AppleSox Play First Ever Game Against Nanaimo
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The Wenatchee AppleSox are looking to bounce back on Friday night after dropping their first series of the second half of the WCL season to the Kelowna Falcons. They travel west to Nanaimo, British Columbia to take on the NightOwls for the first time in franchise history. The three-game set over the weekend starts tonight at 6:35 p.m. as the Sox look to get back in the win column.
Despite back-to-back setbacks on Wednesday and Thursday night, the AppleSox have been able to put faith and trust in their pitchers as the staff did not allow more than four runs to score in any of their games against Kelowna this week. Garret Gores tossed 6.2 innings of shutout ball in the series finale last night, two days after Evan Canfield and Riley Sinclair combined for ten strikeouts and only one earned run in a 2-1 win against the Falcons. The AppleSox matched up against a strong pitching staff in a Falcon team that ranks fourth in the WCL with a 3.95 team ERA so they will look to find more success at the plate this weekend to supplement their lights-out pitching as of late.
Tonight’s game against the NightOwls is the first time the AppleSox have matched up with them this season and is also the first time they will play the NightOwls in their history since the team’s foundation in 2020. The series this weekend will be the only time the two North Division foes will battle as Nanaimo will not make the trip across the border to take on the AppleSox in Wenatchee later in the year. The NightOwls have won five of their last ten games and are coming off a one-game series win over the Victoria HarbourCats in which they won 8-6. At the dish, the AppleSox will have to look out for Marcus Steen, an outfielder from Ladysmith, BC attending Napa Valley College. He is slashing .378/.462/.556 this season and is coming off a three-hit performance against Victoria. He has the power to spray the gaps as he leads the team with five triples, and he has the speed to take the extra bag as he is tied for second on the team with five steals.
With as good of an offense as the AppleSox have had this season, ranking third in the WCL in team batting average, they will run into a tough task tonight with Nanaimo’s starting pitcher. The NIghtOwls send Aiden Herrick from Olympia, Wash. to the mound tonight who has pitched in six games this season, starting four, and has an ERA of 1.00 in 27.0 innings pitched. The staff as a whole for Nanaimo has not been particularly effective this season however as their team ERA ranks third to last in the WCL.
After winning the first game of the second half, the AppleSox come into tonight having won only two of their last six games. They still managed to get traffic on the basepaths in their series against Kelowna but were just one big hit away a few times from turning the tides on their fate in those games. Joichiro Oyama has been stellar as of late as he extends his hitting streak to eight games and also stole three bags in the loss on Thursday night, bringing his season steals total to 22 which ranks first among all players in the WCL. Matt Halbach has also headlined the AppleSox bats recently as he has hit safely in eight of his last ten games, bringing his season batting average to .337 which ranks 11th in the WCL.
Quincy Vassar gets the starting nod for the AppleSox this evening as he looks to rekindle the success he had early in the season. The lefty from Brewster, Wash. will make his fifth start of the season and looks to earn his first winning decision of the summer while he attempts to keep the NightOwls’ bats at bay. Vassar on the road this year has a K/9 of 8.76 and will bring that against a Nanaimo team who is susceptible to the strikeout as they rank fifth in the WCL in strikeouts as a team.
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.
