AppleSox Walk Off Lefties
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The Wenatchee AppleSox scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to walk off the Port Angeles Lefties, 5-4, on Wednesday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.
Tino Bethancourt drove in the game-winning run with an RBI single to right field. Collin Villegas scored the game-winning run after tying the game with a triple.
The AppleSox trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth but Adam Grob reached on a throwing error by Lefties third baseman Coleman Schmidt to lead off the inning. Villegas, pinch hitting for Aidan Selfridge, hit a ball to right field that outfielder Anthony Kodama was debating whether to let drop in front of him or sprint for when he slipped on the grass. The ball rolled all the way to the fence to score Grob.
John Newman Jr., who homered in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to one run, walked and that set the stage for Bethancourt with no outs. He lifted a 1-0 pitch into right field that even the drawn-in outfield had no chance at catching.
Alex Brady (1-0) picked up the win in relief in his final AppleSox appearance this summer. Although he allowed three inherited runners to score, he buckled down to toss three shutout innings without any runs charged to him. Brady struck out a season-best five in a season-long effort in relief.
The AppleSox did not score until the sixth inning but it shouldn’t be a surprise that their offense woke up late. Wenatchee is outscoring opponents 106-97 in the sixth-through-ninth innings. Garret Cutting led off the sixth with a triple off the center-field fence and then Michael O’Hara drove him in with an infield single. Grob doubled in O’Hara to give the AppleSox a 2-1 lead.
The Lefties responded with three in the top of the seventh. Newman’s homer immediately following the seventh-inning stretch drew the AppleSox closer before they walked it off two innings later.
The AppleSox look to take all three games of this mid-week series against the Lefties when they face them again at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday night. Logan Mercado (2-2, 4.59 ERA) gets the start in his final game of the summer. Tickets are available at applesox.com/tickets.
Listen to postgame interviews with Head Coach Ian Sanderson, Bethancourt and Brady below.
