EVERETT — It looked as though Gerardo Avila had won the game for the Everett AquaSox, only for it to be taken away.
Foiled once, Avila figured he might as well do it again.
Moments after having the apparent game-winning hit land just foul Avila came through anyway, his long walk-off single giving the AquaSox a 3-2 victory over the Yakima Bears in 10 innings.
Avila went the opposite direction, putting a fly ball high off the left-field wall to score Ben Billingsley from second and send the AquaSox’s dugout streaming onto the field in celebration.
“I was pretty excited,” Avila said. “I was struggling the last couple of at bats, but I was just thinking about what I needed to do at the plate in that situation.”
Avila came up in the bottom of the 10th with runners at first and second and two out. On the first pitch from Pedro Rodriguez, Avila lofted the ball deep down the right-field line. However, when the ball dropped to the ground in the corner it was ruled foul, inducing a howl of protest from the festive holiday crowd of 4,079 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
“I was praying that ball would jump on the line,” Avila said. “But I never let my concentration get bad.”
Indeed, Avila kept himself in the at bat, and on a 2-2 breaking ball he reversed direction, sending a fly ball deep to left. He just missed ending the game with a home run.
“I saw his breaking ball earlier in the game,” Avila explained. “The first time he got me (to fly out to center) with a slider away. In that last at bat I was looking for the same pitch high and away, and I was able to drive it.”
Avila’s heroics rewarded what was a tremendous performance by Everett’s pitching staff, which combined on a four-hitter. Starter Taylor Stanton had his best outing as a member of the AquaSox, using a well-spotted fastball and a variety of breaking pitches to strike out eight in six innings. Then reliever Andres Esquibel had an electric debut for the Sox, allowing just one runner to reach via error and striking out four in three innings. Andrew Carraway picked up the win with one scoreless inning to improve to 2-0.
“Our guys are pitching great,” Everett manager John Tamargo said. “I can’t say enough about our starters, they’re all pitching well.”
Juan Fuentes homered for the Sox (9-6), who won their third straight to remain two game back of first-place Salem-Keizer in the Northwest League’s West Division.
Brent Greer homered for Yakima, which fell to 7-8. Rodriguez took the loss to fall to 1-2.
Yakima grabbed an early lead in the top of the first. Billingsley’s error on Ryan Wheeler’s two-out grounder to second opened the door, and two batters later Matt Davidson laced a double to left-center, scoring Wheeler and giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
Everett tied it in the bottom of the second when Fuentes skied a solo home run to center field, making it 1-1 with his second homer of the season.
The Sox then went ahead in the fourth. With two out and nobody on, Everett managed to load the bases on two walks and a single. Then starting pitcher Brad Gemberling uncorked a breaking ball in the dirt that got past catcher Tyson Van Winkle, allowing Fuentes to trot home from third and make it 2-1.
But Yakima pulled back even in the sixth when Greer hit a line drive that cleared the left-field fence in a hurry, knotting it at 2-2 with his first homer as a professional.
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