Sox Look to Take Series Against Sweets Tonight
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The Wenatchee AppleSox look to take the series against the Walla Walla Sweets tonight at 6:35 p.m. at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. The Sox are fresh off shutting out Walla Walla, 5-0, last night.
Hunter Salinas struck out five over five scoreless innings before Tyler Chipman fired three innings of zeroes and then Chase Grillo retired the side in the ninth. Adam Grob hit a two-run homer in the seventh while Mark Steward (2B), Aidan Selfridge (2B) and Tino Bethancourt (1B) all collected RBI base-hits.
Walla Walla was shut out for the first time this season last night and it also marked the first time that they did not win or lose a game by one run. The Sweets did out-hit the AppleSox 7-6 and struck out a season-best 16 batters, which also marked a season-worst for AppleSox hitters. Starter Nathan Dahle punched out nine hitters in four innings but picked up the tough-luck loss after giving up two runs in the third on three hits.
AppleSox hitters did endure a dire stretch from the third inning until the sixth inning. Eleven consecutive Sox hitters were retired in order, including eight via strikeouts. However, the slump ended with a leadoff walk by Payton Flynn, who would come around to score on Grob's home run.
Tonight’s starter for the AppleSox is Gavin Gorrell. The incoming redshirt junior at Utah started the first game of the AppleSox’ West Coast League season on Friday against Portland. He allowed six runs (four earned) against the Pickles, although the AppleSox defense committed three errors in a four-run Portland fourth inning.
Gorrell’s collegiate career has taken lots of twists and turns as Utah will be his third different college. He began as freshman at Northern Colorado in 2018 where he recorded a 9.15 ERA and struck out 21 hitters in 19.2 innings over eight games. Gorrell transferred to Boise State and sat out the 2019 season, but his tenure with the Broncos was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellation of the Boise State baseball program last year. He recorded a 6.55 ERA and struck out eight hitters in 11 innings over three games.
The brunt of Gorrell’s collegiate pitching has come in the summer. In 2019, he recorded a 4.23 ERA and struck out 32 in 38.1 innings over nine games for the AppleSox. Gorrell started the deciding Game 3 of the West Coast League North Division Series against the Victoria HarbourCats. He allowed five runs (four earned) in a gutsy 5.1 innings for a depleted AppleSox pitching staff. Gorrell struck out nine HarbourCats, a personal season-best but he picked up a no-decision in the loss.
Mason Kokodynski, an incoming sophomore at Loyola Marymount, will toe the rubber for the Sweets. He has pitched in two games in relief this season and has not allowed a run. His most recent appearance was on Sunday against the Cowlitz Black Bears and Kokodynski retired the side in order.
This past spring at Loyola Marymount he recorded a 5.11 ERA and struck out 11 in 12.1 innings over 10 games. In the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, he recorded a 6.48 ERA and struck out five in 8,1 innings over six games.
Kokodynski pitched for the Sweets two summers ago and faced the AppleSox on two occasions in 2019. On June 15, he struck out four and tossed two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win in a 7-6 win on June 16 at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. He faced Wenatchee again on July 26 at Borleske Stadium and gave up three runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings in a 5-3 AppleSox win.
Fans can purchase tickets for AppleSox Lunch Box Giveaway Night online. To purchase tickets to tonight’s game and any other June AppleSox home game, please visit 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 without the radio feed. It can be seen on playsight.com
