Mitch Darlington looks to deliver the AppleSox’ sixth WCL Championship in 2025 as he enters his fourth season as head coach.

The AppleSox skipper guided the club to the WCL Championship Game in 2024 for the first time since 2013 and the club’s ninth division championship. Wenatchee went 35-19 before defeating Victoria in three games in the North Division Series and then Bellingham in the North Division Championship Game. Darlington earned a share of the WCL Coach of the Year as a result of his efforts.

The Leavenworth native is the only AppleSox skipper to reach the postseason in each of his first three campaigns. Darlington became the only head coach of Wenatchee's six in franchise history to qualify for the postseason in his first year at the helm when he accomplished the feat in 2022. Darlington's 99 regular-season victories are second-most in AppleSox history and he guided the team to back-to-back 30-win seasons in 2023 and 2024, a feat achieved for the first time by the club since 2011-12.

In each of his three campaigns the AppleSox have broken their club record for walks drawn. Last summer's club became the first to win the first half and lock up the first seed in the North Division since the two-half playoff format was adopted in 2016. Wenatchee shattered single-season offensive records for on-base percentage (.404), RBI (332), walks (312) and hit by pitches (82) in 2024. The AppleSox have scored the most runs in the WCL since the start of 2022 (1,118) and led the WCL in runs (380) and batting average (.283) in 2024. The AppleSox broke single-season team records for walks, runs, stolen bases and RBI in 2022 and then proceeded to break team records for home victories (21), home game winning streak in league play (12), three-game series sweeps (eight), most home runs hit in a league game (four on July 13) and walks drawn (299) in 2023.

Darlington’s first AppleSox team won the North Division Second Half title and swept the Kamloops NorthPaws in the 2022 North Division Semifinals to deliver the team’s first postseason series victory since 2013. The 2023 AppleSox won 10 more games than the 2022 version and tied the franchise’s second-best regular-season record with 37 league victories.

Eight different AppleSox players have won West Coast League Player Of The Week and 16 players have earned All-WCL honors in Darlington’s three seasons. Second baseman Joichiro Oyama won a share of the 2022 WCL MVP after breaking four different AppleSox single-season records. Aidan Dougherty won the 2024 WCL batting crown with a .380 average.

Darlington coached elite high school players and helped prepare them for collegiate careers at the Baseball Northwest Championships from 2018-21. He also served as an assistant coach at Big Bend Community College from 2017-19. Darlington’s first summer collegiate coaching experience came in 2019 as the head coach of the Burlington Barn Owls of the Cascade Collegiate League.

Darlington graduated from Cashmere High School in 2012 and went on to play baseball at Big Bend Community College before transferring to Central Washington. He works as the athletic director and physical education teacher at Mansfield High School and resides in Chelan with his wife, Marina, and their sons, Dash and Drue.

Xander Orejudos is entering his second season as an assistant coach for the AppleSox. Orejudos spends the WCL offseason as an assistant coach at one his alma maters, Columbia Basin College. He graduated from the University of Jamestown in 2023 and served as a student assistant coach and first base coach with the Jimmies in 2024.

The Ellensburg native helped Wenatchee come an out away from winning the West Coast League Championship in his first summer with the team last summer. Orejudos and head coach Mitch Darlington both spearheaded running the AppleSox offensive strategy and helped the team break single-season franchise records for on-base percentage (.404), RBI (332), walks (312) and hit by pitches (82) in 2024. AppleSox outfielder Aidan Dougherty led the WCL with a .380 average to become the third Sox hitter in franchise history to win a WCL batting crown.

Orejudos began his college career at Columba Basin College in 2018 and his .356 in 46 games that year before following it up with a .358 mark in 28 games the next season. He transferred to Georgia Gwinnett but did not play in the 2020 or 2021 seasons due to injury. Orejudos then made his way to Jamestown and finished strong, first hitting .276 in 44 games a junior and then wrapping up his college career with a .325 mark in 46 games in 2023.

Orejudos played with the AppleSox from start to finish in 2022 and became a regular with his defensive work at second base and his reliable bat. He hit .317 in 37 regular-season games and also a personal-best eight-game hitting streak from July 28-Aug. 5. Orejudos followed it up with a strong postseason, collecting hits in all three games, including recording a pair of multi-hit games in a Division Series sweep of Kamloops to open the playoffs.

The AppleSox’ all-time leader in strikeouts and innings pitched returns to the team in a new role this summer. After three historic seasons as a player, Quincy Vassar joins Mitch Darlington’s staff as a pitching coach in 2025.

Vassar was part of each of the last three seasons’ playoff teams and helped the AppleSox win the North Division second half title in 2022 before capturing the first half and second half crowns along with a division playoff championship in 2024. The southpaw posted a 3.90 ERA with a franchise-best 125 strikeouts over an AppleSox-record 131.2 innings in 28 games. He tossed at least five innings in 17-of-25 starts.

The Brewster native also made three postseason appearances with the AppleSox, including two of the more impressive starts in recent AppleSox playoff history. He helped Wenatchee finish off a series sweep of Kamloops in 2022 with eight strikeouts and one unearned in seven innings in Game 2 of the North Division Series. Two years and one day later he shoved again in Game 2 of the North Division Series, this time tossing a complete game with eight strikeouts and one run vs. Victoria to keep the AppleSox’ season alive. 

“I’m very excited to be joining the coaching staff in Wenatchee,” Vassar said. “The AppleSox have been a big part of my baseball career and I am looking forward to helping athletes make it a part of their own story as the new pitching coach. I couldn’t be more proud to have played for Mitch and now have the chance to work with him and Xander to bring the next championship back to Wenatchee. AppleSox arm farm incoming Summer 2025.”

Vassar saved his best work for his final summer of eligibility with the AppleSox, earning All-WCL Second Team honors in 2024. His 2.92 ERA was the fourth-best among qualified WCL pitchers and his 49.1 innings were sixth-most. The graduate senior at Vanguard tossed two complete games, first with an eight-inning and four-strikeout effort June 29 at Bellingham followed by a nine-inning effort in the playoffs. Postseason included, Vassar tossed at least five innings in seven-of-10 starts. One of those three that he didn’t came when the 2024 WCL All-Star started on three days' rest for a beleaguered AppleSox pitching staff June 9. The Brewster native only allowed two runs over his final 18 innings of the regular season, spanning four games.