AppleSox Look To Even Up Series With Bellingham
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The Wenatchee AppleSox look to take game two of their three-game set with Bellingham Bells tonight at 6:35 in Joe Martin Field.
The Bells are 2.5 games ahead of Wenatchee for second place in the North after last night's win. The AppleSox have split the season series against the Bells so far and will look for Logan Mercado to build off his impressive start last week to even the series.
The AppleSox scored four times yesterday without collecting any RBI hits. Adam Grob got a run home after he hit into a double play in the third. After Bellingham scored in the bottom of the third, Wenatchee punched back with three runs in the top of the fifth. All three runs came off another double play and two walks with the bases loaded. Bellingham managed to take the lead in the eighth off Sox reliever Skylar Hales and held on to win it. Five of the Bells’ six runs came with two outs.
After losing the first two games of that series against the AppleSox the Bells were 2-6, but are 12-11 since. The Bells are hitting just .231 this summer (sixth) but are third in the entire league with 239 total hits and 136 runs batted in. Bellingham is also second in doubles and home runs offensively behind the Ridgefield Raptors. Daniel Gernon is tied with Corvallis' Travis Bazzana and Yakima Valley's Noah Williamson for first in the West Coast League with 26 runs scored.
Keeping with the trends, Wenatchee is tied for first in the WCL with 157 total walks after collecting nine last night. Both Bellingham and Wenatchee lead the league in strikeouts with the Bells ahead of the Sox by 39. Wenatchee is still second to Corvallis with 58 stolen bases. Pitching wise, The AppleSox are last with an ERA of 5.28. Bellingham is third with a 3.42 ERA led by Eric Chavarria's league-best 1.04 ERA thru 5 starts. Despite the trouble, Wenatchee is fourth with just 116 freebies allowed while Bellingham has the third-highest walk total this summer with 143.
Wenatchee will look to Logan Mercado for a repeat performance today. Seven days ago, Mercado set a new season-high for AppleSox pitching when he struck out eight Port Angeles Lefties in five innings to earn Wenatchee a key victory. Mercado’s win set the table for the Sox to take the series last Thursday. This will be the young righty’s third start of the summer. He is 1-1 with a 4.96 earned run average and 16 strikeouts.
Opposing Mercado for Bellingham is Trevin Hope. The Bells’ strong arm is 1-4 after five starts. The future Lewis-Clark State Warrior has struck out 22 over 20 innings. This start will be Hope’s first go-around versus Wenatchee this summer.
Tonight’s game can be heard 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 6:10 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.
