Emeralds Suffer Walk-off Defeat to Open Second Half
Published on June 19, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release
PASCO, WA - The Emeralds fell to the Tri-City Dust Devils by a final score of 5-4. Tonight was the first game of the second half as we are officially past the halfway point of the season. Eugene led 4-0 tonight, and the 4-run blown leads marks the largest of the season for the Ems. The Dust Devils now hold a 3-1 series lead heading into the weekend.
For the second time this week, it was the Ems who got the scoring started. After going 1-2-3 in the first two innings, they were able to get the bats going in the third. Walker Martin led off the inning by drawing a walk before Lisbel Diaz singled to put runners at the corners. That brought up Daniel Rogers who smoked a single to left which allowed both runners. For Rogers, it was his first RBI's of the season in Eugene.
The inning didn't stop there as Trevor Cohen followed it up with his Northwest League leading 23rd double of the year and his 28th extra-base hit. That brought up Jhonny Level who had an incredible battle with Yeferson Vargas on the mound. On a payoff pitch, Level ripped a double down the first base line at 109.3 mph. Both runners scored easily on the play as the Ems took the commanding 4-0 lead after just three innings.
Hunter Dryden held the Dust Devils scoreless over his first five innings of work on the mound. He came back out to start the sixth, and gave up a leadoff single to Juan Flores before he exited the game. Dryden struck out 8 which is a season-high and just one shy of his career-high. He also threw 84 pitches in tonight's game, the most he's thrown this season and it's tied for his career-high as well.
Liam Simon took over for Dryden on the mound and gave up consecutive singles which brought home the first run of the game for the Dust Devils. A wild pitch from Simon scored the second run before Capri Ortiz singled to bring home the third run of the sixth inning to cut the deficit to just one run. Simon did strike out the final two batters of the inning to leave the game-tying run at third.
In the bottom of the seventh, Juan Flores tied up the game with a one-out solo home run to make it a 4-4 ballgame. Eugene threatened with a base runner in the 8th and the 9th inning but weren't able to capitalize as the game remained tied entering the bottom of the ninth.
It was Flores who tied the game in the seventh, and it was Flores who ended the game tonight with one swing. He hit a one-out home run for his second home run of the night and his second walk-off home run against the Ems over the last two seasons.
It was a tough night for the Ems to open up the second half tonight in Pasco. The good news is the Ems already have their postseason spot clinched and they now have 65 games ahead of them to gear up for that best-of-five in September.
Jacob Bresnahan will toe the rubber for the Emeralds on the mound. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM.
Northwest League Stories from June 19, 2026
- Caron Ties NWL Home Run Lead in 11-3 Loss - Everett AquaSox
- Indians Fall Flat in 12-5 Loss to Canadians - Spokane Indians
- Emeralds Suffer Walk-off Defeat to Open Second Half - Eugene Emeralds
- AquaSox Weekend Preview - Everett AquaSox
- Dust Devils Win, Complete Best Half-Season in High-A Era - Tri-City Dust Devils
- Top Prospect Breaks Out, Hops Blow out Frogs - Hillsboro Hops
- Tenacious C's End First Half in Style with 13-9 Win - Vancouver Canadians
- AquaSox Fall To Hops In First-Half Finale - Everett AquaSox
- Indians Come up Short in 13-9 Slugfest - Spokane Indians
- Emeralds Drop First Half Finale - Eugene Emeralds
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