AppleSox Return Home To Face Pickles
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The Wenatchee AppleSox are back home after a six-game road trip to face the Portland Pickles for the fourth time this summer starting at 7:35 PM tonight at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.
The Sox are coming off their longest road trip of 2021 featuring a series win in Cowlitz and a sweep at the hands of the Corvallis Knights. Despite the setback at Goss Stadium, Dakota Duffalo bounced back by leading the entire WCL with a .529 average over the past week. Duffalo and Luc Stuka's .381 average over the stretch away from home helped Wenatchee score five-or-more runs in four-of-their-last-six games. However, Sox pitching gave up nearly seven runs per game over the road trip and the Sox' defense committed eight errors during their time away from Wenatchee.
Wenatchee lost two-out-of-three in Walker Stadium to the Pickles when they opened WCL play. The Pickles outscored the AppleSox 19-5 during the series with all 19 of their runs being plated by the sixth inning. Wenatchee's one win came in game two of that series 4-2 with Gauge Lockhart starting four innings before Cole Hatton pitched five shutout innings of relief to earn the save. Hatton's incredible effort is still the longest by a Sox reliever this summer. Offensively, the Sox stole six bags in the win, including home twice, while Duffalo recorded the first three-hit game of five for Wenatchee this summer.
Entering tonight, Wenatchee and Portland are both in the lower half of the 10-team WCL for team batting average. The Pickles have the lowest average in the league (.202) while the Sox are 6th (.227). Another key similarity is that both teams collect a ton of walks. Portland ranks second with 97 free passes while Wenatchee is right behind them with 95. Pitching-wise, the Pickles have the third-lowest ERA (3.67), second-fewest hits (113), second-fewest walks (67) & are tied for the-fewest home runs allowed (2) while backing up their impressive pitching talent with the second highest fielding percentage in the WCL (.967). The first of the two home runs that they allowed this summer came against the AppleSox in June 6 when Ben Leid hit a solo home run to open up the third inning.
The Sox and Pickles both enter tonight third in the North and South divisions, respectively. Portland is 5.5 games behind the Corvallis Knights. Wenatchee is only 3.5 games behind first place Yakima Valley as the month of June wraps up around the WCL.
Cole Hatton will start tonight’s game for the AppleSox for his third start of the summer. Hatton hasn’t earned a decision yet through his first two starts and has not pitched past the fourth inning. He lasted four innings last Tuesday to help Wenatchee open their road trip with an 8-5 win over Cowlitz. Hatton worked around a home run and three walks by striking out two Black Bears and hurling 78 pitches. The Black Bears collected just four hits off him, but all four came with two outs in each of the four innings. Hatton’s first start came in the Friday opener vs Bellingham. Hatton struggled in the second inning of that 13-8 win for the Sox but still managed to work three innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Hatton’s debut helped the Sox beat the Pickles after he tossed five innings out of the bullpen without allowing a run to earn the first save of the season.
Ian Lawson will go out for his 1st start tonight as a Pickle. He is the 10th different arm to start a game for Portland pitching coach Brian Grant this summer. Lawson, a sophomore from Oregon State, debuted 5 days ago against Corvallis. Lawson finished off the eighth and ninth innings to last 1.1 IP and did not allow any hits or runs allowed while he struck out three and walked one off 26 pitches.
Fans can purchase tickets for tonight’s game and any other remaining AppleSox home game by visiting applesox.com/tickets.
Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on video with a synced-up radio feed. It can be seen on playsight.com
Listen live to the action on Sunny FM at kcsyfm.com on your 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 7:10 p.m. with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show and the broadcast wraps up with the Denny’s Late Night Postgame Show.
Live stats can be found on Pointstreak.
