The Everett AquaSox may have fallen short in the race for the Northwest League’s first-half championship, but they got off to flying start to the second half.
The league transitioned to the second half midway through last week, when the Sox took five of six in their road series against the Hillsboro Hops.
The first half, which was won by Vancouver, concluded following Thursday’s games, meaning Everett finished 34-32 in the first half and in a three-way tie for second in the standings, 4.5 games behind the Canadians. While the Sox missed out on their first opportunity of earning a spot in the league championship series, they carried a five-game winning streak into the second half. Everett then won two of three over the weekend to stake themselves to a 2-1 start to the second half, which places the Sox one game behind leader Spokane.
“I think (the start to the second half) was great,” Everett manager Ryan Scott said. “We talked to the team before the series about the schedule, since it wasn’t voiced a lot before the season. We had a little meeting to make sure the players understood the second half was starting on Friday and that we needed to get off on the right foot and play good baseball.
“It wasn’t really a momentum thing,” Scott continued about the good start to the second half. “We have a good team and when we play to our potential we win games. We wanted the players to know that, that we don’t have to be hot to win games. We just need to do what we do.”
The key to success against the Hops was the ability to prevail in close games. Four of the six games were decided by a single run, while a fifth went to extra innings. Everett went 4-1 in those five games.
Scott credited the work of the bullpen for Everett’s ability to pull out the close ones. The Sox’s relievers threw 25.2 innings during the series and compiled a 2.80 ERA, walking eight and striking out 30 as Everett found the edge late in games.
“I think the bullpen has been outstanding lately,” Scott said. “You just have to look at our numbers to see how good we’ve been. The messaging from (pitching coach) Cameron Ming — and from the bullpen guys themselves — has been about eliminating walks. The guys have been outstanding at getting the ball over the plate more and getting into better counts so they can use their finishing pitches. They’ve been getting a lot of swings and misses and a lot of weak contact.”
Players of the week
Hitter: Hogan Windish. There were no real standouts for Everett last week. But Windish, a 24-year-old infielder selected by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2022 draft, gets the nod for the second straight week on the basis of batting .357 in six games. A special mention needs to be made for Randy Bednar, who had perhaps the catch of the season in left field during Everett’s 5-4 victory last Tuesday.
In case you missed this Web Gem by Randy Bednar from last night. I think we've already watched it 20 times. pic.twitter.com/WP9cpWDRup
— Everett AquaSox (@EverettAquaSox) June 21, 2023
Pitcher: Logan Rinehart. There were multiple candidates from Everett’s bullpen, but Rinehart, a 25-year-old right-hander selected by Seattle in 16th round of the 2019 draft, pitched perhaps the most consequential innings. He struck out all three batters he faced in earning the save in last Tuesday’s 5-4 victory, then pitched the final two innings and picked up the win in Sunday’s 6-3 extra-inning triumph. He didn’t allow a hit in his three innings, walked one and struck out five.
The week ahead
Everett’s schedule is slightly skewed this week as the Sox don’t begin their six-game home series against the Eugene Emeralds until Wednesday — the shift back a day allows Everett to host an Independence Day game next Monday on what would usually be an off day.
Eugene, an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, is 2-1 in the second half (36-33 overall) and tied for second with Everett in the Northwest League, one game behind Spokane. The Emeralds are coming off a 3-3 series split at home against first-half champion Vancouver. The Sox are 6-3 against Eugene this season.
The Emeralds are led by outfielder Victor Bericoto (.301, 14 homers, 50 RBI), who has been on fire in June with a .996 OPS, seven homers and 23 RBI in the month so far. Outfielder Grant McCray (.230, eight homers, 40 RBI), ranked by MLB.com as the Giants’ fifth-best prospect, is second in the league with 29 stolen bases. The pitching staff is led by right-handed reliever Ben Madison (8-1, 3.13 ERA), who is among the league leaders in strikeouts with 61 in 37.1 innings, despite making no starts in his 21 appearances.
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