SOX OPEN SERIES WITH WIN AGAINST KELOWNA

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KELOWNA, B.C. – The Wenatchee AppleSox moved to half-a-game out of first place with a 7-4 victory over the Kelowna Falcons on Monday night at Elks Stadium.

Thanks to Yakima Valley’s fourth loss in the last five games and the Sox’ fourth consecutive win, Wenatchee is now less than a game out of a playoff spot.

Michael Spellacy (3-1) won his second consecutive start by allowing three runs over seven innings. The right-hander from Gonzaga did not walk any batters for the first time this season.

Offensively, the Sox used two multi-run innings to plate all seven of their runs. The AppleSox collected five of their seven base-hits in the three-run third and a four-run seventh inning. The Sox drew more walks (eight) than base-hits (seven) in the victory.

After the first three batters of the second reached to give Kelowna a 1-0 lead, the Sox took and retained the lead for the rest of the game with a strong third inning. With two outs, Evan Williams walked and Mason Marenco reached on an error to put runners at first and third. Connor McCord singled in Williams and then Jacob Prater found the left-center gap with a 2-RBI double.

A Kelowna solo homer in the fourth cut the deficit to one and then neither team scored again for the next two innings.

Seven Sox batters came to the plate in the seventh inning to plate four runs. Brayden Hamilton led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Kody Darcy. A pair of wild pitches scored Hamilton and then Williams and Marenco went to third and second on a walk and an error, respectively. McCord singled again to plate a run and then Joey Magro hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.

The Falcons scored singular runs in the seventh and eighth innings to cut the deficit to two, but for the second straight night, the Sox turned a double play to end the ballgame.

The series continues tonight in the penultimate game of the regular season for both squads. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

Full boxscore: http://westcoast.wttbaseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=444996