Eugene Emeralds shortstop Jace Peterson gave his team a good indication of how important it is to be effective leading off, and they followed his lead.
“We wanted to start it off hot, and we did that,” Peterson said. “Hopefully, we can just keep things rolling.”
The 2011 supplemental first-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres went 2 for 2 with three walks in five plate appearances, guiding the Emeralds to a 9-4 win in the first game of their five-game series against the Northwest League East Division-leading Tri-City Dust Devils Tuesday night at PK Park.
The Dust Devils roughed up Emeralds starter James Needy, scoring three runs against him in 2 1/3 innings on 70 pitches. Needy gave up five hits and four walks and struck out one batter.
The Emeralds overcame his labored pitching performance with stellar production from the plate and some timely defense.
After Tri-City started the game with two runs in the top of the first inning, the Emeralds rallied to score when second baseman Justin Miller hit a sacrifice fly to right field that was dropped, allowing Peterson to score from third base and trim the deficit to one run.
When the Dust Devils scored again in the top of the second, the Emeralds bounced back to add another run on an RBI single to center field by center fielder Kyle Gaedele to plate catcher Matt Colantonio, narrowing the lead back to one run. Gaedele went 2 for 4 with two singles and three RBI, and Colantonio went 2 for 2 with two singles and reached base in all four of his plate appearances, scoring three runs in the process.
“Peterson and Colantonio put on a show tonight,” first-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy said. “They really did a nice job accenting that the job is to get to first. They don’t throw you a strike, you take it. If they do, you try to get on base. Both those guys had four or five quality ABs.”
Gaedele made a spectacular catch in the top of the third inning with two runners on and one out on the first batter faced by Emeralds reliever Jeremy Gigliotti. As the line drive was sinking deep in the right-center field gap, Gaedele made a sliding catch to rob Dust Devils first baseman Blake McDade of a two-run double. Gigliotti then made a solid job covering first base on a ball hit to first baseman Dan Killian to end the inning without giving up a run.
“That was a turning point early in the game to keep the game close,” Murphy said. “Unbelievable catch. That’s two runs. And then offensively, he drove in some runs … he’s coming into his own and we’re happy about it. He’s a great young man.”
The Emeralds first took the lead in the fourth inning when Colantonio and Killian were driven in by Gaedele and Peterson, respectively, making the game 4-3.
The Dust Devils tied the game up in the top of the sixth inning when reliever Luis De La Cruz walked three batters in the inning after Tri-City shortstop Taylor Featherston led off the inning with a single to center field.
The Emeralds came back to blow the game open in the bottom of the inning, putting up three runs as Colantonio was driven in again by Gaedele on a groundout. Third baseman Travis Whitmore then drilled a double into left-center field to score left fielder Jose Dore, and Whitmore was driven in on a single to right field by designated hitter Donavan Tate.
The Emeralds added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when Tate hit a double down the right field line to score Whitmore and Peterson, putting the game at its final score.
Eugene and Tri-City match up Wednesday at 7 p.m. at PK Park for game two of their five-game series. The winner of the series will have the best record in the entirety of the Northwest League.