NWL Eugene Emeralds

Emeralds Drop Game 3 Against the Dust Devils

May 12, 2023 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


The Eugene Emeralds dropped the game against the Dust Devils by a final score of 7-6. The Emeralds now move to 16-13 and will be in 2nd place in the Northwest League Standings.

The first couple of ball games were dominated by the pitchers, and that changed quickly tonight. In the top of the 1st the Emeralds got the scoring started with a groundout from Wade Meckler that scored Grant McCray who led the game off with a double. Jared Dupere followed it up with a walk to put runners on 1st and 2nd for Victor Bericoto.

Bericoto got ahold of the ball and hit a 3-Run HR to give the Emeralds a 4-0 lead early in the 1st. It didn't take long however for the Dust Devils to answer back as Gabe Matthews, the former Oregon Duck, hit a 3-Run HR of his own with two outs to bring the Dust Devils within 1 run.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning Gustavo Campero was able to execute a perfect bunt that scored D'Shawn Knowles who led the inning off with a triple. It tied up the ballgame at 2-2 heading into the 3rd.

Both teams would go scoreless in the 3rd inning, and in the bottom of the fourth Osmy Gregorio was able to lead the inning off with a triple of his own before Gustavo Campero once again executed a perfect bunt that scored a run and gave the Dust Devils the lead.

In the top of the 7th Jimmy Glowenke got things going with a base hit up the middle to lead off the inning. Grant McCray was up to bat and hit a bomb of a HR out to almost dead center field to give the Emeralds the 6-5 lead. It was McCray's 5th homer of the season and the first time the Emeralds had the lead since the 2nd inning.

Adrian Placencia tied up the ballgame in a hurry however with an RBI-Double that scored the speedster Arol Vera. Placencia had been held hitless up until that point but delivered the big time hit when they needed it the most. The bottom of the 8th inning was an intense one for the Emeralds.

Matt Mikulski exited the game after allowing the first base runner to reach. Hunter Dula came in for relief and was trying to send the game to the 9th inning tied up at 6. He proceeded to walk the first batter and then allow a bunt single to load up the bases with nobody out in a tied up ballgame.

Dula proceeded to pitch perfectly against the next 3 batters, striking them all out swinging to escape out of the incredibly tough jam. Dula was fired up to send the game to the 9th tied up at 6 runs a team.

The Emeralds went down 1-2-3 to start the 9th. Werner Blakely was able to reach base to start the inning on a bit of a flukey play. He hit it over towards 3rd base and Luis Toribio just lost the baseball in the lights. With 2 outs against Gabe Matthews and a 2-2 count, Blakely elected to steal. Matthews swung and missed on the pitch but the ball got behind catcher Max Wright and Blakely was able to hustle all the way down to 3rd base.

That brought up Osmy Gregorio, and he was able to lay down a perfectly placed bunt that Hunter Dula wasn't able to get to to score Blakely on the play and give the Dust Devils a walk off win.

It was a tough loss for the boys in Green tonight, but they'll look to bounce back tomorrow night against Tri-City with first pitch set for 6:30 P.M.

Check out the Eugene Emeralds Statistics



Northwest League Stories from May 12, 2023


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