The Eugene Emeralds retuned home Monday night after getting the road victory Sunday in Everett, looking to win their first outright Northwest League title since 1975. However, the Ems were instead defeated 7-1 by the Everett AquaSox at PK Park, forcing a deciding game three on Tuesday night.
After Bryson Brigman reached first for Everett on a throwing error in the first inning, a base hit and a fielders choice put runners on the corners for Kristian Brito. He took advantage with a line drive that brought in two runs to put the Emeralds in a hole, down 2-0 early.
“We didn’t make the plays,” Emeralds manager Jesus Feliciano said. “That cost us.”
The Emeralds answered by loading the bases in the bottom of the second on three straight base hits. However, after Tyler Payne hit a sacrifice fly to score Wladamir Galindo, back-to-back ground outs ended the inning for the Emeralds.
The Aquasox broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth when they hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. The Emeralds brought in Tyler Peitzmeier from the bullpen to replace starter Tyson Miller, but he walked Donnie Walton to load the bases. Brigman followed with an RBI single, and Eric Filia added a two-RBI single to give the AquaSox a 5-1 lead. Nick Zammarelli added a sacrifice fly to push the lead to five. Miller finished after 3.1 innings, giving up six hits, striking out two and surrendering two runs.
In the top of the sixth, the AquaSox again had runners in scoring position. Eric Filia hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which brought in Dimas Ojeda for their seventh run of the game.
AquaSox starter Ljay Newsome held the Emeralds bats in check for most of the night, pitching six innings, striking out six and only surrendering one run. The bullpen held the Emeralds to one hit over the final three innings.
“That’s just baseball,” Feliciano said. “We have to come ready tomorrow and win this championship.”
The deciding game three of the Northwest League championship series is 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night at PK Park.
Follow Zak Laster on Twitter @zlast3445