July 24, 2009 Tri City 8 - Aquasox 5

The rainbow appeared over the right field fence in the top of the third inning - it wasn't a sign of good things to come... In the fourth inning a light rain started that lasted until the seventh inning and as you can see from my scorebook, it caused havoc with my water soluble ink...

Here's what I remember of the game...

The Tri City Dustdevils (a Colorado Rockies farm team) started 7 left handed hitters against Aquasox starter Chris Kirkland who, not surprisingly, throws right handed. The first 9 pitches of the game by Kirkland were strikes (two strikeouts and a strike on the third batter). Then he gave up a single to Ben Paulson and proceeded to lose his control - walking the next two hitters to load the bases before getting behind to Kevin Clark who hit a two run single. He finally got Austin Rauch to ground out to third base. It was a much more painful inning than we envisioned as we counted the strikes at the start... Kirkland ended up giving up 8 runs in 5 innings on 9 hits (and just those two first inning walks) along with two wild pitches and one hit batter. He struck out six. Not a very impressive night facing all those lefties.

Kirkland was followed by Christian Staehely and Jonathan Hesketh (his first appearance for the Sox) who both pitched well and gave up no runs. Staehely got two strikeouts in 3 innings and Hesketh one in one inning while pitching around a leadoff double.

One of our favorite players Hawkins Gebbers left the game after the top of the first - possibly injured.

Ryan Royster continued his hot hitting, going 2-5 with a home run half way up the screen in centerfield. He also made a bone head play in the first inning when he headed for second as the pitcher was in the stretch and looking at him. He was easily run down.

This was our first chance to see James Jones who was the Mariner 4th round pick in the 2009 draft. He played right field and bats left handed. He had two sharply hit singles in two at bats. His fielding was acceptable - though he didn't get rid of the ball very quickly on one play where Clark hit a single to right field. He hesitated before throwing to third base (missing the cut off man but almost getting the runner, Matthes.

The Tri City leadoff hitter was Tim Wheeler - their first round draft pick in 2009. He had two singles and two strikeouts on the night in five plate appearances. One of the singles was on a play where Mario Martinez at third made a clumsy dive to snag the ball and then couldn't get to his feet to throw to first. It looks like a line drive in the box score, but wasn't.

In the third inning the Tri City DH Bo Bowman hit a home run to right that carried over the grassy seating area and over the double tall billboards behind it. Pat Dillon on the radio said one Aquasox had done that and several visiting players - but it's pretty rare. For the Aquasox Gerardo Avila also had a long hit in the same general direction (like he did the last game we attended) but it was easily foul.

The Tri City shortstop Joey Wong was very impressive defensively. He made a couple acrobatic plays at second - once to get a double play and the second time to be just late when it looked like he had no chance. He also made a very nice play in the hole at short to get a runner at first. He isn't nearly as impressive with the bat though...

Here's the story in the Herald.

Here's the box score.

July 17, 2009 Aquasox 5 - Vancouver 1

Another fun game - the Aquasox won their 11th straight at home (they're 12-1 at home so far this season).

One of our favorite pitchers, Andrew Carraway, started the game. We've seen him a couple times as a relief pitcher and this was his first start. He was obviously on a pitch count and only was in for 3 1/3 innings but did well allowing 3 hits, no walks, 3 strike outs and one earned run. The speed gun was a bit flaky, so it's hard to say how fast he was throwing (probably in the mid to upper 80s) - but he mixed up his pitches well and seems to have a handle on a variety of pitches.

Eddy Hernandez pitched a scoreless 7th. He walked one and threw a wild pitch. He's new to pitching (he was an outfielder before) and the team seems to be putting some extra effort in him. After the wild pitch Rich Dorman, the Aquasox Pitching Coach, went out to the mound to chat with him. At the end of the inning there was a line at the dugout to shake his hand - Dorman, Bob MacDonald (hitting coach), and John Tamargo (manager). They didn't do this with the other pitchers that we could see and it appears that they're working hard on his pitching confidence.

Early in the game Welington Dotel made a very nice catch in the Vancouver bullpen - running far, and then up on the mound, and reaching above and behind his head to nab the ball. He made a very nice diving catch off a hit by Kent Walton - there was a man on third with two outs and Welington's dash and dive saved the run. We also were impressed by Dotel's hustle on other plays - he consistently backed up second base on balls to left field (once it saved an infielder from an error when a throw went past second into right field).

