AppleSox, Elks Tangle in Father's Day Rubber Match
/
The Wenatchee AppleSox will try to close their season-long nine-game homestand by winning their third straight series, facing the Bend Elks at 5:35 tonight at Paul Thomas Sr Stadium. The AppleSox are coming off a 15-7 loss last night, but are 4-0 following a loss this season.
Last night's loss to Bend was a game of streaky offense. The Sox started off by scoring two runs in the first before Bend countered back with a three-run second inning. After Sox starter Jacob Hughes buckled down and struck out in the two ensuing innings, Wenatchee woke up again and tied their season-high with five runs in the fourth. Up 7-3 entering the fifth, Bend opened the floodgates by scoring 11 runs off nine hits. The Elks sent 10 men up to the plate before the first out was recorded.
The Elks' big fifth inning was the most runs that they had scored in an inning against the AppleSox since scoring seven in the bottom of the sixth inning bak on July 28, 2018. The AppleSox would go on to win that game, 11-8.
Justin Simpson was the 2nd debuting Sox in this series to collect three hits. Simpson also stole two bases, scored twice and drove in one. Simpson's three-hit game was the first time the Sox had two straight games where a batter smacked three hits. Meanwhile, Adam Grob smashed a double for the second straight game to extend his hitting streak to five in a row and give him four games with multiple RBI. Grob has only been hitless once since the opening road trip to Portland ended. New Sox catcher Jacob Wyeth worked through some in-game pain to finish the night 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Bend's explosion helped them finish 19-for-46 (.413) at the plate last night. Gavin Rork set the tone as the leadoff man with four hits, 2 RBI and one run. He was one-of-six Elks' starters to collect two or more hits.
Cam Liss toes the rubber in his first start of the summer for the AppleSox. He’s appeared in one game, which was on June 10. He earned the save after two scoreless innings of relief against the Walla Walla Sweets. He walked one, did not allow any hits and struck out one of the seven hitters that he faced.
Liss is an incoming junior at Washington State this fall. He spent the first two years of his college career at Spokane Falls. This Spring, Liss recorded a 4.28 ERA and struck out 78 hitters in 48.1 innings over nine games (all starts). He also pitched in two games for the Yakima Valley Pippins in the 2019 WCL season.
The Elks will start an Oregon State Beaver for the second straight game. David Case makes his WCL and Bend debut tonight in his first game against college competition. The incoming freshman wrapped his high school career at Loyola in Los Angeles this spring. A back fracture prevented him from playing his freshman year but he bounced back to play each of the next three years.
Fans can purchase tickets for tonight’s game and any other June AppleSox home game by visiting applesox.com/tickets. Ticket information on July home games will be released in the following week.
If you cannot attend tonight’s game, then you can still listen live to the action on Sunny FM. Listeners can tune in at kcsyfm.com on their desktop computer or by tuning in at any of the following stations below.
Wenatchee: 93.9 FM
East Wenatchee/Rock Island: 98.1 FM
Lake Chelan Valley: 95.3 FM
Brewster/Pateros: 101.3 FM
Okanogan Valley: 101.9 FM
Omak/Tonasket/Oroville: 97.7 FM
Methow Valley: 106.3 FM
Pregame coverage begins at 5:10 p.m. with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show and the broadcast wraps up each night with the Denny’s Late Night Postgame Show. Tonight’s game will also have a live video with the radio feed. It can be seen on playsight.com
