KRKO (1380 AM)
Probable starters: Everett left-hander Anthony Fernandez (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Yakima right-hander Miguel Pena (0-1, 0.00)
Serrano carrying the load
Terry Serrano is the one player on Everett’s roster who spent all of last season at a higher level, appearing in 75 games for Clinton of the mid-Class A Midwest League before suffering a broken leg. So it’s perhaps no surprise that Serrano is the one leading the way in the Sox’s fast start to the season.
Serrano, a 23-year-old middle infielder from Venezuela, has been a spark plug atop Everett’s lineup. Batting out of the No. 2 slot he hit .421 in Everett’s first five games, including the walk-off single in Monday’s 6-5 victory over Yakima.
And Serrano’s experience has been invaluable during the first week of the season.
“He didn’t have a real good spring training this year,” Everett manager Jose Moreno said. “But this is a fresh start, a new season. That’s going to be a real big help for him.
“If you give him confidence he’s going to play hard,” Moreno added. “No matter what, he knows he’s going to be in the lineup. I told him before the season, ‘I need you in the lineup, you’re going to play everywhere, so just play hard and enjoy.’”
While Serrano’s batting average is gaudy, his biggest impact has come with his legs. Serrano stole a league-leading seven bases in Everett’s first five games, including three games with multiple steals. His seven swipes were more than five of the seven other Northwest League teams had total going into Wednesday.
“He’s aggressive,” Moreno said. “Any time he puts the ball in play he can use his legs, which is the best tool he has.”
Quick behind the plate
Steven Baron arrived in Everett with the reputation as a catcher with all the defensive tools, the type of tools that made him a supplemental first-round pick in the 2009 draft. Tuesday night he showed off one of those tools.
In the top of the fifth with Everett leading 4-1, the Bears loaded the bases with one out. Pitcher Edlando Seco then bounced a breaking ball all the way to the backstop. A run seemed sure to score. But Baron displayed cat-like quickness as he somehow tracked the ball down and scampered back to the plate in time to dive and tag out Michael Weber trying to score from third.
Baron’s defensive tools make him one of the top prospects on Everett’s roster. The 19-year-old’s primary task this season is to work on his offense as he’s hit just .183 so far in his professional career.
Dress you up
There was a throng of television cameras on the field during batting practice Wednesday, but it had nothing to do with the game about to be played. The crew of the TLC television show “What Not to Wear” was filming a scene for one of next season’s episodes.
Co-hosts Stacy London and Clinton Kelly were on hand to surprise their unsuspecting subject, and several of Everett’s pitchers were drafted into spot on-screen duty.
The episode is scheduled to be aired in the fall.
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