Less Than A Month To Go Until 2023 Opening Day

The 2023 AppleSox roster is nearly complete with less than one month to go until Opening Day. Head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Thursday that Mason Strong, Austin Bunn, Aiden Van Rensum, Cam Hoiland and Joseph Rajo will join this summer’s team. 

Strong is in his first year at Oklahoma after beginning his collegiate career at BYU in 2022. Strong only has seven at-bats so far for the Sooners but hit .281 in 12 games last season for the Cougars. He earned West Coast Conference Player of the Week for batting .333, hitting a home run and throwing out two runners in three games April 15-16, 2022. 

The Santa Clara, Utah native hit .421 with 21 extra-base hits at Snow Canyon High School as a senior in 2021. He batted .413 in 60 games over three years of varsity and was the No. 1 ranked catching prospect and No. 5 ranked Utah Prospect by Prep Baseball Report. 

"Really solid player coming out of high school, very highly recruited,” Darlington said. “Good defensively, blocks and receives well. Solid gap-to-gap hitter. A guy who has some juice and can run one out of the yard."

Bunn is also in his first year at a new school after beginning his playing career at Big Bend Community College. He is batting .269 with a .409 on-base percentage, three home runs and 16 RBI in 33 games at Northern Colorado. Bunn has 10 multi-hit games and is tied for second on the Bears in home runs, is third in walks (18) and is tied for third in doubles (6).  

The Kuna, Idaho, native played two years at Big Bend, batting a combined .389 with 13 home runs and 68 RBI over 61 games in the previous two springs. Bunn earned All-NWAC East Region honors in the outfield in 2022 and was named NWAC Player of the Year in addition to being named an All-American for both seasons. 

“He had some ridiculous numbers at Big Bend and the NWAC in general,” Darlington said. “We didn’t have room for Austin to come in last summer but things come full circle. He reached out about this summer and we had room for a 10-day contract to join the team. He’s a good enough player to be a full-season guy but we had already signed a lot of guys to full contracts.”

Van Rensum is a redshirt freshman at Everett Community College who transferred after not playing at Oregon in 2022. He has a lot of different positions that he can handle between first base, third base and the outfield in addition to working a bit on the mound this spring. Van Rensum is batting .248 in 35 games at the plate and also has a 3.09 ERA in six games on the mound.

The Marysville, Wash. native graduated from Archbishop Mitty High School in 2021 and shined as a sophomore, batting .465 with only two strikeouts in 53 plate appearances. Van Rensum has previous summer collegiate baseball experience with 23 games played for the Everett Merchants over the last two years.

"Really talented outfielder,” Darlington said, “but he can play the corner infield spots as well and has seen some time on the bump which makes him a very valuable 10-day contract for us. We could see him in a lot of different roles."

Hoiland is in his sophomore year at Bellevue College and the two-way standout is committed to play at Cal Poly next year. He is a pitcher and an outfielder with a 1.53 ERA in 11 appearances (all starts) as a pitcher and a .273 batting average in 42 games as a hitter this spring. Hoiland batted .222 in 43 games at the plate and posted a 2.15 ERA in 12 games (one start) on the mound as a freshman.

The Kent native graduated from Kentridge High School in 2021 and hit .365 while recording a 2.96 ERA over two years of varsity baseball. Hoiland played summer baseball for the Spearfish Sasquatch in the Independence League last summer and again excelled as a two-way player, posting a 3.48 ERA in seven games (three starts) while batting .271 in 18 games. 

“I could see him in a relief role for us,” Darlington said. “but you also don’t want to run him too much on the mound just so that you can keep him fresh and playing outfield for you. Good left-handed stick. Another 10-day contract that feels good enough to be a full-summer guy. There’s a chance that we see him beyond those first couple weeks if we can convince him to stay a full summer.” 

Rajo has not pitched yet this spring at Treasure Valley due to injury but is set for a big summer with the AppleSox. He recorded a 4.85 ERA with 16 strikeouts over 13 innings in three games (three starts) in 2022. 

The Pflugerville, Texas, native graduated from Hendrickson High School in 2021. He recorded a 2.05 ERA over three years, including a 1.66 ERA with 80 strikeouts over 54.2 innings in 14 games (eight starts) in his senior year. 

“He’s originally from Texas,” Darlington said, “and he fits that mold of Texas power right-handed arms. He’s got a low-90’s fastball, a really good breaking pitch and mixes that in with his changeup. Good three-pitch mix, really controls the strike zone and knows how to pitch. I’m really thrilled to have him for a full summer with us.” 

The 23rd season in AppleSox history opens up on June 3 at the Bend Elks before the home opener on June 6. 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.