APPLESOX OFFENSE RETURNS TO FORM, WENATCHEE WINS GAME ONE AT KELOWNA

KELOWNA, B.C. – The Wenatchee AppleSox (19-15, 4-3 second half) won Friday night, 9-7 over the Kelowna Falcons (19-18, 2-8) in a seesaw battle at Elks Stadium at Kelowna, B.C.

Wenatchee pounced on the Falcons out of the gates, with three runs in the first inning, spurred by three-consecutive singles. Dugan Shirer led off the game with a hit, and ended up going 4-for-5 in the victory.

Evan Johnson drove in a run on an RBI single - the first of two RBIs on the night - and extended his WCL-leading RBI total to 41. Josh Zamora also drove in two runs in the inning for the early 3-0 lead on Falcon starter James Brooks.

Wenatchee added another two runs in the third on a solo home run for Adrian Damla with one out in the inning. It was Damla’s second home run of the season. Jalen Garcia followed the blast with a triple, and scored on a Zamora RBI single.

Kelowna got one back in the home half of the third inning on an RBI groundout. Wenatchee again extended the lead to five, with an RBI groundout of its own in the fourth inning for Jacob Prater.

The Falcons delivered a five-run inning in the fifth to tie the game at six. After an error on the AppleSox, Kelowna scored all of its runs unearned, on an RBI groundout, three-run home run for Taylor Wright, and solo home run for Cole Mueller. Wright and Mueller hit their home runs back-to-back.

The AppleSox dipped into their bullpen in the sixth after taking a lead in the top half of the inning, when Matt Reitano scored on a passed ball. Kelowna tied the game in the home half against Cameron Kurz on a Matt Scheffler RBI single.

Wenatchee set its reliever, Kurz (2-0), up for the win in the seventh, when Garcia reached second on a dropped fly ball in right center field and scored on two wild pitches. The AppleSox expanded their lead in the seventh inning on Johnson’s second RBI single, which scored Shirer on his four-hit night.

Kelowna couldn’t score on Michael Spellacy in the seventh or eighth innings, and Connor Leedholm shut the door in the ninth inning, for his third save of the season, to go alongside a 3-0 record.

With the 9-7 win, Wenatchee improved to 4-0 against Kelowna this year and moved a half a game out of first place in the WCL North Second Half, behind the Victoria HarbourCats.

Collin Maier (5-1), who leads the WCL in wins, will start for the AppleSox in game two, Saturday, at 6:35 p.m. at Elks Stadium in Kelowna, B.C.