The Barn burner went back-and-forth before the Everett Aquasox made it  8-7 in the 10th inning.  The winning run came with Julio Rodriguez scoring on Tyler Keenan’s sacrifice fly.  But, there is much more to the story than that.  The game contained enough scoring, defensive plays, wild pitches, ejections, hit batsmen and errors to fill an entire series.  Yet the lead never grew greater than two runs for either team.

Scoring Barn Burner

Kaden Polcovich slammed a one-out solo shot in the second inning to tie the game, 1-1. The fifth inning saw the Aquasox take the lead.  Carter Bins did his Corbin Carroll impression from the first inning.  Bins walked, stole second, went to third on Joseph Rosa’s infield single and scored on Connor Hoover’s RBI ground-out.  Then, it was the Hops’ turn to play catch up when Corbin did an impression of Carter Bins doing an impression of Corbin.  (See below)  Score 2-2.

Kaden Polcovich re-joined the party in seventh.  His Carter/Corbin impression started of with a walk, then stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Joseph Rosa’s RBI double and took the lead, 3-2.

Then, the Hops took command.  Tra Holmes doubled home Cam Coursey.  Corbin scored Tra and himself on an inside-the-park triple (see below – it makes sense).  But, the ninth was Everett’s time to score three runs on Connor Hoover’s three-run homer.  That set the stage for Corbin’s solo shot to keep the game alive.

10th Inning Barn Burner

Everett struck quick.  Zach DeLoach started the inning at second base and scored on Julio Rodriguez’ RBI single.  Then, Julio did his Carter/Corbin/Polcovich impression.  Stealing second, Julio went to third on Austen Shenton’s ground-out.  Rodriguez scored on Tyler Keenan’s sacrifice fly.  It proved to be the winning run.

Corbin Carroll Scored Four Times

Four scores and seven innings ago, people will remember the night that they watched Corbin Carroll score four times and almost went for the cycle.  Corbin, in the first inning, singled, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Buddy Kennedy’s RBI single.  Then, he repeated it in sixth.  Getting to first on a walk, Corbin stole second, went to third on a overthrow by the catcher and scored on Spencer Brickhouse’s RBI single.

Corbin wasn’t done.  In a repeat performance from game one in the series, he hit an RBI triple.  When Corbin slid head first into third, he watched the throw sail wide.  Corbin got up and scored on the same play.  To top it off in the ninth, (Corbin must have been getting tired) he took the easy way out and poked a solo shot over the left field fence that tied the game and sent it into extra innings.

Pitching Flamed Out

From the mound, the game started out flame-throwing and then turned to flaming out.  In all, eleven pitchers were used by both teams.  For the most part, each relief pitcher was a ‘rinse and repeat’ of the pitcher they relieved.  Even Johnson (W, 1-0) took the win for the Aquasox and Kyle Hill (S, 1) earned the save.  Kyler Stout (L, 0-1) received the loss for the Hops.

Barn Burner Errata

Four batters took one for their teams, getting hit by a pitch.  One of them, Buddy Kennedy, had to leave the game.  To add to the attrition, Tra Holmes got a little colorful from the dugout and was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Steven Rios, Jr.  This made for some creative dance moves on the scorecard.

For those of you lost in the confusion for this barn burner: Axel Andrueza replaced Buddy Kennedy at first base.  Then, Nick Dalesandro replaced Axel behind the plate and Buddy in the batting order.  Next inning, Nick replaced Tra Holmes in left field and Luvin Valbuena replaced Nick behind the plate and Tra in the batting order.

Double Header Tomorrow

Monday is a day off.  However, Monday is there for a reason.  PK Park is the home field for the Eugene Emeralds and the Oregon Ducks.  The Ducks hold precedence.  The Ducks have/had a two game set scheduled with Gonzaga necessitating the Ems to look elsewhere to play.  Like the Vancouver Canadians (a long story – read about it here), the Emeralds looked to the Hops home field to play the games.

Normally, that would have been a great idea.  The Ems are playing the Hops and everything would fit right in.  However, the aforementioned Canadians are sharing RonTonkin Field with the Hops and they have a six game homestand starting on those days.  So, that left two games and only one open date – Monday.  Hence, the doubleheader scheduled for Ron Tonkin Field tomorrow at 5:05 PM.

For the cosmic joke in all of this?  The two-game set between the Ducks and Gonzaga is cancelled (due to Covid-19?) at the last minute.  However, the Hops and Ems felt there wasn’t enough time to shift back so the doubleheader is still on.  I’ll be covering it on Twitter like I do for all home games even though the Hops will be the road team on Monday.  Meanwhile, PK Park will sit empty and alone.

Box Score

by

Greg Stoker

@GDStoker