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.