Amundson’s Third Hit Walks Off HarbourCats

Easton Amundson singled in Reeve Boyd in the bottom of the 10th inning and the Wenatchee AppleSox defeated the Victoria HarbourCats, 9-8, on Friday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Boyd led off with a double and went to third on a wild pitch before Amundson roped the 3-1 offering into right field to hand Victoria (6-1) its first loss of the season. Wenatchee earned its second walkoff victory in the last three days and improved to 2-2 on the homestand.

Amundson went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI to lead the offense. Frankie Carney batted leadoff for the first time and picked up three hits while scoring each time. Brandham Ponce reached base in each of his first four plate appearances before recording a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Aiden Van Rensum went 2-for-4 and reached based in each of his final three plate appearances.

Garrett Gores earned a no-decision but only allowed one unearned run in five innings. It marked the sixth consecutive game that an AppleSox starter tossed at least five innings. Luke Meyers (2-0) became the first AppleSox pitcher to earn multiple victories with three innings of relief.

Fifteen of the games’ 17 runs scored over the final four innings. Amundson drove in the first run of the game three batters into the bottom of the first. Carney collected his first of three hits with a push bunt single to the right side that was mishandled and rolled out of play to allow Carney to advance to second before Amundson singled him in.

The HarbourCats cashed in on a double-steal attempt thanks to an error in the third to tie the game and then scored four runs, all with two outs, in the top of the seventh to take their first lead of the game and break a 1-1 tie. The AppleSox quickly responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half. Carney led off with a hustle double to center field on a shallow base hit where he never stopped running upon contact until sliding into second. Boyd grounded a ball to the right side that could not be handled and trickled into right-center field to score Carney. Ponce doubled two batters later and Van Rensum walked to load up the bases. Bunn hit a sacrifice fly and then Cam Hoiland roped a two-run double to right field for a two-out rally of the AppleSox’ own.

Meyers entered and recorded a 1-2-3 top of the eighth before a three-run Wenatchee outburst. Cole McGowan and Carney singled to open up the inning. A sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk loaded up the bases but a wild pitch scored McGowan to give the AppleSox their first lead since the second inning. Ponce’s fly out to left plated Carney and then Van Rensum delivered a two-out RBI single to score Amundson.

Victoria would not go quietly, scoring three times in the top of the ninth. Four-of-the-first-five batters reached base and scored on a wild pitch, a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly. Meyers kept the go-ahead run from scoring from third base with a strikeout to end the inning. He returned to the mound in the 10th and retired the side in order, punching out the first and last batters.

The AppleSox will hold their first Fireworks Night on Saturday night as they face the Victoria HarbourCats at 7:05. Tickets can be purchased at applesox.com/2023-schedule.