Birdsong, Emeralds no-hit Dust Devils
The Eugene Emeralds no-hit the Tri-City Dust Devils and won the ballgame by a final score of 3-0. It was the Emeralds' first no-hitter since August 16th, 2015. The Emeralds move to 39-37 on the season and 5-5 to start the 2nd half. It was an action-packed night full of
The Eugene Emeralds no-hit the Tri-City Dust Devils and won the ballgame by a final score of 3-0. It was the Emeralds' first no-hitter since August 16th, 2015. The Emeralds move to 39-37 on the season and 5-5 to start the 2nd half.
It was an action-packed night full of fireworks both during the game and after the game. The Emeralds pitching staff was light’s out tonight at PK Park. Hayden Birdsong, Mat Olsen, William Kempner and Sam Delaplane combined for the no-no in tonight’s 4th of July ballgame.
Starter Hayden Birdsong got things going tonight for Eugene and he was downright dominant on the bump. Birdsong pitched 5 innings, allowing no hits and just 1 walk. The most impressive thing about Birdsong’s performance was he struck out 11 of the 16 batters that he faced. Birdsong is a top-30 prospect in the Giants farm system according to MLB, and he showed why tonight. Birdsong had one of the most dominant outings we’ve seen from an Emeralds pitcher this season.
The no-no couldn’t have been done without the help of the relievers. Mat Olsen pitched the 6th and the 7th inning for Eugene and he was almost perfect on the bump. Over the 2 innings he didn’t allow a single base runner and struck out 5 of the 6 batters that he faced. He earned the win in tonight’s ballgame and currently sits at a 3-2 record this year with Eugene. William Kempner pitched the 8th inning for Eugene. He sent the Dust Devils down in order with a pair of strikeouts to keep the no-hitter alive heading into the ninth inning.
Things got a little dicey for the Emeralds in the bottom of the 9th. Sam Delaplane was making his 2nd appearance for Eugene. He walked a pair of batters and hit a batter to load up the bases with one-out. The crowd of over 4,000 in attendance tonight in PK Park could feel the magical moment that was about to happen. The next pitch was a chopping ground ball back to Delaplane. He was able to field the ball cleanly and underhand flip it to the Emeralds catcher Adrian Sugastey who then turned and fired the ball down the line to 1st base to Edison Mora to beat out the base runner for the final out of the inning.
The sold-out crowd quickly jumped on their feet as the Emeralds celebrated the no-hitter. You couldn’t have scripted a better night to be at a ballgame. After the ballgame the Oregon Bach Festival performed on the field for the fans. The fireworks started shortly after and everyone sat back and enjoyed the independence day fireworks. It was a great day to be an Emeralds fan.
The batters deserve some love tonight too. The Emeralds scored their first run of the ballgame in the bottom of the 7th inning. It was a bases-loaded two-out situation and after a wild pitch, Adrian Sugastey was able to hustle down the 3rd base line for the first run of the game. In the bottom of the 8th the Emeralds added a pair of insurance runs. Donovan Walton got a base hit and Jared Dupere followed it up with a double. The next batter, Adrian Sugastey, ripped a shot into left field and both runners were able to come home and score to give the Emeralds the 3-0 lead.
It was a fantastic all-around performance tonight for the Emeralds. They’ll look to keep the ball rolling tomorrow against Tri-City for the 2nd game of the 6-game series. John Michael Bertrand will be on the bump for the Emeralds as they look to continue their winning streak.