By: Joe Krasnowski
EUGENE, OR – When the season ends, and the Emeralds reflect on their 132-game journey through the schedule, the details of Monday’s game against the San Francisco Giants aren’t likely to be remembered.
The result probably will be lumped in with dozens of others, another indistinguishable thread in the tapestry of a six-month season.
But for one crisp Eugene night, in front of a near sell-out crowd at PK Park, both the Emeralds and the AquaSox, hung onto the anticipation of every little twist and big play.
In the 7-3 Everett win, there were plenty of them in a game that featured an early pitchers’ duel, a mid-inning bullpen battle, and a dramatic end to the suspenseful portion of the night, where RJ Schreck gloved down Turner Hill’s potential game-tying single.
Both teams traded jabs early and often until Everett pulled away late.
On Saturday night, the fireworks started in the opening innings. Led by Schreck’s mammoth home run — his first since June tenth — Everett jumped out to a two-run lead over the Emeralds. Only for Eugene to take a one-run advantage in the fifth on left-fielder Matt Higgins’ two-run opposite-field blast.
The starting pitchers offered little separation, with Emeralds right-hander Daniel Blair giving up two runs over four innings, and Everett right-hander Ty Cummings surrendering three runs for the AquaSox while pitching into the fifth.
The AquaSox took the lead again in the fifth, manufacturing three runs led by Bill Knight’s two-run homer.
In the sixth, Turner Hill went on to blast a liner to left with a pair of runners on, only for the knock to be gloved down by Schreck. It was that kind of night for the Ems, and for Schreck who went 2-4 with the web-gem.
The tension reached its apex in the bottom of the eighth.
With two runners on Tanner O’Tremba lined to right, only for his drive to be gloved down by Knight in right field.
Everett (30-31), however, eventually took control.
The insurance came in the seventh and eighth. The first blunder came from Thomas Gavello, who was making just his second start of the series, his errant throw brought home one. Then, in the eighth Everett tacked on another against Julio Rodriguez. The right-handers 0-1 offering was a down-and-away slider that was questionably ruled a ball. His 1-1 offering? A center-cut slider that was deposited into left-center by Caleb Cali.
Eugene went just 2-12 with runners in scoring position, leaving seven runners on base.
Indeed, Saturday night’s game featured all of a baseball fans’ favorite hallmarks.
Long lines snaked out from PK Park entrances a good two hours before Saturday night’s game, and most of the 53,527 fans in attendance were in their seats well before first pitch, an occasional rarity for the notoriously raucous Eugene crowd.
The draw? It was Dan Lanning bobblehead night, the Oregon head coach’s first via the Emeralds. Dolls of the Ducks’ man were given to the first 1,000 fans through the turnstiles. The Eugene faithful also saw Lanning throw out the first pitch, his toss a low-and-away fastball that catcher Will Bednar picked.
“Great night to be in Eugene,” Lanning said. “Pitch could of been a bit better, but I’m thankful for everyone that came out.”
Given the commodity of the bobbleheads, one can imagine they will be seen on Ebay shortly — 2022’s Justin Herbert bobbleheads can be found on the site for upwards of $85.
For those who arrived too late to get a Lanning bobblehead, the Emeralds can commiserate. They, too, left PK Park empty-handed.
Short Hops
Rally Joe is a thing for the time being.
The Eugene Emeralds are the High-A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants. The Eugene Emeralds are dedicated to providing the best in family entertainment and creating a fun, safe environment for everyone to enjoy watching a baseball game. For more information, please visit our website at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or call the Emeralds front office at 541-342-5367. • Emeraldsbaseball.com • Facebook.com/EugeneEmeraldsfanpage • Twitter.com/EugeneEmeralds
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