EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox needed a big week to keep hopes of the Northwest League Championship series alive, and they got it.
The Frogs won five out of six against Tri-City at Funko Field in Everett and now head into perhaps the most important series of the season thus far.
With the strong week, the AquaSox (23-25, 55-59 overall) picked up a game in the standings against Vancouver (29-19, 59-52), who they’ll visit this week for a six-game series. The Canadians (29-19), who went 4-2 against Eugene, enter Tuesday’s contest six games ahead of Everett for the second championship series berth. Spokane (30-18, 68-44) secured a spot in the series by winning the first half.
The Frogs beat up the Dust Devils by scoring 42 runs in six games. Five players (Lazaro Montes, Josh Hood, Caleb Cali, Freuddy Batista and Jared Sundstrom) batted over .300 during the series, and the team cranked nine home runs.
Correction: The Herald said in the Aug. 13 edition of the paper that the AquaSox would be facing Vancouver Aug. 13-18. Instead, the Frogs played Tri-City on those dates, and play at Vancouver Aug. 20-25.
Players of the week
Hitter: Lazaro Montes. The 19-year-old, No. 4-ranked prospect in the Mariners minor league system seems to have adjusted to pitching at the High-A level after his promotion from Modesto last month. Montes, a right fielder, played all in all six games, finishing the series 10-for-19 with six walks. He led the team in batting average (.526) and on-base percentage (.615) while also swatting two doubles and two homers. His seven runs batted in was second only behind Caleb Cali’s 12 RBI.
Pitcher: Juan Burgos. The latter innings have been an adventure at times this season for the Frogs, but the bullpen got the job done this week. Burgos, one of the team’s more consistent relievers over the last two months, earned his third save of the season on Friday, allowing no hits and one walk in 1 1/3 innings to close out a 6-4 victory over Tri-City. He pitched an inning of Sunday’s 7-2 triumph, striking out two Dust Devils while allowing one hit.
The week ahead: It all comes down to this: A sweep is a tall order, but that would pull the Frogs within one game of the Canadians. If they could go 4-2, that would keep the AquaSox within striking distance at three games back. Much of it will come down to Everett’s hot offense versus Vancouver’s stout pitching, which has allowed a league-low 205 runs in the second half. They coughed up 13 to first-place Spokane on Thursday but otherwise allowed just 12 runs in the other five games.
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