Mid-Inning Surge Carries AppleSox Past Sweets

The Wenatchee AppleSox rallied back from giving up three runs in the first inning to defeat the Walla Walla Sweets, 10-5, on Sunday night at Borleske Stadium.

Matt Halbach hit a pair of doubles, including a two-run double in the third inning. Ezra Samperi also drove in two runs, including hitting a game-tying RBI single in the fourth.

Halbach’s double in the second cut the deficit to one and the second runner to touch home was Joichiro Oyama, who scored his 48th run of the season. The incoming junior at UC Irvine set the West Coast League single-season record in his 42nd game of the summer. He moved past 2012 AppleSox’ infielder Mitchell Gunsolus, who set the mark in 54 games, and Taylor Wright, who tied the mark in 53 games with the Kelowna Falcons in 2017. 

Quincy Vassar bounced back from a tough first inning to pick up his second win of the summer. Each of the first five hitters of the first inning reached against him and three runs scored but he did not allow a run over the next 4.2 innings until the bottom of the sixth. He matched a season-high with eight strikeouts in his seventh and final start of the summer.

Jake Putnam tossed the final 3.1 innings and struck out three to earn his second save of the year. 

The AppleSox took the lead for good with a three-run fourth inning. Samperi plated the tying run and then was the second runner to score in the inning thanks to a wild pitch to make it 5-3, AppleSox.

Walla Walla drew with one run in the bottom of the sixth with two outs to knock Vassar out of the game but Jake Putnam got the final out of the inning on a batter interference call in the middle of a stolen base attempt. 

The AppleSox’ one-run lead didn’t last for long as they added four runs of insurance in the top of the seventh. Enzo Apodaca hit a ground ball to the right side that looked like it would be at least one out but instead took a high hope over the second baseman and into right field to score two runs. Samperi hit a sacrifice fly to right field and Xander Orejudos singled to right to plate Apodaca for the final two runs. 

Apodaca later tripled in the ninth and scored on a wild pitch for the AppleSox’ final run.

Wenatchee lost the series but gets back to .500 overall and remains in first place in the North Division. They are 9-6 in the second half and one game ahead of the Bellingham Bells. If Bellingham and Wenatchee tie for the second half or the Bells win it, then the AppleSox claim the second-half playoff berth and have home-field advantage in the first round of the North Division Series. If they don’t win the second half then they can still gain a playoff spot if they have one of the four-best overall records in the North Division

The AppleSox return home to face the Cowlitz Black Bears on Tuesday night in the first game of a three-game homestand. It’s a $2 Off Tuesday, with tickets, hot dogs, burger and Coors draft pours all $2 off. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium and tickets can be purchased at saferseating.com.

Listen to the latest AppleSox Podcast for a recap of the game, highlights and interviews with Halbach, Vassar, head coach Mitch Darlington and Adam Fahsel. Subscribe to the AppleSox Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.