Stuka Collects Three Hits But Sox Fall to Black Bears

First baseman Luc Stuka went 3-for-4 with an RBI but the AppleSox lost Wednesday night to the Cowlitz Black Bears, 7-5.

In a back-and-forth ballgame that Wenatchee never led but came within a run of tying twice the AppleSox couldn’t muster enough hits to get over the hump. They allowed Cowlitz to score in every inning except the fourth and fifth.

Dakota Duffalo also had a strong night at the plate, batting 2-for-4 with a walk. He opened Wenatchee’s scoring in the third with an RBI double and kick-started a rally in the ninth inning.

The AppleSox scored four runs in three-of-the-final-four innings and three of those runs cam across with two outs. However, they threatened in the seventh and ninth for more action with two outs, but could not plate any runs when down to their final out of the inning.

Trey Miller (0-1) allowed one run in each of his three innings on the mound to open the game. He only walked one batter but allowed two-of-the-three runs to score when there were already two outs in the inning.

The AppleSox will play the Black Bears again at 6:35 on Thursday night. It will be their fourth rubber match of the five WCL three-game series that they have played this summer, with the only non-rubber match series finale coming on June 13, when they took the first two games of their series against Bellingham.