AppleSox Sign Five Players With WCL Experience

Head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Wednesday the addition of five new players to the AppleSox 2022 roster. Corey Jarrell, Chase Matheny, Ezra Samperi, Quincy Vassar and Connor Wilson all played in the West Coast League last season but will now suit up for the AppleSox

All five players combined to appear in 77 WCL games last season. Three of these players have local ties to North Central Washington. 

“Having guys on our roster with previous West Coast League experience will be vital to our success this summer,” Darlington said.

Corey Jarrell, a Brewster, Wash. native, joins the AppleSox after suiting up for the Yakima Valley Pippins a year ago. Jarrell hit .255 in 16 games with the Pippins while patrolling the outfield defensively. Between July 27 and Aug. 10 he recorded a five-game hit streak and batted .380 (8-for-21) over it with 6 RBI. 

“Corey is an outfielder who can play all three outfield spots, and adds speed to our lineup,” Darlington said.

After initially committing to Washington out of high school Jarrell flipped to Yakima Valley College. He is in his sophomore season with the Yaks and is batting .353 (6-for-17) through six games. Jarrell hit .243 with a .404 on-base percentage in 13 games as a freshman in 2021. 

Jarrell graduated from Brewster High School in 2020. He batted .443 with the Bears including .468 as a junior en route to a third-place finish at state. Though he did not get to compete in his senior baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jarrell did capture the Washington 2B Basketball State Championship that spring. Jarrell scored 1,097 points in four seasons for Brewster.

Utilityman Chase Matheny has signed to play for the AppleSox in 2022 and presents an exciting option for Wenatchee’s coaching staff. He hit .304 last season for the Bend Elks to record the fifth-best batting average on the team among players to appear in at least 20 games. He also finished second on the Elks with 27 RBI. 

Matheny did not appear on the mound last summer but has almost exclusively done so this spring with South Carolina Upstate. The right-hander from Bremerton, Wash. has a 2.45 ERA in 7.1 innings over six games in his redshirt junior season, his first season getting any collegiate work as a pitcher. 

“Matheny has transitioned into a two-way player for USC-Upstate and is excelling on the mound,” Darlington said. 

Matheny hit .204 in 26 games last year in his first season with the Spartans. He spent two seasons at Lower Columbia College, batting a combined .284 with 34 RBI.

Ezra Samperi is entering his fourth consecutive season in the WCL and is coming off his finest year. He hit .286 in 20 games last summer with Bellingham. Samperi played the two previous seasons in Kelowna, combining to hit .206 in 26 games with the Falcons.  

“Samperi is the ultimate weapon to have as a coach,” Darlington said. “He is a quality catcher with great speed, a great approach at the plate and can play in the outfield on days he’s not catching.”

The junior at Gonzaga is batting .176 in 10 games this spring. Samperi made a fine first impression with the Zags by delivering a walk-off single on Feb. 18 in a season-opening 3-2 win over New Mexico. He hit .375 in 35 games at Mount Hood in 2021 and .288 in 44 games as a freshman in 2019. Samperi only appeared in one game in 2020. 

Quincy Vassar, like Jarrell, also graduated from Brewster High School and is set to pitch for the AppleSox this summer. Vassar pitched in one game for the Bellingham Bells last season.

Vassar pitched at Bellevue Community College in 2021 before transferring to Vanguard. He has a 6.35 ERA in 11.1 innings over his first seven games this spring after posting a 1.91 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 28.1 innings over nine games last year. He did not pitch for Bellevue in the abbreviated 2020 season.

“Quincy is a lefty who can throw five different pitches for strikes,” Darlington said, “which poses a challenge for hitters to sit on a pitch.”

Vassar shined as a two-way player at Brewster. He posted a 2.30 ERA and batted .422 in two seasons of varsity. The Bears finished second in state in 2018 and third in 2019 with Vassar. He also played varsity basketball and football while at Brewster.

Chelan High School graduate Connor Wilson joins the AppleSox this season after pitching in the WCL for the Pippins last year. The southpaw posted a 3.00 ERA in five games, two starts, with Yakima Valley. He did not allow any runs in his three relief outings, spanning five innings. Wilson also pitched in two games for the Cascade Collegiate League All-Stars and one game for the Northwest Star Academy, hurling 2.1 scoreless innings on June 2 against the AppleSox.

Wilson is in his sophomore season at Yakima Valley College and has a 3.00 ERA in nine innings over two appearances in relief. He recorded a 4.50 ERA in six innings over five games as a freshman with the Yaks. 

“Connor is your crafty lefty,” Darlington said. “Everything he throws has a ton of movement. He will be a great asset to have on our staff.” 

Wilson also has a local tie as he grew up in Lake Chelan and graduated from Chelan High School in 2020. He recorded a 1.27 ERA with 51 strikeouts over 44 innings as a junior en route to earning all-state honors as the Goats finished third in state in 2019.