The Vancouver Canadians defeated the Everett AquaSox by scores of 8-2 and 2-0 at Funko Field at Everett Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The C’s grabbed a first-inning lead against Sox starter Raúl Alcantara when Alan Roden doubled to the right field wall, stole third with one out and tagged up to score on a one-out sacrifice fly to center field. Cade Doughty drew a walk and stole second base but was left stranded.
Everett would get to Vancouver starter Dahian Santos in their first at-bat. Harry Ford drew a walk after an eight-pitch at-bat and moved to second when Peyton Williams could not handle a pickoff throw from the mound. Ben Ramirez‘s grounder to second and Hogan Windish‘s single up the middle brought Ford around to tie the game at 1-1. Santos threw seven consecutive balls and ultimately walked Alberto Rodriguez and Axel Sanchez to load the bases. Randy Bednar reached on a 3-2 fielder’s choice as Williams threw the ball to Sosa at the plate to force out Windish. However, a James Parker walk would bring in Rodriguez to make it 2-1 Everett. Parker nearly hit a grand slam earlier in the at-bat as his bid for a homer to left just sailed wide of the fair pole. With the bases still loaded, Santos prevented the inning from getting away from him by retiring Mike Salvatore on a pop-up in foul territory to Sosa. The Sox ran up Santos’ pitch count to 33.
The C’s answered back in the second when Alcantara gave Alex De Jesús a free pass to open the frame. De Jesús swiped second base but was caught stealing third. Gabby Martinez followed with a walk of his own and he was balked over to second by Alcantara. Michael Turconi was drilled in the back on a 1-2 pitch before Dasan Brown lined a single to left to plate Martinez. Brown was forced out on a Roden 6-4 fielder’s choice but Roden stole second to join Turconi in scoring position. However, Josh Kasevich struck out to leave the runners on.
Santos struck out Blake Rambusch looking to start the bottom of the second and induced a Ford ground ball to third. However, De Jesús was handcuffed on the sharp bounce and was charged with an error. Ford would steal second base and went to third on a Santos balk but Santos kept the game tied by recording his first four swinging strikes as he got Ramirez and Windish to go down swinging.
The third inning went much quicker as Alcantara and Santos exchanged perfect frames with Santos needing just four pitches to retire the side after throwing 54 of them over the first two innings.
The Canadians tried to break through with one out in the fourth when Martinez and Turconi drew consecutive walks. Brown struck out but Martinez stole third base when Alcantara did not pay any attention to him. Roden walked to load the bases to force Alcantara to leave the game but Kelvin Nuñez got Kasevich to fly out to center.
Kevin Miranda took over on the mound for Santos in the bottom of the fourth and bookended a three-up, three-down frame with strikeouts of Parker and Rambusch.
Sosa greeted Nuñez by grounding a single to left to open the fifth. Doughty drew a walk before Williams unloaded for a three-run home run to right-center field, just to the left of the manual scoreboard, to put Monty’s Mounties ahead 5-2. De Jesús then drew a walk and that was followed by a pair of one-out ball fours to Turconi and Brown to load the bases. Tim Elliott took the ball from Nuñez and was drilled in the knee on a Roden line drive that ended up in right field. The Roden base hit drove in De Jesús and Turconi to put the C’s up by five. Elliott was able to continue and would finish out the inning.
Miranda mowed down the Frogs in the bottom of the fifth by striking out the side with Ford, Ramirez and Windish getting the forward-facing Ks.
Sam Carlson blanked the C’s in the sixth and Miranda overcame a one-out double off the center field wall by Sanchez to send the game to the seventh.
Vancouver would get to Carlson in the seventh when De Jesús singled to center and Martinez doubled to right-center. De Jesús came home on a Turconi bouncer to second to score the C’s eighth run.
Everett got their leadoff man aboard in the seventh when Mike Salvatore walked and stole second with one out. Miranda struck out Ford swinging but Sosa could not complete the play with the throw down to first as the throw pulled Williams off the bag, allowing Ford to get on base. Ramirez ripped a single to right to load the bases. Windish fouled out to first on the first pitch he saw from Miranda and Rodriguez lined out to Turconi at second on the next pitch to seal the deal for Vancouver. The win was Miranda’s first in a Vancouver uniform.
The second game of the doubleheader saw Alan Roden try to ignite things once again with a leadoff single to center field. He stole second base with two outs and Cade Doughty was hit in the back by a pitch. A wild pitch moved both runners 90 feet closer but Everett starter Jimmy Kingsbury struck out Garrett Spain to keep the C’s off the board.
Devereaux Harrison set the tone for his night with a perfect first inning for Vancouver by striking out Hogan Windish swinging for the third out.
The C’s would break out on top against Kingsbury in the second. Gabby Martinez beat out a ground ball deep in the hole at short for an infield hit. Martinez appeared to jam a finger on a headfirst dive back to the bag on a Kingsbury pick-off attempt but he remained in the game. Devonte Brown then blooped a base to right on a 3-2 pitch after being behind in the count at 1-2 to get Martinez over to second. Jommer Hernández chopped one in front of the plate and it bounced through to center field to score Martinez with the game’s first run. Brown advanced to third on the play and he would score on a Roden single to left to give the C’s a two-run lead.
