Baseball
12 Hour Road Trip
The travel getting to the stadium is faster than going over the Alex Fraser or through the Tunnel then heading to Vancouver during the rush hour traffic.
Leaving at 2ish has it’s perks, basically as you miss the mid-morning traffic as well as the afternoon rush hour heading back to the Fraser Valley.
First stop once we were across the border was at Bellis Fair Mall for me to grab coffee and Laird to get his fix of Cinnabon’s, which might seem overpriced, but well worth the value. I had taken some Canadian dollars with me but it turns out that I could use US credit card in Canada which was great. Saved me carrying loads of change around and weighing me down.
Directions to the stadium were direct and special “thanks” to the Aquasox media department and team broadcaster for the assistance in making this trip actually happen.
The media booth is laid out somewhat different than the one at Nat Bailey as the team staff sit in the front row for announcer, stat’s person, music DJ, speed gun operator, which takes up about two thirds of the box.
The right end of the box is for the visiting broadcaster (Rob Fai) who has enough area for his set up and to his immediate left separated by a small wall is the home broadcaster.
There is a second row in the back of the booth for home media (on the left end) with the visiting media sitting to the right then separated by a chair to which the scoreboard operator or Tricaster person sits making changes on a regular basis.
The Stadium is owned by the School District and is home for both college and high school ball and directly behind the press box is the high school football field with ample seats for in excess of 1,000 fans should the season get interesting.
We found it ironic that the one game we cover was one in where the Aquasox were paying tribute to the WHL Everett Silvertips, arch rivals to the Vancouver Giants.
As one would expect the first pitch was thrown out by a member of the Silvertips organizations in hopes of getting some additional season tickets signed at the booth behind the press box and stands.
This game saw the Canadians wear the Black Mountie uniforms with traditional grey pants, while the Aquasox wore the white uniforms.
The Stadium is an open-air stadium that seats 3,800 plus fans that sit on metal stands or bleachers, with additional seating behind the RF fence on a hilly-knowl which is called general admission seating, which you get a good view from afar.
The top of the second saw a line drive up the middle with a runner stealing only to be called out by at least ten feet that retired the side.
Controversy never really took to the mound until Aquasox #13 Greifer Andrade was hit by a pitch that was called a strike by home plate umpire as he indicated it hit the bat going foul adding a strike to the count.
As you might expect GM Jeff Moreno came out to question the call, but the ump stood his ground and the discussion ended faster than it started.
Eventually the C’s retired the side as they headed to the top of the 3rd giving the Canadian’s some life.
Baretto was up first who hit a single to RF fence advancing him to third, followed by a sac fly to RF scoring Barreto giving the C’s the early 1-0 lead.
The fans were entertained to no scoring until the C’s managed two more runs in the 8th when Adams nailed a triple that scored Obeso giving the C’s a 2-0 lead.
Shortly after this Lundquist hit a single to CF scoring Adams and giving the Canadians a commanding 3-0 lead heading into the final innings of the game.
With nothing but gloom on the horizon the bottom of the 9th saw Chris Torres hit his 3rd home run of the season eliminating any chance of a shutout bid for the Canadians.
Vancouver’s Nate Pearson threw four no-hit innings, keeping his season ERA at 0.00 through an impressive 20 innings on five strikeouts.
While the trip isn’t all that far south of the 49th, it was interesting to see the number of Canadian’s supporters that made the trip south to take in the 2 hour and 38 minute game.
They have one more game in Everett before returning home for the final home-stand of the season as they face the Boise Hawks for a five game series starting Saturday August 26th, followed by the PLAYOFFS!!!
One final stop prior to leaving was outside the Aquasox Office to get a photo of
The long 12 hour holiday for Laird and I ended with us grabbing a “bite” while on route, with no need to speed at such a late hour.
Thanks to the Everett Aquasox media department for being so receptive and open to any and all questions asked of them.
Kennedy and crew were pleasant to work with and we thank them for everything.
Next trip – still in the planning stages!!!