EVERETT — As the sun beamed down through partly cloudy skies behind the third-base side of Funko Field on Tuesday, a familiar scene returned to the diamond.
The sound of baseballs smacking against bats and gloves punctuated 2000’s era hip-hop hits that played from a massive JBL speaker, such as 50 Cent’s ‘In Da Club,’ Nelly’s ‘Ride Wit Me’ and Akon’s ‘Smack That.’
Lazaro Montes excitedly, if not jokingly, shouted out, “Home run! Home run!” as a ball from Michael Arroyo’s batting practice hit the Pizza Hut sign next to the centerfield scoreboard. In another moment, Colt Emerson tossed his glove in the air from the infield, attempting to hit a soaring baseball out of the air. A seagull perched itself on a light pole and watched a throwing session below.
Everett AquaSox baseball was back, and excitement buzzed throughout the 30-man roster on the field.
“I love the way this atmosphere feels,” 19-year-old outfielder Tai Peete said. “I’m excited to get out playing for the fans, new scenery. For me, just being young, being able to see different states, playing different fields, I love it. So I’m truly excited for this year.”
The Seattle Mariners High-A affiliate came together for its first practice after the roster was officially released earlier Tuesday morning. The AquaSox boast eight of Seattle’s Top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com, including the top two: Emerson, a 19-year-old infielder rated as the 19th-best prospect in baseball; and Montes, a 20-year-old outfielder ranked 41st overall.
Leading the way is first-year manager Zach Vincej, who was promoted to Everett after leading Single-A Modesto to back-to-back California League championships in 2023 and 2024. The 33-year-old was named the 2024 MiLB Manager of the Year by Baseball America, and is now joining many of his former Modesto players in Everett in an attempt to achieve similar success.
“We have a lot of guys with some good personalities,” Vincej said. “They bring energy every single day. They feed off of each other. Super positive. They want to get better each day, so it’s just a fun group to be around.”
While the 2025 AquaSox took the field together for the first time, it was a familiar group. Out of the 30 players, 14 are returners from last season and 13 more moved up from Single-A Modesto.
The other three are pitchers Ben Hernandez (Single-A Quad Cities) and William Fleming (Double-A Northwest Arkansas), who arrived as free agents from Kansas City’s organization, as well as the Mariners’ 2024 first-round pick Jurrangelo Cijntje, a 21-year-old switch-pitcher drafted 15th overall out of Mississippi State.
With a handful of new faces on the pitching staff, the early bullpen sessions were quiet at first. Aside from a couple scattered conversations, the battery quietly went about their business. But as the practice drew on and the position groups merged together for live batting and base-running/fielding situations, the dugout chatter gradually got louder.
“It’s probably a little bit of focus there, like, that’s our time to work,” 25-year-old pitcher Tyler Cleveland said. “Then as it goes on, it’s more about building extra relationships off the field at that point, so getting a couple people fired up. We’re all kids at the end of the day. We like to joke with each other, mess with each other, so I think that’s kind of how it goes.”
If that seems like a quick progression of team-building, that’s because it has to be. The AquaSox open their season with a three-game road series against the Spokane Indians from Friday to Sunday before hosting the Hillsboro Hops from April 8-13.
However, with much of the roster already familiar with each other, it made Tuesday’s first practice easier to focus on getting into routine for the season. Even if that means getting accustomed to being shown up by the manager from time to time.
With Vincej manning first base in a drill and Peete on the bag, the Mariners’ 12th-ranked prospect sought out guidance.
“Can I go here?” Peete asked, gauging if it was an opportunity to steal second.
“Ah, no. Maybe not,” Vincej warned.
Soon after, with Peete taking a big-enough lead, Vincej managed to pick him off. Later on, Vincej — who spent eight seasons playing professional baseball and appeared in 10 Major League games — snagged a zipping grounder from first that prompted a loud reaction from the entire dugout.
“It’s funny because it’s all competitive,” Peete said. “He wants us all to get better. He’s just the best manager you can ask for. He wants your team to grow, and when you have a guy like that leading the team, it’s dawn for success.”
For Vincej, as much as he enjoys getting back on the field himself, moments like that are a key part of his philosophy for establishing strong relationships and creating good energy on the team.
“It makes it fun. It makes it enjoyable to come to the ballpark,” Vincej said. “When a long season happens, there’s going to be ups and downs. There’s going to be times where they love coming to the ballpark and then there’s probably going to be times where they’re dreading it because they’re tired or they’re going through a little slump, or whatever the case may be. But as long as we can make it enjoyable for the guys. … If we can create that environment and that culture, that’s when the wins come into play, and then the individual skill sets come out, and the best versions of our team come out.”
Even as the afternoon sun turned to a dark-sky drizzle by the end of practice, the mood was not dampened.
“The weather is cold here,” said Montes, who is from Havana, Cuba. “(Spring training in) Arizona is great sometimes. It’s cold here, raining, but we don’t focus on that. We focus on wins. That’s (what) matters right now.”
— — — — — —
2025 Everett AquaSox Opening Day Roster
*= Seattle Mariners Top 30 Prospect
Pitchers— Charlie Beilenson, Jurrangelo Cijntje*, Tyler Cleveland, Elijah Dale, William Fleming, Ryan Hawks, Ben Hernandez, Jordan Jackson, Brock Moore*, Nick Payero, Shaddon Peavyhouse, Stefan Raeth, Allan Saathoff, Gabriel Sosa, Evan Truitt, Jesse Wainscott
Catchers—Freuddy Batista, Josh Caron*, Andrew Miller
Infielders— Michael Arroyo*, Brandon Eike, Colt Emerson*, Charlie Pagliarini, Milkar Perez, Axel Sanchez, Luis Suisbel*
Outfielders— Anthony Donofrio, Carson Jones, Lazaro Montes*, Tai Peete*
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