By: Jacob Archer
The Emeralds put together another dominant performance on the diamond and won their 3rd straight game against the Everett AquaSox. The Ems now move to 5-1 on the season and have guaranteed themselves a series split against Everett. They’ll have a chance to secure their 2nd straight series victory with a win over the final 3 games.
The Emeralds got the bats rolling quickly in tonight’s ballgame as they scored 4 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Turner Hill drew a walk to start the game and Quinn McDaniel followed it up with a 2-run blast over the right center field wall. The Ems have been winning games without the longball this season, but it was great to see the power come through early in today’s game. The frogs starting pitcher Marcelo Perez was struggling with his command and didn’t make it out of the first inning.
He plunked Onil Perez and gave up a 2-out single to Justin Wishkoski and then plunked Justin Bench to load up the bases. He then walked in the next two batters to give the Ems two more runs before he got pulled from the game. It was a fantastic first inning for the Ems as they have now scored 7 runs in the first inning combined the last two games.
The AquaSox were able to answer back with a run of their own in the bottom of the 1st to steal some of the momentum back. They were able to add one more run in the bottom of the 4th inning to cut the deficit to two before Ems starter Jack Choate was pulled from the game. It was a solid day for Choate, as he allowed 2 runs over 4 innings of work and struck out 3.
The Ems were able to score again in the top of the 6th inning. Andrew Kachel drew a walk to start the inning and after stealing 2nd base he was able to advance to 3rd base on a bunt single from Turner Hill. McDaniel hit a sac-fly that scored Kachel to give the Ems the 3-run lead once again.
The AquaSox scored a run in both the bottom of the 6th as well as the 7th inning to cut the lead to just 1 run. However the Emeralds were able to respond in a big way and score a run of their own in the top of the 8th and 9th inning.
In the 8th inning Andrew Kachel hit a 1-out single and Turner Hill was able to hit him home on a base hit to right field. In the 9th inning Onil Perez started off the inning by drawing a walk and he eventually scored on a wild pitch to give the Ems their 7th and final run of the night.
It was a great team effort once again tonight with a balanced attack at the plate and some strong performances out of the bullpen for the Ems. Julio Rodriguez and Matt Mikulski combined for a scoreless 8th and 9th inning en-route to the team’s 5th victory of the season. Mikulski earned his first save of the year.
The Ems will be back in action tomorrow nightas they’ll look for their 4th straight win against Everett which would give them a series victory. Left-handed pitcher Hayden Wynja will be on the mound with first pitch set for 7:05 P.M.
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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