The Vancouver Canadians won the battle but not the first-half war in the Northwest League.
They won three of five games at P.K. Park in Eugene over the Emeralds but the three wins they needed had to come in the first three games of the set. The Everett AquaSox held serve and beat out the Canadians on a tie-breaker after the two clubs finished with identical 37-29 records. Everett took seven of 12 games over Monty’s Mounties in the first half.
Tuesday, June 17 – Vancouver 12 Eugene 8
HR – Arias (4), Micheletti (9), Nimmala (11), Parker (6), 2B – Ward (5), Coffey 2 (14), Keys (13), SB – Arias (11) | Bonds (W, 2-1) 1.1IP 0R 3K 2IRS, Rojas (H, 4) 2.1IP 2R 4K 1IRS, Batista 2.1IP 0R 3K
Wednesday, June 18 – Eugene 8 Vancouver 1
2B – Arias (12).
Thursday, June 19 – Vancouver 9 Eugene 5
HR – Parker (7), Cunningham (6), 2B – Ward (6), Parker (12), Micheletti (11), SB – Cunningham 2 (4), Hornung 2 (5) | Gallagher (W, 3-0) 3.1IP 0R 5K, Yeager (H, 3) 2IP 0R 2K, Todd 1IP 0R 3K
Friday, June 20 – Eugene 4 Vancouver 1
HR – Goodwin (10), 2B – Keys (14), Hornung (9) | Perez 5IP 1R 4K
Saturday, June 21 – Rained out, make-up date TBA
Sunday, June 22 – Vancouver 4 Eugene 0
HR – Ward (3), Keys (8), 2B – Coffey (15), Goodwin (3), Arias (13) | Stephen (W, 4-0) 6IP 0R 3K, Peterson 1IP 0R, Martin 1IP 0R 1K, Rojas 1IP 0R 1K
C-Notes
The eight-game losing streak by the C’s in May ultimately proved to be their undoing. It all began at Nat Bailey Stadium when they dropped four in a row to Everett after winning the first two games of the series. The one game the C’s could have had in the bag was the May 16 game when they could not hold a two-run lead in the ninth, losing by one run. Another painful one-run loss followed in the first game of a doubleheader May 18 when Juaron Watts-Brown‘s final start in Vancouver was bested by Mariners 2024 first-round pick Jurrangelo Cijntje who threw a one-hitter over six innings in a 1-0 loss. A dozen one-run losses did not help Vancouver’s cause. Everett will have home field advantage for the Northwest League Championship Series, and Funko Field will see the 2025 trophy hoisted there.
Khal Stephen cannot catch a break when it comes to winning a Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award. Tri-City’s Ryan Johnson bested Stephen’s six shutout frames this past Sunday with seven and struck out seven Hillsboro Hops while holding them to two hits on June 18.
The voter/voters screwed up last week when Hillsboro’s Yordin Chalas was given the award for seven innings of three-run ball. It was originally three unearned runs he was charged with at Spokane on June 8 before the scoring was changed at some point last week to make all three runs earned. The voters clearly only looked at the ERA column when granting the award to Chalas. Stephen should have won it with 11 innings of one-run ball and a K/BB total of 11-3 over two winning starts against Spokane on June 10 and June 15.
Tuesday
Winning pitcher Bo Bonds made his lone appearance of the series. After three punchouts in 1-1/3 shutout innings, the righthander would go on the injured list on June 20.
Wednesday
The press notes indicated it was on June 18, 2024, when Lazaro Estrada pitched a seven-inning no-hitter at Tri-City in an eventual doubleheader sweep. Unfortunately, this was the day the C’s stumbled, and that was the opening the AquaSox needed to clinch their playoff berth a day later.
Thursday
Jackson Hornung has picked up enough at-bats on the season to qualify among the Northwest League leaders.
Friday
The Emeralds have been outscored 93-91 in the season series but have won 10 of 16 games against the Canadians in 2025 heading into Saturday’s action.
Saturday
This game was rained out, and instead of playing two on getaway day Sunday, it will be made up at Nat Bailey Stadium next month as the C’s are done with travelling to Eugene for 2025. The Em’s are in town from July 22-27 in the midst of what will be now a 10-game homestand for Monty’s Mounties.
