The AppleSox’ 2018 Opening Day Starter will return to Wenatchee this upcoming season. Tyler Chipman and five newcomers will appear on Ian Sanderson’s first roster as AppleSox head coach.

Sanderson, who will also handle the AppleSox pitching coach responsibilities, is focused on building this summer’s team around pitching. He’ll start to achieve that goal by bringing five pitchers aboard along with a highly-touted catcher in his first wave of 2020 players.

In addition to the familiar face in Chipman, Sanderson has also signed catcher Bryant Nakagawa and pitchers Chase Grillo, Jared Glenn, Brayden Spears and Gabriel Subirats. Nakagawa comes from Saint Martin’s University while Grillo pitches at Spokane Falls but is committed to Gonzaga this fall. The final three pitchers are all from Boise State, a program playing its first baseball season this spring since 1980. Last summer, five different Broncos played for the AppleSox.

Tyler Chipman

The AppleSox’ 2018Opening-Day starter returns to Wenatchee after spending last summer in the Expedition League. The right-hander started 12 of the 14 games that he pitched in for the Badlands Big Sticks and struck out 53 batters in 58 innings. He finished 7-2 with a 4.34 ERA.

In 2018, Chipman went 1-0 with a 7.54 ERA in 13 games for the AppleSox. He recorded five scoreless outings and struck out 24 hitters in 37 innings. Chipman did not pitch at Gonzaga in 2019 and transferred to Yakima Valley College, where he will pitch as a redshirt freshman this spring. Chipman graduated from Cashmere High School in 2018. He earned First Team All-Caribou Trail League Honors every year and CTL MVP as a senior.

Bryant Nakagawa

At this past Sunday’s Hot Stove Party, AppleSox assistant coach Nick Brooks described Bryant Nakagawa as one of the top defensive catchers in the state of Washington at any level of college baseball. The St. Martin’s University catcher started 24 of 28 games last season and hit .227 as a sophomore. This season, he has started two of four games and has reached base twice via a pair of walks. Last summer, Nakagawa hit .283 with nine extra-base hits in 41 games for the Alaska Goldpanners of the Alaska Baseball League.

Chase Grillo

An incoming transfer to Gonzaga rounds out the first wave of AppleSox commits this summer. Chase Grillo went 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in 12 games for Spokane Falls College last season and will wrap up his junior-college career there this spring before joining the Zags in the fall. Grillo also excelled for the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs of the Expedition League last summer. He went 3-3 with a 2.34 ERA over 30.2 innings in 18 appearances. He did not allow any runs in 12 games and also picked up a save.

Jared Glenn

The first of three Boise State recruits coming to the AppleSox looks to continue to the AppleSox history of incoming college freshmen pitchers to have success with the AppleSox. Jake Saum and Marco Gonzales, are just a few recent examples.

Glenn is committed to Boise State, but must first finish his senior year at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano, California this spring. Glenn and the Lions won their second consecutive Boras Baseball Classic South Championship last spring. Former AppleSox first baseman/outfielder Blake Klassen was teammates with Glenn for each of those titles. As a junior, Glenn went 3-1 with a 2.14 ERA in nine games.

Brayden Spears

Brayden Spears is set to begin his freshman season at Boise State this weekend. The 6-foot-6-inch right-hander went 5-3 with a 1.49 ERA in 11 games as a senior at Liberty High School in Brentwood, California. The year prior, Spears recorded a 2.91 ERA in 14 games. Spears earned All-Bay Valley Athletic League Second Team honors in each of his final two years of high school. In addition to baseball, Spears also lettered in water polo at Liberty. He earned district MVP honors in water polo as a junior.

Gabriel Subirats

Another freshman at Boise State will also join the AppleSox this summer. Gabriel Subirats went 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA in six appearances last year as a senior at Klein High School while also holding hitters to a .218 batting average and striking out 17.

The next AppleSox roster announcement will take place on Feb. 26.

The AppleSox’ 2020 season begins on June 4 with a 6:35 p.m. non-league game against the Highline Bears. The home schedule is highlighted with Coyote Bobblehead Night on June 13, Fireworks Night on July 3 and the West Coast League All-Star Game on July 20. The full schedule can be viewed below. Season tickets run as affordable as $130 and can be purchased online. Single-game tickets, including MVP Cards, can be purchased by calling 509-665-6900.