AppleSox Sign Six NWAC Players To 2023 Roster

AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Tuesday the addition of six players from NWAC schools to the AppleSox’ 2023 roster. Michael Schwarz, Joey Pearson, Andrew Monson, Michael Cunneely, Keegan Adams and Easton Amundson are all new to the AppleSox, although Monson and Amundson played in the West Coast League last summer while Adams also played summer college baseball a year ago in the Pacific International League.

“It’s fun to see these junior college players,” Darlington said,“because they’re going to sign somewhere good and go to a Division-I school. Take a guy like Joichiro Oyama, who came to us from Merced and is now at UC Irvine. Watch them grow with us and keep tabs on them as they leave us. A lot of these guys are going to go on and play at a  high level.”

Schwarz is one-of-three players this week with a connection to AppleSox pitching coach Mike Callia, who holds the same position at Lower Columbia College. Schwarz is in his sophomore season with the Red Devils and is 2-0 with a 2.28 ERA, 20 strikeouts and eight walks in 23.2 innings over four games (all starts). His finest outing to date came Feb. 24 when he only allowed two runs on four hits over eight innings in a 7-2 win over Bellevue. 

This is the second consecutive strong season from the 2021 Central Valley HS (WA) graduate. Schwarz earned All-NWAC Second Team honors in the East Region after recording a 2.20 ERA with 79 strikeouts and 28 walks in 77.2 innings over 14 games (13 starts) for the Red Devils.

"He is a special arm,” Callia said. “There aren't too many guys who are two-year aces in the NWAC and he has a chance to do that at Lower Columbia. Just a competitive kid, wants the ball every time. He wants to win and put it all on the line for the team, which is just the type of guy that we want on this team."

Pearson is the other arm from Lower Columbia signed to join the AppleSox this summer. He has only pitched in one game as a freshman this spring after recovering from injury but is coming off a tremendous senior year at Richland in 2022. Pearson tossed two no-hitters last spring, including against Moses Lake in the second round of the Washington State 4A Regionals to help eventually lead Richland to a third-place finish at State. 

Pearson earned SBLive Washington’s top pitcher of the year honor after going 6-1 with a 1.50 ERA, 35 strikeouts and nine walks in 40 innings. Perfect Game also ranked him as the 14th-best high-school player and seventh-best arm in Washington.

“Very special arm,” Callia said. “He has two elite breaking balls and he’s got a chance to play this game for a long time. He brings a lot of energy when he gets on the bump and has great intent with all of his pitches.” 

Monson is set to pitch in his second season in the WCL after appearing in 20 games with the Port Angeles Lefties last summer. He recorded a 3.44 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 16 walks in 31.1 innings over 20 games (one start). Monson did not allow any runs in 11 outings and had a 1.80 ERA after his first 17 games. He pitched once against the AppleSox on June 7 and did not allow any runs over 1.2 innings against the team that went on to lead the WCL in runs. 

The sophomore at Spokane Falls is four innings away from matching his total from a season ago, despite having currently pitched in seven fewer games. Monson has started two of his first three games this spring after solely pitching in relief a year ago. 

“He can run it up and touch 90 with his fastball,” Darlington said, “but has really developed a couple off-speed pitches that are swing-and-miss pitches. He has a good changeup and a good breaking ball and has three pitches that he can throw for strikes. He’s a guy where we haven’t decided what role he will play for us yet but will get a lot of innings.”

Cunneely also joins the AppleSox as a right-hander from Spokane Falls. He has pitched in three games (two starts) in his freshman year with the Sasquatch and has a 3.86 ERA with 13 strikeouts and six walks in 14 innings. Cunneely has tossed at least five innings in both starts while allowing a combined five runs over 11 innings. 

Similar to returning AppleSox right-hander and his teammate at Spokane Falls, Garrett Gores, Cunneely attended Gonzaga Prep. One of his best outings with the Bullpups came on May 14 when he struck out eight in a complete game two-hitter against Central Valley in a District 8 4A loser-out game. 

“Big, tall drink of water,” Darlington said. “Tall, lanky kid who can run it up to 90. Their coach is very high on him and the sky's the limit for this kid. I could see him having a good spring and then make big jumps this summer. I think him being around Mike Callia and some other division-I arms to help tweak some things and mentor him will help him have a good summer for us.” 

Adams is in the midst of taking a gap year before he will join Columbia Basin College next year. His collegiate career began at Centralia College, where he recorded a 3.48 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 22 walks in 54.1 innings over 13 games (11 starts). Adams allowed more than four earned runs in a game twice and recorded a season-high six punchouts in five innings against Green River on May 8. 

The 2021 Decatur High School (WA) graduate’s first time on the mound for the AppleSox this summer will be his game action since last summer with the DubSea Fish Sticks of the PIL. He appeared in three games in league play for the team formerly known as the Highline Bears, but did not pitch against the AppleSox in a pair of non-league games in mid-July.

“He was Centralia’s main guy last spring,” Darlington said. “He was a guy who I tried to pick up at the end of last summer but he had thrown too many innings at that point. He has some things to develop and is training at Diamond Sports trying to increase his fastball velocity. He is a few minor tweaks away from being a really dominant arm.”

Amundson was a key mid-season addition for the Bellingham Bells last summer and now switches jerseys to the team that they faced in the 2022 North Division Championship Game. He opened up his tenure with the Bells on an 11-game hitting streak and finished the summer batting .448 in 14 regular-season games before appearing in three postseason games. 

Amundson is a versatile option defensively as he has played first and third base at Lower Columbia while also playing the outfield for Bellingham. The 2021 Ridgevue High School (ID) graduate only appeared in 19 games as a freshman but has a .286 batting average with a home run and 6 RBI through 16 games this spring

“Big power bat in the middle of our lineup,” Callia said. “He tore the cover of the ball in the fall for us, batting .521. This is a guy who hit at a lot of different levels and has hit for us so far this spring. Just having quality at bats with a big presence in the box is going to be big for us this summer.”

To hear more of Darlington and Callia’s thoughts on the six players signed from the NWAC stay tuned for the newest addition of the AppleSox Podcast on Thursday. You can listen to it and other previous roster-release episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. 

Ticket packages for the AppleSox’ 23rd season are now on sale. Season tickets lock in your seats for all 31 home games and run as affordable as $145 for general admission bleacher seats while reserved premium seating is $245. Additionally, fans can get 10-ticket Double Play Ticket Packs for $60. These 10 general-admission ticket punches can all be used at once or spread out over the course of the season over multiple games. To purchase 2023 ticket packages please visit applesox.com/season-tickets call 509-665-6900 or email allie@applesox.com.