C's Pitch Their Way To NWLCS Game 1 Win

EVERETT, WA – The best pitching club in the Northwest League carried their regular season excellence over to the postseason, as the Canadians blanked the Everett AquaSox [Mariners] 3-0 at Funko Field Tuesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the Northwest League Championship Series.

Macko – the #23 Blue Jays prospect and a former Everett starter who was acquired from Seattle last offseason – entered Tuesday’s game with 9.2 consecutive hitless innings under his belt. His night began when he plunked the first batter of the bottom of the first and he got his first out of the game thanks to an all-out diving play from second baseman Jeff Wehler, but from there the lefty did the rest himself. He kept the Frogs off balance for five strong innings in which he retired the side in order only once but didn’t allow a runner to reach second base until his final frame. The lefty’s final line: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 2 HBP and 5 K, good enough to earn the win.

At the plate, the C’s got to Everett’s Reid VanScoter (L, 0-1) in the second inning for what proved to be the decisive run. Peyton Williams was hit by the first pitch of the stanza then went to second on a single by Gabby Martinez. Ryan McCarty followed two batters later with an RBI double that bounced over the first base bag to make it 1-0.

Vancouver doubled their lead with a run against VanScoter – who was the regular season ERA king and leader in wins in the Northwest League – in the fifth. McCarty sparked the rally with his second double, Dasan Brown worked a crucial 11-pitch walk then Jommer Hernandez doubled into the right field corner to put the C’s ahead 2-0.

Macko’s most stressful inning was his last one, when the ‘Sox loaded the bases with a one-out hit by pitch, a two-out infield single (the first Everett knock of the game) and a walk. The Vancouver native responded by inducing an inning-ending groundout from #3 Mariners prospect Gabriel Gonzalez to end the threat and keep the Canadians in front by a pair.

Leading 2-0 in the sixth, Vancouver used Leam Mendez (H, 1) to face the first three batters of the stanza then brought in Ian Churchill (H, 1) with two on and one out. He proceeded to strike out the potential go-ahead run twice to end the inning then went on to log another two scoreless frames of relief in which he scattered three hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out two more for four Ks on the night.

A big insurance run came around to score in the top of the seventh. Garrett Spain grinded out a lead-off walk, McCarty singled him to third and Brown brought Spain home with a groundout.

Ryan Boyer (S, 1) surrendered a lead-off single to start the ninth but dispatched the next three consecutive hitters to lock down the win.

The shutout win was Vancouver’s 11^th in 2023 and a full circle-type moment; the first of three times they were blanked in the regular season – the fewest shutouts in the league – was a 2-0 loss at Funko Field in June. All the damage on offense was done by batters five through nine, highlighted by McCarty’s three hits, Martinez’s two knocks and a double and a walk from Spain.

Vancouver returns to work tomorrow night for Game 2 of the NWLCS. Devereaux Harrison will oppose Everett’s Raul Alcantara when things get going at 7:05 p.m. Coverage is available on the Sportsnet Radio Network.