The Tacoma Rainiers announced their team awards last night during the pregame celebration of the Triple-A West championship. These awards were chosen by the team’s coaching staff, in conjunction with the Rainiers front office.
Jose Marmolejos was named Tacoma’s 2021 Offensive Player of the Year. Marmolejos is batting .345 with 25 home runs and 74 runs batted in. He has a .448 on-base percentage while slugging .680. Marmolejos is currently leading the league in batting average but he needs seven more plate appearances to officially qualify, and he must keep his average higher than that of Salt Lake’s Michael Stefanic (.339).
Logan Verrett is Tacoma’s 2021 Pitcher of the Year. He has made 18 starts for the Rainiers, going 11-4 with a 4.92 ERA heading into tonight’s outing against Salt Lake. Verrett leads the league in wins, and ranks fourth in the league in earned run average.
Luis Liberato gets the Rainiers gold glove as the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year. Liberato plays all three outfield spots, and he showed great range with a strong and accurate throwing arm. Liberato was charged with just one error all season, and he had three outfield assists before word got out (primarily due to this play) and teams stopped running on him.
Jantzen Witte was named the Tacoma Rainiers Most Valuable Player. Witte leads the team with 104 games played, hitting .299 with 19 home runs and 70 RBI. Witte also played strong defense at third base, second base, and first base while even pitching effectively in lopsided games. In his first season for Tacoma, Witte bucked the league trend by hitting better at Cheney Stadium (.325 with ten homers) than he did on the road (.273 with nine homers), leading the Rainiers offense in home games.
After the awards were announced, the entire team posed for pictures with the Triple-A West championship trophy while they were cheered by the home fans. It was a fun moment at home after all of the previous celebrating had been done on the road.
RAINIERS DAILY
YESTERDAY: It took ten innings but Tacoma emerged victorious on Friday night, 3-2 over visiting Salt Lake. The Rainiers loaded the bases with one before Dillon Thomas hit a chopper over the mound to bring home the winning run. Thomas was 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI. Darren McCaughan started and went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs in his final game of the season. Nick Duron earned the win with an impressive scoreless top of the tenth in which he threw just three pitches.
TODAY: Salt Lake (54-73, 5-3 Triple-A Final Stretch) at Tacoma (77-51, 4-4), 5:05.
OPPONENT AFFILIATION: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OPPOSING MANAGER: Lou Marson.
SEASON SERIES: Tacoma leads, 16-11.
PITCHERS: LHP Ryan Smith (0-1, 10.31) at RHP Logan Verrett (11-4, 4.92)
Verrett leads the league in wins, and he’s looking to add one more tonight.
HOT HITTERS: Jose Godoy is 24-for-64 (.375) over his last 15 games… Luis Liberato is 21-for-48 over his last 14 games… Dillon Thomas has nine RBI over his last five games… the Rainiers are 44-25 when Donovan Walton is in the starting lineup, and 33-26 when he is not.
OPPONENT NEWS: Salt Lake just went 4-1 in a five-game series against Sacramento… Mitch Walding is saving his injury-riddled season with a late surge, going 21-for-56 with five homers over his last 14 games… Brendon Davis has four homers and ten RBI over his last seven games… Bees home run leader Jake Gatewood has missed the last six games with an undisclosed injury.
BROADCAST: All games will be broadcast free on a live audio stream which is available right here.
Unfortunately, there is no traditional terrestrial radio station carrying the games at this time.
TRIPLE-A WEST SCOREBOARD: Follow all league games in real-time with links to Gameday screens right here.
STORIES YOU MIGHT LIKE:
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Angels, 2-1. They are one game out of the wild card with two to play. - Larry Stone has a column on the atmosphere surrounding last night’s game.
- Fans were excited to come to the ballpark.
- Ryan Divish has a great feature on Kyle Seager and his career with the Mariners.
- Reno had to cancel its last two games against Las Vegas due to Covid protocols. They are hoping to get cleared to play today.
Listen to every home and away Tacoma Rainiers game for free HERE. You can also download the MiLB First Pitch app for a free and easy one-click listening experience at home, work or in your car. Watch an HD video broadcast of every game with an MiLB.TV subscription. Use code: RAINIERS to save $10 on an annual subscription.
About the Tacoma Rainiers
The Tacoma Rainiers are the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The Rainiers are a member of the Triple-A West. Tacoma has been a Mariners affiliate since establishing the Rainiers moniker in 1995.
Find more information and purchase single game tickets here. Questions regarding season tickets can be directed to Tickets@WeRTacoma.com.
The most up-to-date news and notes about the Tacoma Rainiers and Cheney Stadium can be found at WeRTacoma.com, or by following the Rainiers on Twitter (@RainiersLand), Instagram (@tacomarainiers) and liking the team on Facebook.
June 8, 2023