AppleSox Welcome Back Four Returners For 2022 Season

Head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Wednesday that Enzo Apodaca, Tyler Chipman, Jared Engman and Luc Stuka will be the first four members of the 2022 Wenatchee AppleSox roster.

All four players spent the 2021 season with the AppleSox and contributed in different ways and return to Wenatchee to play for a new coaching staff.

“We always enjoy following the careers of our players after they leave Wenatchee,” general manager Allie Schank said, “but there is something special about those who choose to come back here. We credit that to memorable experiences on the field and with their host families. I’m excited to see Enzo, Tyler, Jared and Luc on the field again and I look forward to them watching them continue a strong tradition of excellence on and off the field while representing the AppleSox.”

The 2021 West Coast League leader in walks rejoins the AppleSox for the 2022 season. Apodaca drew 38 free passes and stole 15 bases, tied for fifth-most in the WCL. He hit .319 in his final 40 games and never went back-to-back games without reaching base during that span.

Apodaca redshirted in 2021 at Gonzaga due to a back injury but has burst onto the scene this spring in his debut with the Zags. He has collected at least one base hit in eight of his first 11 games and has recorded three multi-hit games.

Cashmere native Tyler Chipman returns to pitch for the AppleSox for a third summer. The right-hander with Seattle University began his first tenure with the AppleSox in 2018 mere weeks after graduating from Cashmere High School. The 2018 Caribou Trail League MVP started the AppleSox’ home opener that season and remained with the team all summer before heading to the Expedition League in 2019. He rejoined the AppleSox last summer and ended the summer with an incredible relief effort. He retired each of the first 13 hitters that he faced in order, nine via strikeouts, before allowing a baserunner.

Like Chipman, Darlington graduated from Cashmere and looks forward to working with another Bulldog this summer.

"Coaching Tyler this upcoming season is a special opportunity,” Darlington said. “Having won a state title with his older brother, Alex, in 2012, as well as having previously coached Tyler in 2016 at Cashmere makes this an exciting reunion."

Chipman began his college career at Gonzaga but redshirted in 2019 before transferring to Yakima Valley College for the next two seasons. He posted a 3.74 ERA with 32 strikeouts in nine games last spring and is looking to make his debut with the Redhawks this season.

No pitcher tossed more games for the AppleSox than Engman last summer and the right-hander will pitch in Wenatchee for a second consecutive season. Engman brought the heat on the mound by tossing two of the five-fastest pitches in the West Coast League in 2021 by hurling 96.2 and 96.3 mile-per hour fastballs against Bellingham on June 13. He also was the AppleSox’ Opening Day starter in their non-league season-opener against the Northwest Star Academy on June 1.

Engman transferred to Washington during last summer thanks to lighting up the radar gun. He played his freshman year at Tacoma CC and recorded a 4.85 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 13 innings. The Kent, Wash. native primarily pitched as a reliever with the AppleSox last summer but has started all three games that he has appeared in with the Huskies. On March 4 he twirled six scoreless innings against Yale, striking out four and only allowing two hits.

After making history in 2021 Stuka is looking to further cement his name in AppleSox lore in 2022. He became the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle when he did so on July 2, 2021, against the Highline Bears. Stuka had a stretch of three weekends in a row in which he hit a home run for Wenatchee beginning with that first weekend of July.

Stuka is in his third year of college baseball this spring but is still a sophomore, thanks to being granted an additional year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He hit .269 and tied for Cal State San Marcos’ team lead for RBI with 15 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Stuka transferred to Saddleback CC (CA) in 2021 and hit a pair of home runs. He is off to a torrid start in 2022 with .361 average, two home runs and 13 RBI through his first 16 games.

The first four members of the AppleSox are signed and returning to Wenatchee this summer. Stay tuned to AppleSox.com and AppleSox social media pages for future roster announcements each Wednesday until the entire roster has been revealed.

Opening Day for the 2022 season is June 3 at the Bend Elks. The AppleSox play their first home game on June 6 against the Port Angeles Lefties in the first game of a six-game homestand to open up the home schedule. Season tickets can be purchased now for as affordable as $130. Guarantee your seats to all 33 home games at applesox.com/tickets/