Rain, Wind & Hail Can't Stop Eugene's Offense as Ems Win Seventh Consecutive Series
NWL Eugene Emeralds

Rain, Wind & Hail Can't Stop Eugene's Offense as Ems Win Seventh Consecutive Series

Published on May 16, 2026 under Northwest League (NWL)
Eugene Emeralds News Release


PASCO, WA - The Emeralds were able to beat the Tri-City Dust Devils by a final score of 15-8 to give the Ems their seventh consecutive series victory to start the season as they have taken four of the first five games this week. Eugene is now 29-9 on the season with an eight-game lead in the Northwest League standings with only 28 games remaining in the first half.

For the second straight night the Emeralds were able to strike first. Trevor Cohen reached on an infield single before making his way to second base on an error charged to the Dust Devils starting pitcher Yeferson Vargas on a pickoff move to first base. Gavin Kilen followed it up with a 103.4 mph single to the outfield to put runners on the corners. Vargas made a pickoff attempt to first but missed the throw for the first error of the game which allowed Cohen to come home and score. A couple of batters later, Zander Darby ripped a double to plate Kilen. Darby now has hit an extra-base hit in five consecutive games. The final run of the inning came off the bat of Carlos Gutierrez who ripped a 100-mph single to right to make it 3-0 Ems after the top of the first.

It didn't take long for the Dust Devils to answer back as they were able to take the lead in the bottom of the inning. Caleb Bartolero led it off with a single before Johan Macias hit a sac-bunt to move him into scoring position. Anthony Scull struckout against Jacob Bresnahan and it appeared the Ems were ready to get out of the first with a zero on the scoreboard for the Dust Devils after Jake Munroe hit a groundball to Walker Martin. That wasn't the case however as he missed on the throw for a throwing error before Ryan Nicholson hit a single to bring home a run. The next batter, Randy De Jesus, crushed a three-run home run to give Tri-City a 4-3 lead after the first inning.

In the bottom of the second the Dust Devils added onto their lead with a solo home run from Caleb Bartolero. It was his third home run of the year and it gave Tri-City a 5-3 lead. That would all change in the next half inning.

Eugene already put up one lopsided number on the scoreboard in a single inning with nine runs in the fifth inning on Tuesday en-route to the 17-4 victory. It wasn't quite that same mark tonight, but the Ems were able to put up seven runs in the third. The first eight batters reached to start the frame. They recorded six hits, one home run and one walk during this stretch. Gavin Kilen got the hit parade started with a single before Jakob Christian drew a walk. A balk moved both runners over before Zander Darby singled to bring home the first two runs.

It wasn't all sunshine after this hit as the skies of Pasco opened up and started raining and hailing. It was so strong that the umpire crew called for a rain delay. The grounds crew did a great job at fixing up the field quickly after the hail stopped and we resumed play just 16 minutes later.

The Ems kept it going as Jancel Villaroel hit a single before Carlos Gutierrez singled again to load up the bases for Jean Carlos Sio with nobody out. Sio crushed the Ems first grand slam of the season to right field to extend the lead. The fun didn't stop there as Walker Martin went back-to-back with a 112 mph exit velocity solo home run. It's the second time this season the Ems have done that in a game. The next batter Lisbel Diaz singled to cap off the eight consecutive base runner streak for Eugene.

The Dust Devils scored a run in the fourth and the sixth inning to cut the lead down to just three runs at 10-7. In the seventh and eighth inning the Ems bats were able to put the game completely out of reach. Villaroel and Gutierrez singled to start the inning before Sio drew a walk to load up the bases. Diaz drew a bases loaded walk and Cohen hit a sac-fly RBI to bring home another run. In the next inning Darby singled and Villaroel hit a 433-foot home run that left his bat at 108.8 mph. Two batters later Sio hit his second home run of the game. It left the bat at 100.7 mph and traveled 359 feet.

That proved to be all the scoring Eugene needed as they closed it out by a final score of 15-8. Eight of the nine Emeralds starters recorded a hit, seven of them recorded multiple hits as well as at least one RBI. Three different hitters had a home run, and Darby led the way with his second four hit game of the season.

It's been a dominant week to put it lightly for the Ems, and they'll have a quick turnaround as they get ready for the series finale tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 PM. Charlie McDaniel will be on the mound for the second time this week as he looks to follow up a strong performance that earned him a win last Tuesday.

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Northwest League Stories from May 16, 2026


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