Comeback Win Evens NWLCS At One Apiece

VANCOUVER, BC – The final game at Rogers Field at Nat Bailey Stadium this year ended as it should: with the Canadians on top in front of a raucous crowd, who celebrated a 4-3 win over the Spokane Indians [COL] Wednesday night to even the Northwest League Championship Series at one game each.

After the Indians used a two-out homer from Kyle Karros in the first to grab a 1-0 advantage, the C’s tied the score in the second. Jay Harry led off with a walk, stole second base and scored on a two-out single from Jacob Sharp.

Starter Juaron Watts-Brown turned in one of his finest outings at the level this year. The righty struck out 10 Indians over his first five frames and held Spokane off the scoreboard until the sixth, when they got to him for the go-ahead run thanks to a double, a ground out and a wild pitch. He was lifted after recording two outs in the stanza, which brought JJ Sanchez (W, 1-0) into the game to get the final out of the inning.

Trailing 2-1, Vancouver wasted no time crafting the rally that would put them in front for good. Harry and Cutter Coffey singled to start the frame, putting men at the corners for Brennan Orf. The lefty slugger laced a first-pitch ground ball over the first base bag into the right field corner to score both runners, but in rounding first collided with Spokane first baseman Jose Cordova and tumbled to the dirt. While the runs counted, Orf was ruled at fault and forced to stay at first instead of reaching second; he would later be stranded at third base to end the frame.

Sanchez retired all three batters he faced before Geison Urbaez (H, 1) got the final man of the seventh. A crucial insurance run scored in the home half when Je’Von Ward walked, Harry singled and Coffey cashed in with an RBI hit that made it 4-2.

The Indians would get to Urbaez for a run in the eighth, but he stranded the would-be tying run on base to preserve the 4-3 lead before Bo Bonds (S, 1) worked around a two-out single in the ninth to secure the win and even the series 1-1.

After a travel day on Thursday, the series shifts to Spokane Friday night for Game 3 at the Patterson Baseball Complex on the campus of Gonzaga University; Avista Stadium is currently under construction. Kendry Rojas takes the ball opposite Victor Juarez. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. and can be heard on Sportsnet 650.