AquaSox weekly update: Everett’s rough August continues

The Everett AquaSox’s month-long slide continued.

The Spokane Indians stayed red-hot.

And now, it’s suddenly a three-team race for the two spots in the High-A West championship series.

The AquaSox lost their fourth consecutive series this past week, dropping five of seven games at home to surging Spokane at Funko Field.

Everett’s lead atop the High-A West is down to just a half game over the second-place Eugene Emeralds and two games over the third-place Indians.

The AquaSox (58-44) and Emeralds (58-45) each have 17 regular-season games remaining. Spokane (56-46) has 18 games left.

The top two teams at the end of the regular season will square off in a best-of-five series for the High-A West title.

Four weeks ago, Everett seemed like a lock for the championship series.

The AquaSox were a scorching 51-26, having spent most of the season dominating the league with a roster chock-full of talented prospects. At that point, they led Eugene by 7.5 games and Spokane by 14.5 games.

But as the season progressed, most of Everett’s top players got promoted. A whopping 14 players from the AquaSox’s season-opening roster have been called up to Double-A Arkansas this year — including 12 players between July 11 and Aug. 11.

And in the wake of the mass exodus of prospects, Everett fell into a downhill slide. Over their past four series, the AquaSox are just 7-18.

Spokane, meanwhile, has been on a tear. The Indians are 19-5 over their past four series, including a 10-game win streak at one point.

It all sets up what should be an exciting final three weeks of the regular season.

NARROW LOSSES

The AquaSox suffered three consecutive one-run losses in this past week’s series, including in both games of last Friday’s doubleheader. Everett is now just 2-7 in one-run contests over its past four series.

In the opener of Friday’s doubleheader, the AquaSox blew an early 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 on a walkoff single by Spokane cleanup hitter Niko Decolati in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Decolati burned Everett again in Friday’s nightcap, hitting a two-run homer in the third inning and a go-ahead single in the fifth that brought home the deciding run in a 5-4 win.

And on Saturday, the AquaSox rallied with a three-run homer by Cade Marlowe in the ninth, but ultimately fell 6-5 for their third consecutive one-run loss.

AQUASOX STANDOUTS

Here are some players who stood out for Everett in this past week’s series:

Cade Marlowe: The 24-year-old outfielder hit four home runs and a double in the series, finishing 8-for-27 with eight RBI over seven games. Since being promoted from Low-A Modesto in mid-June, Marlowe is batting .253 with 14 homers, four triples and 17 doubles in 56 games with the AquaSox.

Victor Labrada: The 21-year-old outfielder from Cuba hit his first three home runs with Everett this past week, including two homers and six RBI in Sunday’s win. He went 7-for-27 in the series, with four extra-base hits and seven RBI. He’s batting .252 with eight extra-base hits in 34 games with the AquaSox since being called up from Low-A Modesto in mid-July.

Dariel Gomez: The 25-year-old first baseman from the Dominican Republic went 5-for-20 with three home runs in the series. Since being promoted from Low-A Modesto in mid-July, Gomez is batting .264 with nine homers, three triples and 12 doubles in 38 games with Everett.

Connor Hoover: The 25-year-old infielder went 6-for-24 with three home runs and a double in the series. After hitting just .148 through the first two months of the season, Hoover has raised his batting average to .243. He has 17 homers, four triples and 21 doubles in 87 games with the AquaSox this year.

Cody Grosse: The 24-year-old utility player went 8-for-15 with a double in the series. He’s batting .216 with 10 extra-base hits in 70 games with Everett this season.

Tyler Driver: The 20-year-old right-hander started Sunday’s game and pitched his best outing of the year. He allowed just two runs and two hits in six innings, while totaling five strikeouts and two walks. He has a 7.29 earned-run average in 21 innings with the AquaSox this season.

Nolan Hoffman: The 2018 fifth-round MLB draft pick tossed four scoreless innings of no-hit ball in his two appearances during the series. He totaled three strikeouts, no walks and a hit batter. Since being promoted from Low-A Modesto to Everett in late July, Hoffman has a 4.11 ERA in 15.1 innings, with 18 strikeouts and four walks.

UP NEXT

The AquaSox look to get back on track during a six-game series against the fourth-place Vancouver Canadians (47-55) that runs Tuesday through Sunday at Funko Field. After that, Everett closes the season with a pair of pivotal series against fellow High-A West title contenders Eugene and Spokane.