2022 Season Begins Friday
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The Wenatchee AppleSox open up the 2022 season this Friday through Sunday against the Bend Elks on the road at Vince Genna Stadium.
Wenatchee’s 22nd season in team history begins with a road trip to a team that just missed out on a playoff spot last season. The Elks finished with the same overall record (26-22) as the Portland Pickles and Ridgefield Raptors, but it was the Raptors who held the tiebreaker and earned the second-half playoff spot.
The AppleSox finished third in the North Division and four games back of the Bellingham Bells for the second-half playoff spot. Wenatchee went 20-28 and is looking to return to the postseason in 2022 for the second time in the last three seasons.
Bend took last year’s season series against Wenatchee, 5-1, and took each of the final six meetings between the two teams. The Elks had arguably the best offense in the West Coast League in 2021 as they led the league with a .271 team batting average and 304 runs scored. Chase Matheny finished third on the Elks with a .304 batting average in 2021 and is on the AppleSox this summer, but will pitch exclusively.
Friday’s game marks the first for AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington. He takes over for Ian Sanderson and is the sixth head coach in team history. Darlington graduated from Cashmere High School in 2012 and went on to play baseball at Big Bend Community College before transferring to Central Washington. He works as the athletic director and physical education teacher at Mansfield High School and previously coached summer in ball in 2019 with the Burlington Barn Owls of the Cascade Collegiate League.
The AppleSox will send Mason Philley to the mound as their Opening Day starter. He went 4-3 with a 5.18 ERA in 15 games (12 starts) this past spring at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He tossed a seven-inning perfect game on March 26 against East Central University.
Bend has not announced a probable pitcher.
Check out AppleSox broadcaster Joel Norman’s interview with Philley ahead of the season opener.
Tonight’s game can be listened to live on kcsyfm.com on your computer or smart phone. If you live in Washington you can listen on your radio on any of the following stations…
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
Coverage of tonight’s game begins at 6:10 p.m. with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show. Stick around after the game to hear the postgame show with player and coach interviews.
Live stats can be found on pointstreak.
