EVERETT — The Everett AquaSox were rallying.
They were in the midst of what they hoped would be an afternoon Kid’s Day comeback against their nemesis Tri-City Tuesday before the tenor of the afternoon changed entirely.
With the Frogs trailing by three runs, Nick Thurman laced a ground ball through the hole into right field. Kyle Lewis, the Seattle Mariners’ 2016 first-round draft pick, came charging around third toward home and collided with Dust Devils catcher Chris Mattison several feet up the third-base line.
Lewis immediately clutched his right knee in obvious pain. He stayed on the ground for several minutes while he was attended to by the AquaSox training staff. Lewis was eventually helped to his feet and assisted part of the way to the dugout before going the rest of the way by himself with an obvious limp.
Lewis was awarded the plate and the run, but that was Everett’s final tally in an 8-6 loss Tuesday before 2,686 fans at Everett Memorial Stadium. The final outcome lost much of its significance in light of the injury to one of the top prospects in the Mariners organization.
“The catcher gave him no lane,” Everett manager Rob Mummau said. “I talked to the umpire afterwards and he said that’s why he awarded him home plate without (Lewis) touching it. It wouldn’t even have been a close play. It’s unfortunate, obviously, what happened.”
Mattison, another first-year pro out of NAIA Southeastern University in Florida, said he hoped Lewis wasn’t seriously injured.
“I thought I was around him,” Mattison said. “I was just going for the ball and the ball was a little to my left. I made sure I took a step back, (but) I guess I wasn’t out far enough. It’s unfortunate. You never like to see that happen. I hope he’s OK.”
Lewis emerged from the clubhouse on crutches after the game. He indicated that he was headed home with his host family to rest and would see a doctor Wednesday. Lewis missed Tuesday’s team trip to watch the Mariners at Safeco Field.
The incident overshadowed a contest in which Tri-City (16-16) moved back in front of Everett (16-16) atop the Northwest League first-half North Division standings by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker. Six games remain in the first-half schedule.
Trailing 8-4 in the eighth, Donnie Walton hit a two-out solo home run and Lewis followed with a walk. Eric Filia and Thurman followed with singles, the latter of which Lewis scored on and was injured.
“They battled back,” Mummau said. “We came up a little bit short, but we’ll have to come back tomorrow.”
The Dust Devils scored four times against Everett reliever Elliot Surrey (1-1) in the seventh to break a 4-4 tie. The big blow was G.K. Young’s towering two-run home run to right-center. Josh Magee and Aldemar Burgos added RBI singles to push the lead to 8-4.
Tri-City had drawn even at 4-4 in the top of the fifth when Nate Easley led off with a walk and scored on Young’s bloop RBI double down the left-field line.
Joe Venturino drove in two with a two-out single in the fourth to give Everett its first lead at 4-3. Venturino’s single helped the Frogs erase what had been a three-run hole.
The Dust Devils’ Taylor Kohlwey figured prominently in Tri-City’s early 3-0 lead. He led off the top of the first with a single and scored two outs later on an infield error to give Tri-City a 1-0 lead. Kohlwey then led off the third with a bunt single and scored on Easley’s RBI double. Easley came home when Chris Baker followed with another double.
The Frogs got on the board in the third when Brigman had an RBI single and Lewis followed by driving the ball off the right-field fence for his fifth triple of the season to cut Tri-City’s lead to 3-2.
Brigman, Walton and Filia all had a pair of hits for Everett.
Kohlwey, Baker, Young, Mattison and Burgos each had hits for the Dust Devils. Young drove in three runs while Kohlwey and Easley scored twice.
The three-game series concludes at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Brandon Miller (1-2, 3.32 ERA) will start for the AquaSox against Tri-City’s Angel Mejia (1-1, 4.33 ERA).
For the latest AquaSox news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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