EVERETT — Mario Yepez forced himself into a prominent role in the Everett AquaSox lineup.
After his heroics Thursday night, it’s likely he’ll remain in that role for a while.
Yepez delivered the walk-off game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the Sox a 5-4 victory o
ver the Boise Hawks at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Yepez began the season playing part-time in the Everett outfield, and when he did play he usually found himself toward the bottom of the order.
But a scorching two-week stretch saw Yepez become a regular and raise his batting average to .330. That prompted Sox manager Scott Steinmann to elevate Yepez to the No. 3 spot in the order.
Thursday night, Yepez further justified the move.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the 10th, Yepez smoked a two-strike pitch to deep center field. Boise’s Pin-Chieh Chen, who was playing shallow, turned and sprinted straight backwards to try to track down the screaming liner. However, Chen could only waive his glove at the ball as it sailed past. Pinch runner Nathan Melendres trotted home from second, and the Everett bench chased Yepez into shallow right field for an exuberant celebration.
“Yepez has been really hot and we’ve just been letting him do his thing,” Steinmann said. “We put him in the three hole and he just keeps hitting. He’s getting big hits night in and night out.”
Yepez never would have had his moment if not for the pitching of reliever Jordan Pries. Pries tossed 41/3 hitless innings to finish the game out for the Sox, striking out six. His performance gave Everett the opportunity to dig out of a 4-1 deficit.
“His last outing and this outing were tremendous,” Steinmann said of Pries. “He’s kind of finding himself a little in the bullpen. He was a college starter and he’s starting to get a little more comfortable in this role. He’s doing a great job for us and we look to get him some more important innings.”
Yepez finished 2-for-3 with two walks for Everett (1-2 second half, 17-24 overall), which picked up its first victory of the second half of the Northwest League season.
Luis Rodriguez, who began the season with the Seattle Mariners, made a rehabilitation appearance with the Sox. He played five innings at shortstop and went 0-for-2 at the plate.
Chen homered and he, Dustin Harrington and Paul Hoilman each had two hits for the Hawks (2-1, 19-22). Boise starting pitcher Benjamin Wells held the Sox hitless through four innings.
Everett trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, but rallied to tie it. Marcus Littlewood scored on a wild pitch, Jharmidy De Jesus drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, then Jim Wood came home when Boise second baseman Wes Darvill couldn’t catch Ramon Morla’s bloop single, knotting it at 4-4.
Reggie Golden nearly gave Boise the advantage in extra innings when, in the top of the 10th, he hit a ball down the line that left the stadium just foul. That gave Yepez the chance to play hero.
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