AppleSox Look to Sweep Bells Tonight
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The Wenatchee AppleSox look to get their first sweep of 2021 when they host the Bellingham Bells tonight at 5:35 at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. The AppleSox took the first two games against the Bells to come into tonight's game with a season-best three-game winning streak.
The Sox got a bounce-back pitching performance from lefty Reid Rasmussen. He became the third sox starter to toss five innings. Rasmussen gave up one run one three hits with the lone run scoring on a third inning blast by Daniel Gernon. Reliever Jeffrey Heinrich pitched out of a one-out bases-loaded jam by getting back-to-back strikeouts to end his AppleSox’ debut. The AppleSox got three more shutout innings from Jasper Nelson, Alex Brady and Rance Pittman to close out the 4-1 victory. Pittman earned his first save with a scoreless ninth.
At the plate, the Sox didn't score in the first three innings but struck with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. An RBI groundout and a wild pitch in the fourth tied the game and then gave the AppleSox the lead for good. Tino Bethancourt skied a two-run home run over the left-field wall one inning later for his second long ball of the summer.
Last night's win marked Wenatchee's fifth consecutive against Bellingham at home. It also marked the Bells' fourth straight loss, after losing the final two games of their home series against Yakima Valley prior to the start of this series. The Bells' three-run loss gave them a 1-4 record when they fail to score over four runs.
The AppleSox swept four teams in 2019, including Bellingham at home from June 12-14. Three of the AppleSox’ four sweeps last season came at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium, where the AppleSox collected their 400th win at last night.
Tonight’s starting pitcher is Hunter Salinas, an incoming sophomore at Colorado State Pueblo. He is coming off tossing five scoreless inning this past Tuesday to lead the AppleSox to a 5-0 win over the Walla Walla Sweets to become the first AppleSox starter to toss five innings in a start (two others have done so since then). He struck out five, allowed three hits and walked one batter.
Salinas tossed two scoreless innings of relief against the Portland Pickles on June 4 in his first appearance this season. He did appear in a non-league game against the Northwest Star Academy on June 3 in his first appearance in an AppleSox uniform. Salinas tossed two scoreless frames, including working out of a one-out bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.
Bellingham will counter with Kyle Dunning, a sophomore at Tacoma Community College. He tossed 3.1 scoreless innings of relief and struck out three while allowing just two hits on June 5 against the Port Angeles Lefties in his season-debut.
Fans can purchase tickets for tonight’s game and any other June AppleSox home game by visiting applesox.com/tickets.
If you cannot attend tonight’s game, then you can still listen live to the action on Sunny FM. Listeners can tune in at kcsyfm.com on their desktop computer or by tuning in at any of the following stations below.
Wenatchee: 93.9 FM
East Wenatchee/Rock Island: 98.1 FM
Lake Chelan Valley: 95.3 FM
Brewster/Pateros: 101.3 FM
Okanogan Valley: 101.9 FM
Omak/Tonasket/Oroville: 97.7 FM
Methow Valley: 106.3 FM
Pregame coverage begins at 6:10 p.m. with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show and the broadcast wraps up each night with the Denny’s Late Night Postgame Show. Tonight’s game will also have a live video with the radio feed. It can be seen on playsight.com