Harrison turned in a carbon copy of the first inning with an inning-ending strikeout of Randy Bednar to end the second.
Cade Doughty was grazed by a pitch from Kingsbury to open the third. Garrett Spain struck out swinging and Doughty was thrown out on a steal attempt of second. Martinez singled to right but Brown struck out swinging for the third out.
In the bottom of the third, Harrison helped his own cause by getting Charlie Welch to bounce out to the mound for the first out. Mike Salvatore was the first Everett baserunner when he worked a one-out walk but Harrison would only face one more batter thanks to Spain. He made a leaping catch just to the right of the manual scoreboard and made to throw to first to double off Salvatore for an inning-ending 9-3 double play.
The top of the fourth also ended with an inning-ending double play but on the left side of the field. Jommer Hernández flared a single to left and Estiven Machado had a base hit to left off Frogs reliever Bernie Martinez. Roden flew out to center before Josh Kasevich was robbed of a hit when Erik Stock leaped against the left field wall. Hernández tagged to go to third on the play but the Frogs appealed the play at second and Hernández was called out for leaving second base too early.
Blake Rambusch got aboard with a leadoff walk to begin the home half of the four and would get as far as second on a wild pitch but Harrison struck out Ben Ramirez, Hogan Windish and Alberto Rodriguez.
Everett reliever Matt Willrodt matched that effort by Harrison by striking out the side swinging in the fifth, working around a one-out Doughty double down to the left field line.
The oneupmanship continued in the bottom of the fifth when Harrison sat down Axel Sanchez, Bednar and Salvatore to navigate his way around a two-out walk to Charlie Welch.
Against Frogs reliever Kyle Hill, Brown worked a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth but Hernández hit into a 4-6-3 double play to squelch that rally. The bottom of the sixth saw Harrison finish his outing with a spotless stanza.
In the top of the seventh, Everett reliever Leon Hunter Jr. issued a base on balls to Roden and he advanced to second on a hit-and-run ground out to third by Kasevich. Roden would steal third after Peyton Williams struck out but Doughty went down swinging for the third out.
Matt Svanson was summoned from the C’s bullpen for the bottom of the seventh and induced a grounder to first that Williams knocked down on the backhand. He picked up the ball with the glove and dove for the first base bag with the ball in his glove for the first out. Williams was shaken up on the play and was replaced by Michael Turconi. As it turned out, Turconi’s services were not needed and neither were the services of his fellow infielders and outfielders as Svanson struck out Rodriguez and K’d Sanchez on a 3-2 pitch to complete the no-hitter. Harrison is now 2-0 and Svanson got his third save.
C-Notes
It should be a stone-cold lock that Devereaux Harrison will capture his second Northwest League Pitcher of the Week award. The 22-year-old righthander from Vallejo, California scattered three walks and struck out eight over six no-hit frames in Everett on Saturday. A Toronto Blue Jays 2022 ninth-round pick from Long Beach State, Henderson won his first NWL Pitcher of the Week plaudits after posting five shutout innings of one-hit ball and striking out six in his first professional start.
The C’s have another new hurler on the roster. Ian Churchill—taken one round after Harrison by Toronto in the 2022 MLB Draft out of the University of San Diego—has been promoted from Low-A Dunedin. The 24-year-old lefty was 1-1 with a 0.75 earned run average with Dunedin last season, recording one hold after striking out 18 batters and walking five over 12 innings. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from Santa Barbara, California was off to a 3-0 start with a 1.33 ERA over 16 appearances with the D-Jays. He collected three holds and converted his two save opportunities while whiffing 28 batters against 14 walks over 20-1/3 innings. Churchill was among four Dunedin pitchers who contributed to a no-hitter against Tampa last August. He will wear number 36 for Vancouver.
Lefthander Braden Scott has been placed on the seven-day injured list. He left a June 2 game against Eugene due to injury after retiring the only two batters he faced.
Vancouver is now 30-25 on the season and remains one game back of Spokane for top spot in the Northwest League. Spokane rallied to beat Hillsboro 14-12 after being down 9-2 at one point.
The Canadians and AquaSox play one more time at Funko Field in the regular season. Ryan Jennings will make his High-A debut for the C’s. You can find the game on CanadiansBaseball.com with Tyler Zickel on the call or watch on MiLB.TV.
Thanks a million to the Everett AquaSox organization for the media credentials for Saturday’s doubleheader. A big thank you to Director of Corporate Partnerships / Media Relations Mike MacCulloch, Director of Tickets Jim Bergem, broadcaster/game day host Steve Willits and ushers Dave and Mary for their hospitality.
Radar Gun Rundown
Santos had one strikeout of 84 and was up to 94 miles per hour. Miranda had punchouts at 82, 83, 81 and 81 and was around 77-93. Harrison reached 93 and had strikeouts of 86 and 82, 83, 82. Svanson was at 83 and had one K at 95.
C-IGs
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