AppleSox Look To Keep Hot Start Going
/
The Wenatchee AppleSox look to take the series against the Springfield Drifters tonight at 6:35 at the Hamlin Sports Complex.
Wenatchee took the series opener by limiting its opponent to less than three runs for a second consecutive game. AppleSox starting pitching also tossed at least five innings for a ninth straight game last night. Brandham Ponce hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to give him 8 RBI in his last four games and Easton Amundson extended his hitting streak to seven games with a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning.
The AppleSox are off to an 8-2 start for the seventh time in franchise history and for the first time since 2012. The other four instances of instances of starting 8-2 occured in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 while the 2011 AppleSox started a franchise-best 9-1. Wenatchee captured league championships in four of those seasons (2005, 2008, 2009, 2012).
Tuesday marked the fourth time this season that the AppleSox have given up the game's first run and still won the game. Wenatchee surrendered a run in the bottom of the second inning but rallied to win the game. The AppleSox are undefeated when their opponent scores first and it is due in part to their success from the fourth inning on. Opponents are outscoring Wenatchee, 26-20, in the first three innings but the AppleSox flip the script with a 41-16 difference from the fourth through 10th innings.
Tuesday's win was also the sixth time in the first 10 games that the AppleSox have allowed four runs or less to their opponent and Wenatchee's 2.64 team ERA is fourth-best in the West Coast League. AppleSox opponents scored four runs or less 25 times last season, or in 46-percent of games.
Jack Moffitt makes his first start of the summer tonight as he returns to the AppleSox for a second straight summer. Moffitt started all 10 games that he appeared in last summer with the AppleSox, including tossing a season-high six innings in the 2022 WCL North Division Championship Game. The Seattle native appeared in 17 games this spring at Gonzaga, all in relief, and struck out 22 while walking 17 over 30.2 innings.
Hunter Dryden makes his third start of the summer for the Drifters and his second against the AppleSox. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out six while walking one in seven innings last Wednesday. Dryden allowed two runs prior to that in six innings against Port Angeles to earn his first win of the summer. He has a 2.25 ERA with 12 strikeouts, seven hits and one walk over 12 innings in his two games on the mound this summer.
Fans can tune in to the action tonight and all season long on KCSY Sunny FM. Pregame coverage begins at 6:10 p.m. with the AppleSox Pregame Show presented by Kenady Real Estate Group You can listen online worldwide at kcsyfm.com, the TuneIn radio app or on one of the following translators.
93.9 FM in Wenatchee
95.3 FM in the Lake Chelan Valley
97.7 FMin Omak, Riverside, Tonasket and Oroville
98.1 FM in East Wenatchee, Rock Island and Quincy
101.3 FM in Brewster and Pateros
106.3 FM in the Methow Valley
