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NWL Eugene Emeralds

Ems Tally 4 Home Runs & 2 Grand Slams in Victory Over Spokane

May 4, 2024 - Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


EUGENE, OR - Every game this week has delivered late-inning drama in some capacity and tonight's game might've been the most dramatic of the bunch. The Emeralds won game 5 by a final score of 12-8 and now move back into sole possession of 1st place in the Northwest League Standings. They currently have a 3-2 series lead over the Indians, and they'll have a chance to win the series finale in tomorrow night's game.

Quinn McDaniel got the scoring started in tonight's game with a solo home run to right center field with 1-out in the 1st. It was Quinn's 2nd homer of the year, and it was good to see the Ems strike first in tonight's game as they now move to 15-2 when scoring the first run of the game.

It was the 3rd inning when the Emeralds really started to get rolling. Turner Hill on the 1st pitch of the inning blasted a solo home run to right field. It was Hill's 2nd home run of the week, but it was just foreshadowing for what was in store for the Ems lead off man. After a couple of walks and a single from Andrew Kachel, the bases were loaded for Tanner O'Tremba. He got hit by a pitch and a run came home to give the Ems the 3 run lead.

With 1-out that brought up Scott Bandura to the plate. He already had 1 home run this week and now got a chance to bat with the bases loaded. Through the first 25 games of the year the Emeralds had yet to hit a grand slam. That would all change as Bandura got a hold of a baseball and sent it over the wall for the grand slam. The whole team was absolutely fired up and the Ems had jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 3 innings.

In the 5th inning the Emeralds added another run as Turner Hill launched a double that scored Thomas Gavello on the play. It was the 2nd RBI of the night but his night was still far from over.

It looked like the Emeralds were cruising after the Ems starter Jack Choate spun 5 innings of 3 hit baseball against Spokane. He didn't allow a single run and he struck out 9 total Spokane batters in those 5 innings. It was an incredibly impressive performance from the Emeralds left-handed starter.

Disaster would strike for the Emeralds in the bottom of the 7th. Spokane entered the inning trailing by 8 runs and they were in desperate need of a big inning. The first 3 batters reached base and Trevor Boone slapped an RBI-Single to score the first run of the game. After a quick strikeout to Braiden Ward, the Ems were just 1 out away from getting out of the jam. The next two batters walked in to give Spokane their 2nd and 3rd run of the night. Robby Martin Jr then ripped a single to score a pair of runs and Juan Guerrero followed it up with a single to score Spokane's 6th and 7th run of the inning. Eugene gave up a 7 spot to Spokane and they had a 1-run lead heading into the 8th.

The dramatics kept going for the Ems in the top of the 8th inning. Andrew Kachel, Scott Bandura and Justin Bench all drew walks to load up the bases for Turner Hill with 2-outs. Hill already had a homerun to his name in tonight's game and Scott Bandura had launched the first grand slam of the season. On the 2nd pitch of the at-bat Hill absolutely crushed a baseball to right field for his 2nd home run of the night and the 2nd grand slam of the evening and gave the Emeralds the big league right back. It was an incredible moment for Hill as he finished the game with 6 total RBI's.

Spokane scored a run in the bottom of the 8th to cut the deficit to 4 runs but Nick Morreale pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th to give the Ems the win. It was a gritty performance tonight from the Emeralds and it was exactly what they needed in this series.

The Ems now move back to a 1-game lead in the Northwest League Standings and they've guaranteed themselves a series split at worst this week in Spokane. A win tomorrow would give them the series victory and give themselves a 2-game lead in the standings. First pitch is set for 1:05 P.M and Hayden Wynja will be on the mound for the Ems.

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