Big First Inning Hurts AppleSox Sunday

The AppleSox surrendered six runs in the top of the first inning and fell to the Bellingham Bells, 10-2, on Sunday afternoon at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Matt Halbach went 4-for-4 to record the AppleSox second four-hit effort of the summer and his second multi-hit effort in three days. The incoming sophomore at UC San Diego went 3-for-5 in his AppleSox debut on Friday.

Halbach helped plate both Wenatchee runs by reaching on an infield single in the first and a throwing error into the Bellingham dugout advanced him to second base to score Joichiro Oyama and get the Sox on the board. In the fifth Oyama singled with one out and then scored on a two-out single by Halbach.

Reese Ligtenberg stymied the Bells by tossing five scoreless innings of relief and struck out three batters in his longest outing of the summer.

After playing 10 games over the last nine days the AppleSox are off on Monday before traveling to Canada to face the Victoria HarbourCats Tuesday through Thursday before wrapping up the road trip against the Edmonton Riverhawks with three games next weekend.

Listen to the latest edition of the AppleSox Podcast to hear a recap of the game as well as Joel Norman’s pregame interview with Cole Miller. Subscribe to the AppleSox Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.