SPOKANE – After losing the first game of the series by double digits, the Everett AquaSox got revenge against the Spokane Indians with a 13-8 Northwest League win Monday night at Avista Stadium.
Everett finished with 17 hits, one shy of its season high, and made its case as the No. 1 scoring offense in the league, ahead of No. 2 Spokane.
Oswaldo Navarro and Casey Craig led Everett’s hit parade with three apiece, and Matt Tuiasosopo continued his Northwest League success, batting 2-for-5 with three runs batted in and two runs scored.
Everett jumped on the board early, erupting for eight runs in the second inning to take an 8-0 lead.
The Sox batted around in the second inning, sending 11 batters to the plate.
The outburst was led by Brent Johnson’s two-run single and Tuiasosopo’s two-run home run, his second as a Frog.
Tuiasosopo came to the plate twice in the second scoring both times.
After getting a big lead to work with, it seemed Everett ace Shawn Nottingham would cruise to another victory.
Instead Nottingham, the Northwest League leader in earned run average, struggled. He allowed a season-high eight hits and eight runs, six of which came in the second inning when Spokane played copycat by also batting around.
The Indians got a bases-clearing sun-aided double by Tug Hulett. AquaSox left fielder Casey Craig lost the ball in the sun and allowed the ball to roll all the way to the wall.
Spokane’s Nos. 1-2 hitters, Hulett and Michael Mask, combined for six of the Indians eight RBI.
Mask hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his first of the season.
Everett tacked on three more runs in the fourth. Asdrubal Cabrera drove in two with a double and scored on Mike Wilson’s single.
Navarro and Tuiasosopo added RBI singles in the fifth to finish the AquaSox scoring.
The two teams were scoreless the rest of the game after combining to score 21 runs over five innings.
Even though Nottingham didn’t have his best outing, he earned his seventh win of the season to improve to 7-1. He is the only Northwest League pitcher with seven wins.
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