The Vancouver Canadians ended a nine-game homestand with a 6-2 loss to the Everett AquaSox at Nat Bailey Stadium on Wednesday.
An Axel Sánchez single, stolen base and wild pitch came in to score when Michael Arroyo took C’s starter Connor O’Halloran deep for a two-run home run to left field to give the AquaSox a 2-0 in the top of the third inning. Josh Hood would also homer off O’Halloran one out later to make it 3-0 Frogs.
Everett would get on the board again in the sixth off O’Halloran. Jared Sundstrom doubled to right field with one out and came home to score on a Caleb Cali single to center.
Vancouver would finally break through in the bottom of the sixth when Cali’s former Arkansas Razorbacks teammate Jace Bohrofen hit a leadoff ground rule double to right. Peyton Williams singled to left to get Bohrofen over to third. One out later, Nick Goodwin lined a base hit to left to score Bohrofen and knock Frogs starter Ryan Hawkes out of the game. Lefty Holden Laws did walk Jeff Wehler to load the bases with two outs but got Dylan Rock to hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice.
Bohrofen would score the C’s second run without any help as he slammed a two-out home run off Laws with two outs in the seventh to cut the AquaSox lead in half.
The Frogs would put the game away in the top of the ninth against lefty Kai Peterson. Making his C’s debut on the mound, Peterson drilled Cali and Knight with his first two pitches before Wehler whiffed on a Freuddy Batista ground ball at second to fill the bases. Peterson walked Gabriel Moncada to score Cali but nearly limited the damage to one run when he struck out Sánchez and Arroyo but R.J. Schreck smashed the C’s comeback hopes in the mouth with an infield single to third to score Knight. Naswell Paulino ended the frame by striking out Hood looking on three pitches.
Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Canadians
Heart + Soul of Nat Bailey Stadium Passes Away
The Vancouver Canadians held a moment of silence before Wednesday’s game for long-time usher Hans Havas who passed away with his family at his side after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Hans worked for over 40 summers at Nat Bailey Stadium and also provided his stellar ushering services to the B.C. Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps and Vancouver Canucks.
C’s broadcaster Tyler Zickel described Hans as a “1-of-1 type person” during Wednesday’s broadcast.
“If you have come to The Nat any time over the last five decades, you knew who was running the show down there for the ushers. Hans was a fantastic man who left a smile on the face of just about everyone he came in contact with. I will forever in my mind’s eye will see him doing the Chicken Dance, his huge smile, his welooming spirit certainly will be missed here at The Nat.”
A number of tributes poured in on social media.
@The_Real_Moj (Bob “The Moj” Marjanovich) Sorry to hear about Hans passing away. Always enjoyed chatting with him at either the Nat or Rogers Arena.
@GordPhillips Hans was a wonderful person and always a greeted us with a smile. Sorry to hear this.
@LeafRollin I knew Hans from Roger’s Arena. Wonderful person, and I’m sure he was a great educator before his retirement. Thank you for posting.
My memories of Hans was his alter go ‘Shirtless Hans’ who was a popular caller on TSN 1040 radio when former C’s broadcaster Rob Fai was on the air. I always enjoyed listening to his perspective when it came to his beloved Canucks. My last conversation with him was about beloved Canucks and he was encouraged by their strong showing in the playoffs. I was glad to get to know him better when baseball returned to Vancouver in 2022. My condolences to C’s press box official Tim Havas, his family and friends. Speaking to a number of his fellow ushers prior to the game on Wednesday, he will certainly be missed and never forgotten. Rest easy, Hans.
C-Notes
O’Halloran started a perfect first inning by striking out Arroyo and was able to strand a one-out double to left by Cali in the second. Estiven Machado did a nice job of making a nice pick on a short hop at shortstop to retire Batista for the final out of the inning.
An Arroyo walk with two outs in the fifth was O’Halloran’s only blemish in innings four and five, striking out Schreck to end the fifth. The seventh began with a called strikeout of Moncada before O’Halloran completed the frame with a 6-4-3 double play by Arroyo to erase a hit by pitch to Sánchez who was nailed in the batting helmet.
Amalfi struck out Hood in the middle of a perfect eighth.
Vancouver’s first baserunners were in the bottom of the firsth inning when Williams drew a two-out walk and Jackson Hornung was hit by a pitch as the pitch from Hawkes grazed the front of his jersey. Goodwin hit into a 6-4 fielder’s choice to end the rally.
Williams had the first base hit as his grounder caromed off the first base bag and Hood was unable to throw out the former Iowa Hawkeye in time. That started off the fourth inning and Hornung advanced Williams to second with a tapper back to the mound but that was all the C’s could manage to do.
Hornung was the last Canadians hitter to reach base when Hood booted a grounder at second to start off the eighth against Juan Burgos. Jason Ruffcorn struck out the final two men he faced to punctuate a perfect ninth for Everett.
Jauron Watts-Brown will get the start on the 4th of July for the C’s as they play in Everett in the opener of a three-game set at Funko Field. Tyler Zickel will have the broadcast on CanadiansBaseball.com. Pat Dillon will call the game on MiLB.TV.
Radar Gun Rundown
Connor O’Halloran was 81 miles per hour had strikeouts at 93, 83 and 90. Alex Amalfi had a strikeout at 86. Kai Peterson checked in at 83-98 with punchouts of 95 twice. Naswell Paulino‘s pitch speeds were at 82, 81 and 85 with the latter being the strikeout pitch.
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