Wenatchee Seeking Strong Start in Road Trip to Walla Walla
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The Wenatchee AppleSox’s sixth road trip of 2021 takes them to Borleske Stadium for a three-game set against the Walla Walla Sweets. Game one starts tonight at 6:35. The importance of this series cannot be understated. Larry Price's Sweets are tied with Yakima Valley for first place in the second half North standings. With Wenatchee just two games behind, a series win would help push the Sox into that position while also giving them an advantage if they end up tying with Walla Walla come regular season’s end.
Wenatchee is riding high off their first three-game series sweep against their non-league foe, the Cascade Collegiate League All-Stars. Offensively, the Sox hit a home run every game against the CCL. Adam Grob, Collin Villegas, Luc Stuka and Jacob Wyeth all left the yard. Even after a rough start on Friday, AppleSox pitching proved too tough to take down and allowed just one run in the CCL's final 16 innings. The Sox are now 5-2 with five straight wins in non-league play.
The last time Wenatchee played Walla Walla was their first WCL home series of 2021. The Sox pulled two wins from Walla Walla when infielder Adam Grob launched two home runs in his first games in Wenatchee and Tino Bethancourt iced the series in the eighth on June 10 with a solo shot. However, the Sox arms were the real MVPs. Jacob Hughes had his best showing of the summer so far when he went a season-long five innings with a season-high six strikeouts in the rubber match on June 10. At that point, Wenatchee's first three wins of 2021 all featured pitching that allowed just two earned runs or less.
Now, Wenatchee is looking to take their third road series of the summer. Walla Walla enters this series 12-17 overall with a 3-3 second half mark. The Sweets beat the Port Angeles Lefties last weekend. Walla Walla's offense helped them win the last two contests off 21 hits that brought in 16 runs.
The AppleSox will rely on Cole Hatton for another Tuesday away from home. Hatton’s stock has been rising over his last two starts. The incoming sophomore at Saint Martin’s has struck out 13 and walked just two over his last eight and two-third innings. In his last start a week ago in Bellingham, Hatton had his longest start of the summer. Alas, Hatton is searching for his first AppleSox win tonight in his first appearance against the Sweets.
Opposing Hatton will be one of the top pitchers in the league. Mason Kokodynski is currently second among pitchers in WCL wins (three), ERA (1.61) and opponents batting average (.135). However, the AppleSox are one of just two teams this summer to pick up two earned runs against Kokodynski back on June 9th.
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 6:10 p.m. with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show and the broadcast wraps up with the Denny’s Late Night Postgame Show. Joel Norman will provide play-by-play coverage.
Live stats can be found on Pointstreak.
