AppleSox Suffer First Sweep Of 2023

Austin Ohland hit his first home run of the summer but the Wenatchee AppleSox fell to the Victoria HarbourCats, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at Royal Athletic Park.

Ohland hammered the first pitch that he saw to lead off the top of the third inning to drive in their first and only run of the game. His long ball bounced off the scoreboard and was the AppleSox’ eighth home run of their six-game road trip.

That home run cut the deficit to two after the HarbourCats scored twice in the first inning and added another run in the second. They regained a three-run lead with a two-out run in the fourth and added their final two runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Wenatchee (25-11) has now lost three consecutive games and been swept for the first time this season. The AppleSox scored 35 runs in a three-game sweep of the Nanaimo NightOwls to open up the road trip but only scored eight runs in their trip to Victoria. Sunday marked the third time this summer that the AppleSox have been held to their single-game low for runs scored.

The AppleSox no longer hold the tiebreaker over the HarbourCats if the two teams were to tie for first place in the North Division in the second half despite splitting the season series. The next tiebreaker between the two teams is head-to-head run differential and the HarbourCats hold a +1 advantage. Victoria and Wenatchee both have 11 losses but the HarbourCats have three more wins.

The AppleSox have a quick turnaround opportunity to end their longest losing streak of the summer as they host the Bend Elks at 6:35 on Monday night. Bend is on a four-game winning streak after sweeping the Port Angeles Lefties. The AppleSox swept the Elks June 2-4 to open the season but only one position player who helped Wenatchee score its 22 runs in that series is still with them. Tickets can be purchased at AppleSox.com/2023-schedule.