The Everett AquaSox spanked the Vancouver Canadians with a 9-1 loss at Ron Tonkin Field Saturday.
The Sox got to C’s starter Adam Kloffenstein early and often in this one. A leadoff walk to Zach DeLoach and singles by Austin Shenton and Carter Bins loaded the bases before RBI groundouts by Jack Larsen and Patrick Frick put Everett ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning.
Things got worse for Kloffenstein and the C’s in the second. Miguel Perez singled and stole second and came around to score on a Cody Grosse base knock. DeLoach doubled home Grosse to make it 4-0 Everett. Kloffenstein struck out Shenton for the first out but walked Carter Bins. Larsen grounded out to second to move DeLoach and Bins into scoring position. That was it for Kloffenstein as lefty Marcus Reyes came into the game but he allowed a Frick double to increase the Everett lead to six. Joseph Rosa then delivered an RBI single to give the Frogs a converted touchdown advantage. Reyes got that elusive third by striking out Perez, the 10th man to bat for Everett in the second.
Spencer Horwitz got Vancouver on the board by homering off Brandon Williamson to start the bottom of the second but Everett responded with a homer of their own as DeLoach touched up Reyes for a solo shot in the third.
The AquaSox scored one more time in the fourth as Rosa doubled home a Larsen ground-rule extra-base hit.
C-Notes
The AquaSox actually started the pitcher they said they were going to start and that turned out to be bad news for the Canadians. After scratching Emerson Hancock and George Kirby the previous two nights after being listed as probable starters, Williamson handcuffed Monty’s Mounties by allowing just two hits. a walk and a hit by pitch over 7-1/3 innings. Seattle’s second round pick in 2019 struck out 13. striking out the side in the third and fourth with the third being an immaculate inning in which he needed just nine pitches to retire the side. Williamson had five groundball outs and threw 70 of 95 pitches for strikes.
The C’s hit into three inning-ending double plays in the first, second and fifth. Cameron Eden lined out to right field and Morris was doubled off second on a 9-6 play after a single and stolen base. Philip Clarke hit into a 2-6-3 twin-killing that wiped out a walk by Sebastian Espino. Clarke had another GIDP of the 6-3 variety after Ryan Gold reached base on a dropped ball by Williamson who was covering first base on a grounder to second.
Williamson left the game after plunking Clarke with a pitch with two outs in the eighth. He had struck out a pair but Espino reached base on a passed ball after swinging at strike three. Jarod Bayless entered the game for Everett and struck out a pair to give the Frogs a four-K inning.
Morris singled in the ninth and Horwitz reached on an error by Bayless but that was the last gasp for Vancouver as they fall a game back of Everett for first place at 14-9.
It was a second straight rough start for Kloffenstein as he coughed up six runs on five hits and three walks with just one whiff over 1-2/3 innings. Reyes gave up the other three runs in 3-1/3 innings on six hits and a walk while registering three punchouts. He allowed both of his inherited runners to score.
Cobi Johnson and Parker Caracci prevented the AquaSox from reaching double digits by contributing two scoreless innings in relief over the last four frames. Johnson issued just one walk while striking out one. Caracci walked a pair but recorded one strikeout.
Another reason the C’s avoided double digits was Clarke throwing out Grosse trying to steal second in the third inning. That happened just before DeLoach’s homer.
Vancouver will try to get a split of this six-game series as they send Paxton Schultz to the hill against Everett. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m. Tyler Zickel will have the call on CanadiansBaseball.com.
The C’s official website also has a Game Program for the homestead which can be found right here.
The third episode of Around the Nest 2.0—a podcast about the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system hosted by Tyler Zickel—is now available for your listening pleasure. Among the nuggets involves a funny story about C’s outfielder Tanner Kirwer facing his former Niagara College teammate—Everett pitcher Matt Brash—earlier this week. Kirwer and Brash are native Canadians with Kirwer from Sherwood Park, Alberta and Brash from Kingston, Ontario.
C’s Alumni Report
Riley Adams (2017) had a hit and a hit by pitch while Richard Ureña (2014) and Nash Knight (2016) had base hits but Buffalo lost to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 3-2. Nick Allgeyer (2018) gave up all three runs on seven hits and four walks over five innings while striking out four. Tayler Saucedo (2015) pitched a scoreless frame.
Zach Logue (2017) struck out 12 batters over six innings as New Hampshire beat Somerset 6-1 in Game 1 of a doubleheader. The lefty yielded just one solo home run among three hits and did not walk anybody. Andrew McInvale (2021) finished up with a shutout seventh. Otto Lopez (2018), Vinny Capra (2018), Reggie Pruitt (2017) and Kevin Vicuña (2017) all had base hits with Capra stealing a base. Samad Taylor (2017) drew a walk and stole three bases to give him 10 on the year.
Vicuña had one of just two New Hampshire hits in Game 2 as the Fisher Cats were blanked 12-0 . Mike Ellenbest (2016) struck out two in a perfect frame.
Daniel Norris (2012) hit a batter but struck out two in a shutout inning in Detroit’s 6-1 victory over the New York Yankees.
Tim Locastro (2014) had a pinch-hit walk but Arizona lost its 13th in a row in a 7-4 setback to St. Louis.
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