2023 Roster Grows With Five More Additions
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AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Wednesday the addition of five players to the AppleSox’ 2023 roster. Sawyer Hansen, Trei Hough, Marshall Lipsey, Izzy Lopez and MJ Sweeney are signed to play for the AppleSox this summer.
Hansen is a junior at the University of the Incarnate Word and has appeared in one game for the Cardinals this spring. He spent the three previous years at Iowa Western Community College and will be back pitching in his home state this summer. The Puyallup native graduated from Emerald Ridge High School in 2019.
His collegiate career at Iowa Western began with only appearing in one game between the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Hansen would get his most work to date in the 2022 season, recording a 3.86 ERA with 18 strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings over 10 games (one start) for the Reviers.
“He’s got an upper 80’s to low 90s fastball,” Darlington said, “with a good swing-and-miss breaking ball that is going to play really nicely for us out of our bullpen. I could see him being a high-leverage left-handed arm, a guy to come in and get us out of a tough inning.”
Hough is in his second year at Jamestown College after beginning his collegiate career at Treasure Valley in 2021. He recorded a 3.30 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 19 walks in 57.1 innings over 12 games (all starts) last year in his first season with the Jimmies. Hough finished second on the team in strikeouts and innings and his finest outing of last season came when he gave up one earned run on four hits over seven innings, striking out six and issuing just one walk in a victory over Doane in the Great Plains Athletic Conference semifinals on May 7, 2022.
The Pocatello, Idaho, native comes to the AppleSox thanks to a connection from one of his college teammates, Xander Orejudos, who suited up for the AppleSox in 2022. Orejudos was with the AppleSox from start to finish last summer, batting .317 with 22 runs in 37 games for Wenatchee before adding five hits in three postseason games.
"Honestly I found out about him through Xander,” Darlington said. “Xander shot me a text in the middle of the winter and said 'we've got a guy from Idaho that's interested in coming back out west to pitch for the AppleSox.' I did a little research on him and really liked what he did last year for Jamestown. From everything Xander told me he is the right type of fit for us."
Lipsey has gotten off to a brilliant start with Blinn College in Texas as a freshman, batting .321 with eight home runs, seven doubles and four triples in 40 games. He has more walks (44) than strikeouts (38) and has an impressive .508 on-base percentage for the Buccaneers. He leads Blinn in triples and is tied for first in walks.
The Longview, Texas, native graduated from Spring Hill High School in 2022 and hit an eye-popping .655 with 22 extra-base hits in 38 games. He was originally committed to a premier baseball college in state, but switched that commitment and has continued to thrive with the Buccaneers.
“We originally signed Marshall from TCU,” Darlington said. “He was there as a true freshman and they sent him to us but he transferred before the start of the spring season. He is having a heck of a spring for them. Not only is Blinn one of the top-10 nationally ranked teams but he’s a good left-handed bat, runs really well in the outfield and is just a good overall hitter.”
Lopez comes to the AppleSox by way of Missouri State but his college journey begins before that. The middle infielder committed to Texas A&M out of college but redshirted there in 2020. Lopez transferred to McLennan Community College in Texas and spent the next two seasons there. He slashed a combined .277/.378/.390 over 93 games, including driving in 36 runs and collecting more walks (32) than strikeouts (24) in 2022.
The Fort Worth native was part of the 2021 NJCAA Division-I World Champions and followed it up with an appearance in the JUCO World Series again the next season before transferring to Missouri State. He has appeared in 11 games this spring and comes to the AppleSox with a high defensive acclaim.
“He is going to be a really good defensive option for us,” Darlington said. “He could be a guy who locks down an infield spot all summer. He sounds like that prototypical lockdown shortstop who, whether he is hitting or not, needs to be in the field because his glove is so good.”
Sweeney is a Texas commit who is another big left-handed hitter looking to take advantage of the wind that carries balls out to left field at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium once the sun goes down. He is a senior at St. Augustine High School in California and is batting .310 with four home runs, four doubles and two triples in 10 games. Sweeney is only four extra-base hits away from exceeding last season’s total.
The Rancho Santa Fe native is the son of former major-leaguer Mike Sweeney, who played in MLB for 16 years, primarily with the Kansas City Royals, from 1995-2010. Mike was a five-time All-Star and spent parts of two seasons with the Seattle Mariners from 2009-10.
“MJ is a big 6-foot-7 left-handed bat,” Darlington said. “He’s got a lot of power but goes the other way really well. He’ll go paint a ball down the left-field line and take his double and then he’ll absolutely turn on a fastball and hit it 400 feet.”
To hear more of Darlington’s thoughts on these five players signed stay tuned for the newest addition of the AppleSox Podcast tomorrow. 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.
