AppleSox Welcome Back Five More Returners To 2023 Roster

AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Monday five more returning players rejoining the AppleSox for the 2023 season. Evan Canfield, Jack DeDonato, Garrett Gores, Quincy Vassar and Nino Vultaggio return to give the AppleSox eight players who played for the team last season.

Four of these five players and six of the AppleSox’ eight returning players are pitchers. Darlington believes that each player will take a big step forward in 2023.

“Good pitching is hard to find,” Darlington said. “These six guys that we’re bringing back aren’t bottom of the barrel bullpen guys who didn’t see any innings. Moffitt and Vassar were starters for a full summer for the AppleSox, so you expect them to make a jump individually. Gores, Canfield and DeDonato were three guys who were key plug-and-play guys. They could come in any situation and close the game. You expect that those guys are going to grow themselves individually and lead to better things. You gotta find a way to retain good arms when you have them.”

Canfield regularly provided multi-inning relief efforts out of the bullpen for the AppleSox in 2022. He fired at least three innings of relief four times, including five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against Kelowna on July 5. The right-hander from Bothell’s finest work of the season may have been his final outing of the summer, a five-inning scoreless start against Walla Walla with five strikeouts on Aug. 5 to earn the win on the night the AppleSox clinched a playoff spot. In total, Canfield went 4-0 with a 1.22 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 29.1 innings in nine games.

Canfield is a redshirt freshman at Edmonds after not pitching for the Tritons in 2022. This summer will be his third consecutive year pitching in the West Coast League after briefly appearing for the Port Angeles Lefties in 2021. Canfield made his WCL debut on Aug. 4, 2021, against the AppleSox. The right-hander struck out seven hitters over 5.2 innings and only allowed two runs. Canfield went on to appear in two more games and posted a 3.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts over 12 innings.

“Some of his best performances were in late-inning relief,” Darlington said. “We never had a true closer and Evan was one of those guys that you could throw in the seventh inning with the lead and expect to finish the game. Really good fastball with a lot of movement but he really has two different changeups that are nasty and swing-and-miss pitches.” 

DeDonato has pitched in five games for the AppleSox over the previous two seasons but this time has signed with the team prior to the start of the summer. He joined the AppleSox in late June last season and recorded a 4.32 ERA with eight strikeouts, 10 walks and seven hits in 8.1 innings over three games. DeDonato was lights-out in his final game of the summer, allowing one run over five innings of relief to pick up the win against Yakima Valley on Aug. 3. He previously pitched in one game with the AppleSox in 2021.

The southpaw from Mercer Island is in his first season at New Mexico. He redshirted at Washington State last season after earning First Team All-State honors as a senior at Mercer Island High School in 2021. DeDonato recorded a 1.56 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 20.1 innings and also was ranked as the second-best left-handed pitcher in Washington by Perfect Game. 

“It was the tale of two different seasons for Jack,” Darlington said. “In the first few outings he struggled to find the zone and did not have his confidence but he recovered late to find it and had some huge moments for us down the stretch. He had an edge late in the season that looked ticked off on the mound, who wanted to go at guys and that was the mindset that he needed to flip the switch.” 

Gores spent the entire summer with the AppleSox and is back in the Apple Capital in 2023. He pitched in 10 games, with Gores’ finest coming on July 7 when he tossed 6.2 scoreless innings at Kelowna. He also stepped up and proved himself a team player a few times when the AppleSox were short on position players. Gores started at third base three times, including twice on a six-game road trip to Victoria and Edmonton after the AppleSox had sustained several injuries. He also started at first base in Game 1 of the North Division Series against Kamloops. 

The Spokane native is in his second year at Spokane Falls, where he recorded a 3.44 ERA and struck out 49 hitters in 52.1 innings over 12 games (five starts) a year ago. Gores has pitched in one game this spring, striking out five over three innings while only allowing a pair of runs on two hits and one walk. He hit .230 in 87 at-bats as a freshman but is hitting .455 through 11 at-bats this season, thanks in part to a 3-for-5 performance on March 5 against Edmonds. He drove in a run while also picking up a double and a triple. 

“Garrett did a lot of great things for us last summer,” Darlington said. “We used him in so many different roles. We used him as a starter, in the back end, in long relief. We would put him in games when our starter got touched up and we asked him to keep it where it was at. He could be used any way that you want. He hasn’t signed anywhere yet but if I were at a four-year school, then I would be all over Garrett Gores.” 

Vassar is set to pitch in his second season with the AppleSox after a standout showing in 2022. The Brewster native earned a spot in the rotation after a strong relief outing in the season opener and held onto it all summer. He tossed at least five innings in six-of-eight starts and struck out at least five hitters seven times. Vassar got the win on the mound in the series-clinching Game 2 of the North Division Series when he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out eight in seven innings.  

The southpaw began his collegiate career at Bellevue Community College before transferring to Vanguard last year. He recorded a 1.91 ERA with 29 strikeouts and only eight walks in 28.1 innings over eight relief outings as a freshman in 2021. Vassar went on to post a 4.78 ERA with 24 strikeouts and just nine walks in 26.1 innings over 20 games (two starts) in 2022. He has already pitched in seven games this year, recording a 1.23 ERA with 20 strikeouts and four walks in 14.2 innings. Vassar has solely been used as a reliever this spring despite primarily being used as a starting pitcher with the AppleSox. 

“Quincy is super competitive.” Darlington said. “I think that’s one of his best attributes. He’s going to fight you tooth and nail and not give you anything easy. He’s going to go out there and expect to win and set the tone for our defense and the whole team.” 

Vultaggio was one of several late-season additions to the AppleSox last August who helped the team down the stretch on their postseason run. He joins the AppleSox on a 10-game contract for the upcoming season after batting a combined .296 in nine games between the regular season and postseason. Vultaggio’s best game was a 4-for-4 performance in Game 2 of the North Division Series against Kamloops when he drove in a run, doubled and scored twice.

Vultaggio transferred to Ohlone College (CA) after appearing in one game with Cal State Bakersfield last spring. He has a .273 batting average, two doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI through his first 13 games with the Warriors. Vultaggio has two multi-hit games and at least one hit in 8-of-13 games. He spent two seasons at Saddleback College before that, batting .292 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 2020 before going on to hit .317 in 15 games in 2021.

“Nino was a good friend of another one of our players last year, Michael Davinni,” Darlington said. “Mike knew we were losing some guys late in the summer and connected us with Nino, who had a great end of the summer with us. He reached out to me about wanting to be back and our roster was filled up at the time but I asked him if he would be available for the opening road trip to Bend and, credit to him, he jumped on it. We expect him to be around for Opening Day and for as long as he can.” 

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as more roster additions are announced for the AppleSox. Next week’s roster release will detail five pitchers joining Wenatchee from the NWAC.  

To hear more of Darlington’s thoughts on 2023 roster player signings subscribe to the AppleSox Podcast 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.