Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough As AppleSox Lose to Knights
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The Wenatchee AppleSox scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning but lost to the Corvallis Knights, 7-6, on Sunday afternoon at Goss Stadium.
In a game moved up to a 10 a.m. start time in hopes of beating the heat, the AppleSox nearly beat the Knights thanks to their late rally. Michael O’Hara cleared the bases with an RBI triple and Adam Grob scored him with his team-leading 15th RBI.
O’Hara led the offense by going 3-for-4 for his fourth multi-hit game in just nine games played for the AppleSox. Dakota Duffalo and Tino Bethancourt also extended their hitting streaks to five and six games, respectively.
The Knights stole nine bases, including eight in a four-run fourth inning. The AppleSox entered Sunday leading the West Coast League in stolen bases but Corvallis lapped them with their remarkable performance.
The AppleSox had a golden opportunity to open the scoring in the first inning when they loaded up the bases with one walk, but Bethancourt was picked off and John Newman Jr. struck out to end the inning. The Knights loaded the bases on three straight walks in the bottom of the first and then opened the scoring with an infield single.
Cam Liss (0-1) suffered the loss after a tough couple innings. He got the first two outs in the first inning before tossing 14 straight balls but got out of the inning with the Sox only down one. He left with two outs in the fourth inning. Jared Engman got the final out of the inning and then tossed two more scoreless innings after that. He made his team-high sixth appearance of the summer on the mound.
Enzo Apodaca tied the game with an RBI single in the fourth to score Luc Stuka from second. Stuka got the rally started with a one-out single, his first of two hits. He is batting .346 (9-for-26) over the last six games.
After the Knights erupted in the fourth, neither team scored again until the eighth when the AppleSox got a run back when O’Hara led off with his second hit of the game and scored on a fielder’s choice. Corvallis answered again with two in the bottom of the eighth.
The AppleSox are now tied with the Ridgefield Raptors for the West Coast League with 97 walks drawn, prior to game action Sunday evening. The AppleSox are off Monday before hosting the Portland Pickles for three games beginning on Tuesday night at 7:35 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for 6:35 but has been moved to 7:35 in hopes of cooler temperatures at first pitch. Tickets are available at applesox.com/tickets.
