The Eugene Emeralds took game 3 against the Tri-City Dust Devils by a final score of 3-2. The Emeralds were trailing by 1 run heading into the 9th and were able to take the late lead. Eugene now sits at 50-49 on the season and a 16-17 record in the 2nd half.The Dust Devils were able to strike first in the ballgame. Adrian Placencia started the game off by doubling off the right field walk. Joe Stewart was up to bat and ripped a shot right at Reggie Crawford who caught it and turned to throw it to 2nd. He airmailed the ball over Damon Dues and Placencia was able to advance to third. Crawford then committed a balk and Placencia got to trot home for the first run of the game.Reggie Crawford got the start tonight for Eugene. It was his 5th start of the season for the Emeralds. Crawford had only ever pitched 1 inning before over his first four appearances, but tonight he went two innings which was a great sign. He allowed just the 1 hit and the 1 run, however it wasn’t an earned run charged to him. He didn’t issue a single walk and struck out 3 batters including back-to-back strikeouts to end the 2nd inning. It was a great outing for Crawford.
Hayden Wynja came in for relief of Crawford and he pitched an absolute gem. He went 4 innings and gave up 5 hits and 1 walk, however he didn’t give up a single run and struck out 8 Dust Devil batters. It was a fantastic showing for Wynja and his ERA now sits at an even 1 this season with the Emeralds.
Both pitching staffs settled in after the first and neither gave up a run until the 7th inning. Eugene had gone 24 innings consecutively without scoring and the Dust Devils pitching staffed had thrown 33 consecutive scoreless innings. This would all change in the 7th inning, Jared Dupere and Carter Williams started off the inning by drawing walks. Dupere then got back-picked at 2nd base and Thomas Gavello grounded out for a very quick 2 outs. That brought up Brett Auerbach to the plate. Auerbach hit a towering shot out to left field and the left fielder, Casey Dana, lost it in the light. The ball dropped for a base hit and Williams was able to hustle from 1st and score on the play to give the Ems their first run of the series.
The Ems lead wouldn’t last long, as the Dust Devils scored in the bottom of the 7th. Caleb Ketchup got hit by a pitch to start the inning and was able to advance to 2nd. With 2-outs, D’Shawn Knowles delivered an RBI-Single and gave the Dust Devils the 2-1 lead through 7 innings of play.
The 8th inning was scoreless for both clubs and the Ems headed to the top of the 9th needing a run to tie and two runs to take the lead. Sean Roby led the inning off by drawing a walk and Carter Howell came in to pinch run for him. Jared Dupere singled to put a pair of runners on with no-outs. Carter Williams tried laying down a sac-bunt but it was such a good bunt that he was able to beat out the throw to first. The bases were loaded and Thomas Gavello stepped into the box. After seeing a couple of pitches, Gavello ripped a shot down the 3rd base line and the Dust Devils 3rd basemen, Werner Blakely, dove but wasn’t able to glove the ball. Howell and Dupere came home to score and the Emeralds had taken the 3-2 lead in the top of the 9th.In the bottom of the 9th Nick Morreale started off the inning by walking Matt Coutney, and the Emeralds quickly turned to Hunter Dula out of the bullpen. After a passed ball sent Coutney to 2nd, Caleb Ketchup hit a Sac-Fly that sent Coutney to 3rd base. With 1 out and the game tying run at 3rd, Dula was going to have to be perfect. He followed it up by striking out the next two batters to give Eugene the 3-2 lead.
After dropping four straight ball games, it was fantastic to see the Emeralds rally late and take game 3 against the Dust Devils. You could feel the emotion with the team after the final out was recorded, and with the Emeralds sitting 2 games out of a playoff spot it would be big if the Emeralds can start rattling off some victories.
Game 4 of the series will be tomorrow night with the first pitch set for 7:05 P.M. Nick Sinacola will be on the mound for the Emeralds as they look to even up the series against the Tri-City Dust Devils.