AppleSox Conclude First Homestand, Sunday
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The Wenatchee AppleSox and Yakima Valley Pippins wrap up the first homestand of 2016, Sunday with first pitch at 6:05 p.m. at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.
YAKIMA VALLEY PIPPINS (2-0) at WENATCHEE APPLESOX (0-2)
Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium | 6:05 p.m.
R- Ryan Garcia (0-0) vs. L- Grady Miller (0-0)
GAME NOTES | APPLESOX STATS | LISTEN LIVE
The Wenatchee AppleSox (0-2, 0-0, North), tied for fourth place in the division, host the Yakima Valley Pippins (2-0, 0-0 South) in the final game of a three-game set...last night, despite scoring five runs with two outs in the fifth and ninth innings, to complete a five-run comeback, the Sox still fell short in extra innings...the AppleSox are playing their 17th franchise season (12th in the WCL) and are led by second-year skipper, AJ Proszek (27-33) (.450), who is in his 4th season with the Sox...Proszek is assisted by Kyle Hunt and Colton Loomis, both in their first seasons.
LAST NIGHT -- PIPPINS 6 - APPLESOX 5 (10 innings)
WENATCHEE - The Wenatchee AppleSox (0-2), fell 6-5 to the Yakima Valley Pippins (2-0), Saturday night in ten innings, after posting two furious two-out rallies to force extra frames...Wenatchee scored four runs in the fifth inning, and one run in the ninth to even the score with the Pippins, after Yakima Valley led 5-0 after two innings at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium...both rallies came with two outs...the Pippins jumped out to an early lead against AppleSox starter Kyle Blankenship. Five extra-base hits in the first three innings led to 4 RBI...after the rough stretch, Blankenship recovered to retire nine of the next ten batters he faced, while only allowing one baserunner on a walk...Wenatchee got back in the game in the home half of the fifth inning, while bringing nine batters to the plate...Steven Machtolf, Parker Price and Evan Douglas all collected RBIs...Ross Clevenger fired three innings of one-hit baseball in relief, while striking out four batters and walking one...Matthew Fish took over partway through the ninth and the AppleSox walked twice, forcing home a run after already having two men on...Sheldon Liikala was the batter who walked to tie the game. Fish got the final out of the ninth to force extra frames...Ryan Garcia drove in the winning run for Yakima Valley in the top of the tenth.
TONIGHT'S NOTES
ON THE LINE
Did you know the Wenatchee AppleSox have never started a season 0-3 in 16 franchise seasons? The 2005 Sox started 0-2, but went on to win the WCCBL (WCL) Championship with a 29-7 record on the season.
MILLER LOOKS TO PASS ON WINNING WAYS
Grady Miller helped lead the Wenatchee High School Panthers to a 24-1 record in 2016...the Panthers lone loss was in the semifinal round of the WIAA 4A State Baseball Championships...Wenatchee fell to eventual state champion, Skyline....Miller was tabbed with a no-decision.
EXTRA-EXTRA
Last night was the first extra inning game of the AppleSox 2016 season...last year Wenatchee went 2-4 in extra inning contests, and is now 1-2 all time in extra inning games against Yakima Valley...all-time in extras, the Sox are 33-30...they did not play an extra inning game with the Pippins in 2015.
FAMILIAR FOES
Wenatchee finished its 2015 season against the Yakima Valley Pippins at County Stadium...Yakima Valley won two-of-three games in the series, including the series and season finale by a score of 4-3...in last year’s series, four of the nine games were decided by two runs or fewer...now in different divisions, the AppleSox and Pippins are only slated to meet in the regular season one other time in 2016...July 15-17 to end the pre-All Star schedule at County Stadium in Yakima...the Pippins now have won 4 of the last 5 meetings in the series.
2015 SEASON IN REVIEW
The Wenatchee AppleSox (24-30), failed to make the playoffs for just the third time in franchise history in 2015, after a run of 14-consecutive playoff berths was nixed in 2014...the AppleSox...Wenatchee finished 15-16 at home and 12-15 on the road last season...the AppleSox played 6 extra-inning games, going 2-4...the AppleSox had won their last three divisional series’ before running into Yakima Valley in the final series of the season...as mentioned a 2-1 series score in favor of the Pippins...Keston Hiura was the Sox’ offensive standout, while Hunter Wells tied the teams’ single-season wins record (7).
ABOUT THE APPLESOX ALL-TIME
Wenatchee is a perennial powerhouse in the West Coast League...with five championships, Wenatchee is the most decorated franchise in the league...Wenatchee has also been runner-up twice in the championship, which is a second-best mark in the league, and has won its division six times, also second best...the AppleSox’ nine playoff appearances are tied for first with Corvallis for most in the league.
