Sox Look To Steal Series From Pippins
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The Wenatchee AppleSox look to take the series against the Yakima Valley Pippins at 5:35 p.m. tonight at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.
The AppleSox are coming off a 15-7 win over the Pippins after losing 15-5 on Friday. Last night's win marked season-highs for the AppleSox in runs and hits as nine-of-10 players collected at least one hit and six players recorded multi-hit efforts.
The real story of the game was Skylar Hales. The right-hander from Santa Clara tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. He struck out 10 batters to set a Sox single-game high this summer. Hales improved his ERA to a Sox-best 1.59. Saturday's appearance was his fourth scoreless multi-inning relief appearance of the summer.
Zach Toglia led the AppleSox at the plate by going 3-for-4 with four runs and 3 RBI. Dakota Duffalo also drove in three with a game-tying bases-clearing double in the sixth. Garrett Cutting gave the AppleSox the lead with a two-run single in the seventh before the Sox scored six runs in the eighth to blow it open. It was the second straight day that the AppleSox collected at least 12 hits. The AppleSox offense had only scored 24 runs in their previous six games but they have plated 20 in the last two days.
The AppleSox sit three games back of the Pippins for first place in the second half. The Pippins won the North Division in the first half and have thus clinched a playoff spot already.
If the Pippins win the North in the second half, the playoff spot goes to the team with the second-best overall record. The AppleSox enter tonight's game 2.5 games back of Bellingham for the second best mark. The Bells have won three in a row and are looking to sweep Ridgefield today at 1:05 p.m.
Tonight’s pitching matchup is a battle of two pitchers going against their former teams. Cam Liss pitched in two games for Yakima Valley in 2019, including tossing 4.1 scoreless innings in relief against the AppleSox on June 8. He has a 2.74 ERA through six games this summer (including two non-league appearances). Liss has tossed back-to-back five inning starts and has only allowed one run across them while striking out eight both times.
Liss will be opposed by Seth Kuykendall. The right-hander earned All-WCL Honorable Mention honors with the AppleSox in 2019 and is 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in seven games (all starts) this summer for the Pippins. He has struck out 33 and walked just eight in 40.2 innings.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate or online at applesox.com/tickets. The first 100 fans at tonight’s game will receive a Cam Liss baseball card while the first 150 will receive an AppleSox cowbell. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.
The AppleSox will also provide a live video broadcast of tonight’s game with a synced-up radio feed. It can be seen on playsight.com. Joel Norman and Reily Chestnut will provide play-by-play coverage.
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 5:10 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.
