The Vancouver Canadians let one get away as the Everett AquaSox rallied for a 3-2 victory in 10 innings at Nat Bailey Stadium on Friday.
The C’s had the first run of the game in the third inning. Bryce Arnold made it on base with a leadoff single to second and advanced to third on a Jay Harry double off the right field wall against AquaSox starter Ryan Hawks. Peyton Williams then doubled to left field with one out to score Arnold. Harry and Williams were left stranded when Nick Goodwin flew out to shallow right and Je’Von Ward flew out to center.
Vancouver added another run in the bottom of the eighth. Jace Bohrofen was hit by a pitch from Frogs reliever Juan Burgos before got to third on a Williams double to right. Ward produced a sacrifice fly to center to score Bohrofen to make it 2-0.
That two-run advantage was wiped out in the top of the ninth. C’s reliever Chay Yeager walked Axel Sánchez and served up a two-run home run to Colin Davis over the left field fence into the C’s bullpen to tie the game at 2-2. Yeager got the next three hitters in a row, striking out Michael Arroyo and Colt Emerson looking.
The Sox would score again in the top of the 10th off Yeager. Placed runner Jared Sundstrom moved to third on a wild pitch before Yeager plunked Bill Knight on the left flap of his batting helmet. Knight was okay to continue. Freuddy Batista produced a deep sacrifice fly to center that Marcos De La Rosa ran down but that allowed Sundstrom to score the go-ahead run.
The C’s offence did next to nothing in the ninth and 10th innings against Jason Ruffcorn who struck out five of the six batters he faced, fanning the side in the 10th to wrap it up for Everett.
C-Notes
Kendry Rojas put together six shutout innings but it was not an easy outing for the Cuban lefty. He stranded a two-out Batista double to left in the second inning but was really put to the test in the third. Davis reached on a throwing error by Harry at short and Arroyo got Davis to third with a double over the head of Ward who took an awkward route to the ball. Rojas struck out Emerson looking and got Sundstrom swinging on a foul tip to get out of the jam.
A 1-2-3 fourth that ended on a Batista strikeout was followed by another Everett threat in the fifth. Hunter Fitz-Gerald doubled to center and Sánchez drew a walk to start the inning. Davis laid down a 5-3 sacrifice bunt but Rojas got out of trouble by fanning Arroyo and retiring Emerson on a fly ball to Bohrofen on the warning track at center.
The AquaSox were a few inches away from taking the lead in the sixth off Rojas. Caleb Cali worked a one-out walk before Knight hit a ball off the padding of the short left field fence, just missing a home run. That put runners at second and third but Rojas fanned Batista and retired Fitz-Gerald on a fly ball to right. Rojas was able to get through the sixth despite suffering a blister which led to a visit to the mound from the training staff as well as manager Brent Lavallee and pitching coach Austin Bibens-Dirkx.
Aaron Munson had an efficient seventh inning that included a strikeout of Davis looking.
Geison Urbaez got into a jam in the eighth when Sundstrom singled with one out in the eighth. He went to second on a wild pitch before Cali walked. Batista drew a two-out walk to load the bases but Urbaez struck out Fitz-Gerald to keep the Frogs at bay.
Williams had the first hit of the day with a two-out single off the right field in the first inning. Jacob Sharp had the second with another two-out knock in the second.
A one-out base hit to right field by Goodwin and another by Ward to left put runners at first and third but Hawks struck out Orf and Jimmy Kingsbury got Sharp on a groundout to short.
Vancouver is going to go with Grant Rogers on the mound against Everett on Saturday. Game time is 7:05 p.m. at Nat Bailey Stadium. You can catch all the action on CanadiansBaseball.com and MiLB.TV.
Radar Gun Rundown
Kendry Rojas registered strikeouts at 84, 84, 92, 92, 85, 88, 95 and 94 miles per hour. Aaron Munson had one strikeout at 87 and was at 86-92. Geison Urbaez had a K at 89 and was 87-95. Chay Yeager had punchouts at 85 and 95 and was at 84-96.
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