AppleSox' Big First Inning Delivers Series Victory

The Wenatchee AppleSox scored six runs in the first inning on Thursday to take two-of-three games this week from the Victoria HarbourCats at Royal Athletic Park.

Chase Matheny (2-0) got all the run support he needed before toeing the rubber for his first start of the summer but he still dazzled. The right-hander from South Carolina Upstate only allowed one run in six innings and struck out five.

Joichiro Oyama stretched his hitting streak to eight games (his second-longest streak of the year), drew three walks and stole three bases. He has moved into a tie for the third-most stolen bases in the West Coast League by stealing nine in his last seven games.

Matt Halbach went 3-for-6 with an RBI single in a two-run sixth to record his fourth multi-hit game in his sixth game played with Wenatchee. Luc Stuka added his second multi-hit game in the last three days by collecting a pair of singles.

Twelve AppleSox hitters came to the plate in the first inning and Wenatchee scored six by collecting four hits and drawing five walks. Joichiro Oyama led off with a walk and then stole two bags before Enzo Apodaca plated him with an RBI single. Apodaca came around to score on a wild pitch for the second run of the inning and then the AppleSox loaded up the bases with one out. Aiva Arquette promptly cleared them with a 3-RBI double before then scoring on an RBI groundout by Grant Sherrod.

Matheny cruised from there with the big run support. Jake Putnam struck out five over the final three innings to pick up the save.

The AppleSox won their first rubber match of the season to also claim their third series victory of the season. They will face the Edmonton Riverhawks this weekend beginning on Friday at 6:05 p.m. at RE/MAX Field.

Listen to the latest edition of the AppleSox Podcast below for a recap of Thursday’s game as well as Joel Norman’s pregame interview with Grant Sherrod. Subscribe to the AppleSox Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.