Strong pitching anchors AquaSox, sinks Tri-City

EVERETT — Everett AquaSox pitching held Tri-City Dust Devils to just two base hits as the Frogs secured a 5-2 victory Wednesday night in front of 1,994 fans at Funko Field.

The Frogs improved to 31-28 and are tied with Vancouver atop the Northwest League standings.

Ryan Nicholson drilled a two-run homer to center field to give Tri-City (26-33) an early 2-0 lead for the only offense they would produce.

Everett rallied to take the lead during the bottom of the third inning, taking a one-run lead. With the bases loaded and two outs, Lazaro Montes knocked a two-run single to score the tying run, and Luis Suisbel picked up an RBI single through the right side of the infield to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.

Keeping the Frogs’ lead intact was right-hander Taylor Dollard, who was freshly activated prior to the game as he continues to work his way back from a torn labrum suffered in 2023. Making his first AquaSox appearance since 2021, Dollard threw 2 1/3 shutout innings, allowing zero hits while striking out two and walking one.

Following Dollard’s outing on the mound was right-hander Elijah Dale, who threw 1 2/3 shutout innings. Just as Dollard did, Dale struck out two, walked one, and allowed zero hits. Dale also lowered his earned run average to 2.73.

Everett picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as Charlie Pagliarini and Michael Arroyo both went deep. Pagliarini has homered in consecutive games, raising his home run total this season to eight. Arroyo’s long ball was his 11th — the second-most of any Frog this season.

Closing out the AquaSox victory was righty Gabriel Sosa, who threw a shutout top of the ninth inning while earning his sixth save. He struck out two, walked none, and allowed no hits. Sosa has the third-most saves in the Northwest League this season.

Dollard ended up achieving the pitching win for his first win since September 9, 2022, when the Arkansas Travelers defeated the Amarillo Sod Poodles.