The fate of the Eugene Emeralds’ season came down to the final out.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 5-4 winner-take-all Northwest League playoff game against the Vancouver Canadians, catcher Matt Colantonio hit into a fielder’s choice at second base to end the game Wednesday night at PK Park, allowing the Canadians to advance to face the Tri-City Dust Devils in the championship round.
First-year Emeralds manager Pat Murphy gathered all of the team in the dugout and gave a pep talk after the game, explaining to his players who had seen so much success in 2011 that they still had a season to take pride in.
“For being the team with the most first-year players, I’m proud of the way they competed all year, including tonight,” Murphy said. “We easily could have put our tail between our legs, but they battled back and were in position to win the ballgame.”
The game did not end without controversy, however, as Emeralds second baseman Travis Whitmore, who batted before Colantonio, struck out looking on a low-and-away breaking ball from Canadians closer Drew Permison. Whitmore began to argue with home plate umpire Paul Clemons, who had called a similar pitch a ball earlier in the at-bat, and Murphy also came out to argue with Clemons and first base umpire Matthew Czajak.
“I’m not behind the plate; I don’t know if it was a strike or a ball,” Murphy said. “It was a delayed call.”
The Emeralds had to come back from an early deficit, as starting pitcher Colin Rea surrendered three runs with two outs in the first inning, giving up an RBI single to Canadians third baseman Roan Salas and a two-run single to designated hitter Balbino Fuenmayor.
Rea was relieved by Will Scott after walking Canadians shortstop Shane Opitz to start the second inning. Opitz was driven in on a line drive double to left field from Canadians center fielder Kevin Pillar, extending Vancouver’s lead to four runs.
The Emeralds had an opportunity to score in the bottom of the first inning, as Canadians starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez walked the bases loaded before striking out Emeralds right fielder Lee Orr looking at a breaking ball to end the inning. The three baserunners were the only ones Sanchez would give up until there were two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, when he walked Emeralds center fielder Alberth Martinez and gave up a double down the third-base line to designated hitter Jace Peterson before being lifted in favor of Canadians reliever Philip Brua, who coaxed a ground ball to second base from Emeralds left fielder Jose Dore to end the inning.
Sanchez recorded eight strikeouts — four swinging and four looking — including a stretch of four straight strikeouts in the third and fourth innings. All told, Eugene had 15 strikeouts in the game, including six in the final three innings.
The Emeralds started their comeback in the sixth inning, when shortstop Casey McElroy scored on a fielder’s choice from Colantonio, breaking up the Canadians’ shutout.
Eugene added two more runs in the seventh inning when Martinez and Peterson scored on a two-out single up the middle by McElroy, but Whitmore struck out swinging to end the inning, stranding McElroy on second base.
During the Emeralds’ comeback attempt, their bullpen locked down the Canadians’ offense. After the third inning, only three Canadians reached base, and the Emeralds held them to one hit in the final six frames.
The Emeralds’ ninth-inning rally started with leadoff walks by pinch hitter Justin Miller and Martinez, which was quickly followed by a single up the middle from Peterson to load the bases. Dore hit a grounder off home plate that bounced high into the air, scoring Miller from third base but recording the first out of the inning. After Permison intentionally walked McElroy to load the bases again, Whitmore’s controversial strikeout and Colantonio’s ground ball to Opitz sealed the Emeralds’ fate and ended their season.
“It hurts, but we’ll all be playing baseball still, and tomorrow will be a better day,” Peterson said. “I wish it went the other way, but it didn’t, unfortunately, but we’ll hopefully get stronger from it.”