Sunday
The C’s first win of the second half of the year gave them four straight series victories for the first time since 2023, when they won five straight on the way to the Northwest League Championship.
C-Changes
Congratulations to 2023-2025 Canadians righthander Pat Gallagher and first baseman/outfielder Jackson Hornung for their promotions to Double-A New Hampshire.
Gallagher transitioned to the bullpen this season and logged an impressive 1.13 ERA in 39-2/3 innings in which he struck out 46 batters and walked 17. He won all three of his decisions and racked up four holds and two saves. Gallagher tossed 142 innings in his three years with the C’s and won 11 of 16 decisions.
Hornung was a 2024 NWL All-Star who began the year on the Development List for some strange reason. Just add that one to the list of baffling decisions by the Blue Jays player operations department. The former Skidmore Thoroughbred bumped his average from .258 last season to .308 this season to go along with 15 extra-base hits and 24 RBI in 48 games. Hornung also made a number of spectacular defensive plays this season. He played 156 games for Vancouver and hit nine home runs. All the best to Pat and Jackson in Manchester as the Massachusetts natives will get to play closer to home.
Righthander Colby Martin was promoted to Vancouver from Low-A Dunedin on June 20. The 24-year-old Ephrata, Pennsylvania native logged a 1.61 earned run average, 0.90 WHIP (walks+hits/innings pitched), 5 saves + 29 strikeouts in 22-1/3 inning. He was a 16th-round pick from Southeastern University and will join former Southeastern Fire lefty JJ Sánchez on the roster. Martin wore number 32 in his C’s debut on June 22 in which he struck out one to cap a perfect inning on June 22. Now he will be wearing number 15, previously worn by outfielder Brennan Orf and pitcher Trey Yesavage.
Infielder Bryce Arnold returns to the C’s from Dunedin after ending last season in Vancouver. The 23-year-old from Grimsby, Ontario, batted .256 with an on-base-plus-slugging mark of .838 in 55 games, hitting nine home runs with 31 runs batted in and 10 stolen bases without getting caught. Arnold has added to his defensive versatility by playing the outfield after playing exclusively on the dirt in his first two pro seasons. The former Campbell Fighting Camel made 16 starts in left field, six in right field and three in center field. Arnold will wear number 8 for the C’s after wearing number 6 last season. Jay Harry wore number 8 to start the season before being promoted to Double-A New Hampshire.
Other notable transactions involving former Vancouver Canadians.
- Righthander Paxton Schultz (2021) recalled by Toronto from Triple-A Buffalo on June 17.
- Third baseman Damiano Palmegiani (2022) was activated from Buffalo’s Development List on June 19.
- Outfielder Will Robertson (2019, 2021) was sent back to Buffalo from Toronto on June 20.
- First baseman Rowdy Tellez (2014) was designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners on June 20.
- Lefthander Ryan Borucki (2014-2015) was placed on the 15-day injured list by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Righthander Yosver Zulueta (2022) was recalled from Triple-A Louisville by the Cincinnati Reds on June 22 and then optioned to Louisville on June 24.
- Righthander Hayden Juenger (2021) was assigned from Buffalo to the Florida Complex League for a rehab assignment on June 23.
- Righthander Nate Pearson (2017) was called up from Triple-A Iowa by the Chicago Cubs on June 21 and sent back down to Iowa on June 23.
Looking Ahead
The Canadians begin their second-longest homestand of the season with six games against the Tri-City Dust Devils from Tuesday to Sunday before playing three more against the Everett AquaSox beginning on Canada Day the following Tuesday.
The first three games and the last two games of the homestand are 7:05 pm starts. In between, there are four 1:05 pm first pitches from Friday to Sunday and Canada Day. Jackson Wentworth, Gage Stanifer, Chris McElvain, Fernando Perez and Khal Stephen are listed as the probable starters for now for the first five games before Wentworth, Stanifer, McElvain and Perez would likely follow again for the final four games. All games are on CanadiansBaseball.com and BallySports.com.
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