NWL1 Eugene Emeralds

Offensive Onslaught Sees Ems Drub Hawks

July 26, 2019 - Northwest League (NWL1)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


The Eugene Emeralds (2-1, 18-23) picked up a series win in a big way on Thursday night, downing the Boise Hawks (1-2, 16-25) by a final score of 11-1 in front of 4,172 fans at PK Park.

For the second straight night, the Emeralds struck in the game's first frame to take an early lead. In all, ten Emeralds batters came to the plate in the first inning, six of which came all the way around to score. It all started with a double steal call from Manager Lance Rymel that was executed to perfection, resulting in Nelson Maldonado swiping second while Fernando Kelli stole home to put the Emeralds up, 1-0. After a Jake Slaughter single and stolen base, an RBI groundout from Grayson Byrd and a double by Darius Hill made it 3-0.

One batter later, a throwing error from Hawks shortstop Ezequiel Tovar gave Hill enough daylight to score all the way from second, and a long, looping double from Jonathan Soto moments later brought Vazquez around to score, making it 5-0. That resulted in Hawks Manager Steve Soliz yanking starter Jeffri Ocando in favor of Fineas Del Bonta-Smith, but the damage wasn't done there. After a wild pitch moved Soto to third, Luis Diaz smacked a single to right field, scoring Soto and stretching the Eugene lead to 6-0.

The Emeralds later added to their six-run advantage with one run in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth. After an infield single from Americaan, a stolen base, and a wild pitch, Jake Slaughter uncorked a sacrifice fly to left field, providing Americaan plenty of time to head home for Eugene's seventh run of the ballgame.

It was deja vu in the fifth when Vazquez led off the inning by reaching on an Ezequiel Tovar error for the second time in the game, and Soto followed in the next-at bat with his second double of the game to move Vazquez up to third. One batter later, a wild pitch from Stephen Jones allowed enough daylight for Vazquez to plate the eighth Emeralds run. Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly from Edmond Americaan and back-to-back RBI singles from Nelson Maldonado and Jake Slaughter together resulted in three more Emeralds runs coming across to score, making it 11-0 after five innings of play.

Meanwhile, the Hawks offense was stymied all night by a collective effort from the Eugene pitching staff. Starting pitcher Josh Burgman, the Chicago Cubs' fifth round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, looked impressive in his fourth professional appearance, firing 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings while striking out three batters. After Burgman exited, Fauris Guerrero entered making his first appearance back with Eugene since a brief stint with the South Bend Cubs, and he picked up right where Burgmann left off, posting the exact same line as the Ems starter.

The lone Hawks run came in the seventh inning thanks to a Michael Toglia inside-the-park home run, the second inside-the-park homer of the series for Boise. Outside of Toglia's rare round-tripper, the Boise bats largely remained quiet all night long as the Ems held the Hawks hitless until the fifth inning while only surrendering two hits over the entirety of the game.

Meanwhile, the Emeralds offense was a different story. All nine starters reached base safely at least once while Darius Hill, Jonathan Soto and Jake Slaughter all finished with multi-hit nights, highlighted by a 4-for-4 performance from Slaughter.

The Emeralds now depart Eugene for a three-game series in Keizer against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. The Ems and Volcanoes start the series on Friday at 6:35pm PST at Volcanoes Stadium with Pat Zajac on the call. You can listen live to all the action on 95.3 FM The Score or on the Tune In app.

Following the three-game series in Keizer, the Ems return home to open a season-long seven-game homestand on Monday, starting with a four-game series against the Spokane Indians.

You can find the full promotional schedule for the 2019 Eugene Emeralds season by visiting www.EmeraldsBaseball.com.

Tickets to Emeralds home games are on sale now at www.EmeraldsBaseball.com or by calling (541) 342-5367.

Check out the Eugene Emeralds Statistics



Northwest League Stories from July 26, 2019


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