Errors doom AquaSox in series finale loss to Spokane

EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox clung to a 2-1 lead against the Spokane Indians when reliever Jose Geraldo walked the bases loaded with one out at Funko Field on Sunday.

After fouling off a 2-0 pitch, Spokane first baseman Aidan Longwell made contact on a pitch up and away. It fluttered into left field, where AquaSox outfielder Curtis Washington Jr. stood below with an open glove, ready to secure the catch and attempt a throw home to prevent the sacrifice fly.

In one second, the ball hit the leather of Washington Jr.’s glove. In the next, the ball was on the ground. The drop allowed all the runners to advance, keeping the bases loaded with one out while Spokane tied it 2-2.

“Just trying to get rid of the ball before I caught it,” Washington Jr. said. “Didn’t look it all the way in the glove, and just dropped out my glove. … Just a mistake, hopefully won’t let it happen again.”

Any team can overcome a single mistake, even after losing a lead, but the Indians took advantage of a couple more Everett miscues — a fielding error from shortstop Colt Emerson and a bases-loaded hit by pitch thrown by Ben Hernandez — to score four more runs in the eighth and take a 6-2 lead.

With more sloppy defense in the ninth and not enough runs to battle back, the AquaSox lost 7-4, ending their four-game win streak.

“It started out with the walks,” AquaSox manager Zach Vincej said. “We walked a few guys, and then we kind of put ourselves in a tough position. Yeah, errors are going to happen, they’re a part of the game.

“They just got to catch a ball in that situation, and it just didn’t happen. But it’s all good, we’ve been playing good defense all week, so it’s all good.”

After the Indians tied it on Washington Jr.’s dropped ball, catcher Cole Messina gave Spokane the 3-2 lead with an RBI single to keep the bases loaded. Designated hitter Skyler Messinger reached on an error by Emerson, allowing another run to score before Hernandez hit second baseman Blake Wright with a pitch to make it 5-2.

Indians outfielder Tommy Hopfe finished the run with a sacrifice fly to left field, and even after AquaSox infielder Carter Dorighi cut it to 6-3 in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single, Spokane went back ahead by four runs in the ninth after Longwell popped out to third baseman Luis Suisbel, who sailed his throw home past catcher Freuddy Batista, which allowed Indians shortstop Andy Perez to score and make it 7-3.

Perez got on base with a double, then reached third base when Gabriel Sosa threw a wild pitch. Suisbel’s throwing error in the previous play allowed outfielder EJ Andrews Jr. to reach first to set Longwell up with runners on the corners.

While it was not the cleanest way to close out the homestand, Vincej didn’t believe the string of errors had anything to do with the team checking out mentally just to get to the end of the week.

“It’s just, you know, sometimes it happens. You make some mistakes on defense,” Vincej said. “These guys are going to make (them), especially on this level. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

Before the defense blew up, Everett had a strong start off the back of left-hander Nico Tellache, who notched eight strikeouts in five scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and one walk.

Tellache struck out three batters in the second inning, working back from a 3-0 count against Hopfe to end the frame.

“Just commanding all my pitches,” Tellache said. “Just attacking early, and then two strikes, just executing with two strikes. That was kind of the game plan. I feel like I’ve left a lot of strikeouts on the table in the past, throwing almost too many strikes, so just executing and just pitching smart.”

Designated hitter Brandon Eike put Everett on the board with a sacrifice fly to right field in the bottom of the fourth. Outfielder Tai Peete led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a ground out and stole third to put himself in position to make it 1-0.

Longwell tied it 1-1 in the sixth with a solo home run, but Washington Jr. put the AquaSox back ahead 2-1 with an RBI single to left field in the bottom of the seventh after Eike walked and worked his way around the bases on a wild pitch and a groundout from Anthony Donofrio.

Washington Jr. connected on a 1-2 pitch on the lower edge of the zone, getting a good swing on it after picking up Spokane’s tendencies against him.

“They’ve been throwing me a lot of 1-1 breaking balls, and (Spokane pitcher Francis Rivera) had just thrown me a fastball,” Washington Jr. said. “I was thinking, ‘He might throw me another breaking ball,’ and I guessed right.”

After the Indians jumped back ahead 7-3 in the top of the ninth following Everett’s eighth-inning meltdown, Emerson finished things off by crushing his 10th home run of the year 402 feet to right field.

Spokane pitcher Fidel Ulloa threw three straight pitches inside before leaving the fourth one just a little closer to the middle, and Emerson launched a solo shot that cleared the trees behind the outfield signs with a 107 miles per hour exit velocity.

“(I’ve seen that) a couple times,” Vincej said of his shortstop. “But yeah, that ball was launched. That was a good, good swing from Colt right there. It was awesome to see.”

After bookending their four-game win streak against the Indians with a pair of losses, the AquaSox travel to face the Eugene Emeralds this week for six games from Tuesday through Sunday.