SOX STAY HOT, WIN FOURTH CONSECUTIVE SERIES

WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee AppleSox (22-25, 11-10 second half) picked up their fourth consecutive series victory with a 12-3 win over the Port Angeles Lefties on Wednesday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Connor McCord finished a double short of the cycle, Michael Spellacy drove in three runs and Tyler Chipman (1-0) tossed six strong innings to pick up his first victory of the season.

The right-hander from Cashmere struck out four before giving way to McCord, who struck out four in the final three innings to pick up his first save of the season.

With the win, the Sox won for the eighth time in their last 10 games and moved above .500 in the second half. They are now 3.5 games out of a playoff spot after Yakima Valley lost to Victoria.

The AppleSox began the first inning with three of their first four batters reaching base. Isaac Barrera led off with a walk and then Evan Williams and McCord both singled. Kody Darcy hit into a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded to plate the first run and Spellacy followed with an infield RBI single.

The next inning, the Sox kept the runs coming. Jordan Rathbone singled to lead off the inning and went to third after a two-base error allowed Isaac Barrera to reach second base with one out. Williams second single in as many innings plated Rathbone, but he was thrown out at second for the second out.

However, the Sox weren’t finished and scored three more runs all with two outs. Barrera scored on a wild pitch and Jacob Prater drew a walk with two outs. McCord homered to right-center for his fifth long ball of the summer.

In the fourth, Trey Morgan homered in a two-strike count with two outs to plate the Lefties first run of the game. He would hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to four.

The AppleSox responded with their second four-run inning of the game in the bottom half of the inning. Jake Taylor led off with a single and Barrera hit one of his own, but was erased after Williams reached on a fielder’s choice. McCord walked to load the bases and Kody Darcy plated the first two runners with an RBI single and Spellacy followed with a sacrifice fly.

In the eighth, McCord tripled and scored on an infield single by Spellacy, who then scored on an RBI double by Dawson Day to conclude the scoring.

Now, the AppleSox can collect their first sweep of the season when they face the Lefties on Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.