Another nearly (according to Pat Dillon) perfect night for a ballgame - 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky to get in the way of the mountains in the distance or the full moon in the even further distance. And the game matched the weather - an excellent one!
The Aquasox sent out Edlando Seco to start the game. He's having a very good year and Bob noted that he looks like a left handed Felix Hernandez (in his physical features rather than his pitching skills - they are both from Venezuela). Coming into the game opponents were hitting .154 against him and he had a lot of strikeouts and walks. This game was more of the same. He showed a very nice curveball and his fastball was up to 91mph. But he does throw a lot of pitches between the walks and the strikeouts. He lasted 5 innings and had 6 strikeouts and 2 walks. His stats after this game include 23 walks and 37 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings and an opponents' batting average of .142 (.82 ground outs for each air out). He had his 22nd birthday the day before this game.
22 year old Willie Kesler started the 6th inning for the Aquasox and pitched very well for 3 1/3 innings. He has a very nice curveball that he used along with a 90mph fastball to keep the Volcanoes off balance. After coming in and giving up a single to 2B Adam Duvall an error by first baseman Evan Sharpley (he's a quarterback, not a first baseman by trade) on a pickoff throw allowed Duvall to get to second. He was bunted over to third and then with the infield playing in a sharp liner that Aquasox shortstop Terry Serrano caught just off his shoe tops doubled Duvall up at third as he was running on contact. Nice play by Serrano. But back to Kesler - after that double play he struck out he next 5 Volcanoes (three of them looking) thanks to his excellent curveball (and a liberal strike zone by the home plate umpire). We've seen Kesler a few times and he has always pitched well. In 11 games he has a 2.29 ERA and opponents are hitting .206 against him (1.57 ground outs for each air out) - 19 2/3 innings pitched with 20 strikeouts and only 5 walks.
Jason Markovitz (a lefty) came in for the final two outs of the game to get the save (his third of the season).
In a 2-0 game it seems the highlights would mostly be about the pitching - and that was the case here. But on to the hitters...
Kevin Rivers continued his hot start to the season going 2 for 4 with a double off the short wall in right center field. He's currently batting .323 with an impressive .996 OPS.
Jimmy Jacquot (one of 3 catchers on the roster) hit a majestic homer to straight away centerfield to add a very appreciated insurance run in the bottom of the 8th inning. He had a line drive single up the middle on his previous at bat and was 2-4 on the night. He's hitting just .232 in limited playing time.
And Terry Serrano was the other Aquasox to get 2 hits. He went 2-3 and scored the first run of the game in the 7th. He hit a single into centerfield in the 4th with Evan Sharpley on second base. Sharpley, the former Notre Dame quarterback, was waved around third but an excellent one hop throw by the Volcano centerfielder Jose Medina was handled nicely by Volcano catcher Jeff Arnold at the plate and Sharpley was out after a minor collision. That throw was very very good by Medina.
There were some nice defensive plays in the game (other than the ones mentioned above).
In the first inning Hawkins Gebbers made an over the shoulder catch deep behind second base just in front of a charging rightfielder (Kevin Rivers). Gebbers tumbled to the ground but held on to the ball. With the sun in Rivers eyes at the start of the game neither of the players would have had an easy time with that ball.
In the 9th inning centerfielder Robbie Anston ran and made a nice diving catch of a ball in the right-centerfield gap.
And the most unusual play of the game came in the top of the first inning. Hawkins Gebbers was at the plate and hit a ball that the Volcano shortstop Carter Jurica caught on the short hop. He held onto the ball and Gebbers was safe at first. The "official" scorekeeper scored it an error. It went into my scorebook as a hit. And Bob said he would score it a fielder's choice. It was an odd play. I thought Jurica might have been shaken by the umpire who had run out halfway to the pitchers mound and shouted "NO CATCH" and waved his arms in a safe sign. Whatever, Jurica held onto the ball and Gebbers was safe at first.
Overall an excellent evening at the ballpark!
The boxscore is here.
The Everett Herald story is here.
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