At the plate the Aquasox got off to a hot start when Ryan Royster continued his hot hitting and put the first pitch of the game from Daniel Straily over the centerfield fence on a line. A very nice hit.

Then later in the first inning Gerardo Avila hit a huge majestic towering bomb to right that cleared the grass area, the double tall fence and was high in the trees further back - unfortunately it was ruled foul (and probably was by about 10 feet or so - but it was so high and far above the foul pole, that it's really hard to tell without satellite surveillance...). Gerardo is only hitting .240 (.647 OPS) going into the game, but when he connects he can really hit a ball. Which brings us to the 5th inning when he hit a line drive over the center field wall for a two run homer.

Anthony Phillips is back to switch hitting (apparently the Mariner upper management want him to keep at it). He hit left handed in all 4 of his at bats and didn't look very good going 0-4 with a strikeout and leaving 7 men on base (4 in scoring position) on the night. Phillips looked solid in the field again.

The new Aquasox catcher, Trevor Coleman (9th round pick this year), reached base 4 times in 4 at bats (a single, two walks, and hit by a pitch). The song they play when he comes to the plate is the country hit, "Small Town USA" - Trevor is from Dripping Springs, Texas...

For Vancouver, Bo Schultz came in to pitch in the 7th inning and is one of those crazy submarine pitchers. Fun to watch. Tyreace House had a bunt single in the 8th inning - he's incredible fast and gets down the line in an instant.

And the play of the night (or the "I'd never seen that before" moment of this game - seems like every baseball game has one...) was in the 5th inning. With Conner Crumbliss, the Vancouver lead-off hitter, on first and no outs Michael Gilmartin hit a line drive directly to Anthony Phillips. Phillips threw to first and would have had Crumbliss (who was diving back to first) for a double play, but the throw bounced and got past Gerardo Avila. The ball hit directly into the chain link fence behind first base (that protects the stands) and stuck there. An Aquasox player ran over and pulled it free as Crumbliss scrambled up and headed safely to second. The umpires consulted and ruled that Crumbliss would be awarded third. Best we could tell, "stuck in the fence" is the same as "into the dugout" from a rules perspective.

Here's the story from the Herald.

And here's the box score.

July 7, 2009 - Everett 7 - Yakima 3

A fun evening with plenty of action.

Luke Burnett was the starter for the Aquasox and pitched well. 6 innings, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 Ks, and 2 BBs. Bradley Reid then came in for the 7th and 8th innings and gave up a weak home run to the first hitter he faced (see below) and then pitched reasonable well. No strike outs. Reid was followed by Andrew Carraway who threw a 1-2-3 ninth inning with 2 strikeouts.

Twice Anthony Phillips was up with the bases loaded and the game on the line (in the 7th and 8th innings). He struck out in the 7th and popped out to third base in the 8th - very disappointing because rumor had it that his parents were in town for the series. They came from South Africa to see him play.

Gerardo Avila at first made a couple very nice defensive plays both on poor throws and hot grounders - he continues to look comfortable around the bag. He also started (and finished) a nice 3-6-3 double play in the 6th inning.

Hawkins Gebbers got caught off first base in the old "fake to third, throw to first" play that never ever works. But it did with Hawkins. His recent injury apparently has cooled off his hot start (but he's still batting second in the order - he went 0-5).

The home run that Brad Reid gave up to lead off hitter Daniel Kaczrowski was an Everett Stadium Special - over the right center field wall (that might only be 320 feet from home plate) - it was a lazy fly ball that appeared would be caught by Welington Dotel in right, but as he settled under it at the wall, it just slipped over. If the wall is 320 feet, it landed behind it at 323. The quietest home run you'll ever see.

Ryan Royster appears more comfortable at the plate and really "looks like a baseball player". He hit a grand slam in the 8th inning to break the 3-3 tie and secure the game for the Aquasox. He's not as fast as he looks like he should be, but might have a futuer (though having a second year here in Everett can't be all too encouraging...).

Andrew Carraway continues to look like an excellent relief pitcher - we've seen him twice and he's done very well both times. Lots of strike outs.

For Yakima, Matthew Davidson (a pick between the first and second rounds this year) appears like an excellent prospect for being just out of high school. He made a nice bar hand play on a roller, snagged a rocket just above his earlobe, and hit line drives at the plate. On the season he's not hitting well (.242), but last night he was putting solid wood on the ball (except for the one strikeout).

We also noted that Yakima had nineteen 2009 signings on their roster compared to three on the Aquasox roster.

Here's the Box Score.

Here's the story from the Herald.