AppleSox Clinch 14th Postseason Berth In Franchise History

Evan Canfield tossed five shutout innings and the Wenatchee AppleSox scored five runs in two different innings to defeat the Walla Walla Sweets, 10-1, on Friday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

The AppleSox have assured that they will play in the postseason next week thanks to Friday’s win. Wenatchee can, at worst, finish 26-28 to end the regular season. If Edmonton and Kamloops both win their final two games and the AppleSox lose both of their remaining games then both teams would surpass the AppleSox for overall record. Victoria lost on Friday and if they were to lose their next two, then they would miss the postseason with a 24-30 record, thus opening the fourth and final spot for the AppleSox if they lost out.

Canfield (4-0) entered Friday’s game without any runs allowed at home over three previous appearances and added to it with his longest start of the summer. He walked four but also struck out five to earn the playoff-clinching win.

Hunter Gibson struck out four over the final four innings to earn his second save of the summer.

Xander Orejudos drove in a pair of runs and recorded two hits to extend his hitting streak to eight games. CJ Horn also extended his hitting streak to eight games with an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Joichiro Oyama walked and scored twice and also stole his 39th base in the seventh. He is two away from tying the West Coast League’s single-season stolen base record, set in 2019 by Walla Walla’s Patrick Caulfield. Oyama leads the WCL in steals, runs, walks, at-bats and hits.

Grant Sherrod drove in a pair of runs with a 2-RBI bases-loaded single in the eighth inning but his real highlight of the night came in the ninth inning when head coach Mitch Darlington removed him from first base with two outs in the ninth inning so that fans could applaud. Sherrod, playing in his final game of the summer with the AppleSox, hugged his teammates on the field before heading to the dugout to a loud ovation from the packed house of 1,280 fans.

The AppleSox can clinch the North Division second half title by winning on Saturday or Sunday as long as Edmonton does not sweep Victoria. The Riverhawks defeated the HarbourCats, 9-8, on Friday night, so a Victoria win on Saturday along with an AppleSox victory would give Wenatchee the second half title and home-field advantage in the first round of the postseason. That would mean that the AppleSox would be the second seed in the North Division Semifinals and would host Game 2 on Wednesday, Aug. 10 and Game 3, if necessary, on Aug. 11.

Wenatchee looks to take the series from the Sweets on Saturday night on Hawaiian Night. All fans in attendance are eligible to win a free trip to Hawaii with travel and accommodations paid for, thanks to Journey Travel and Tours and Sunny FM.