AppleSox Open Up Lengthy Homestand Tonight
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The Wenatchee AppleSox return home to begin a stretch of 12 games in 15 days at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium tonight at 6:35 against the Bend Elks.
Wenatchee is looking to get back into the win column after splitting a six-game road trip north of the border. The AppleSox swept the Nanaimo NightOwls to begin the trip before being swept by the Victoria HarbourCats. Wenatchee opened the trip red-hot with 38 runs scored in Nanaimo before only being held to eight runs in Victoria.
With the series loss to Victoria the AppleSox have dropped to third place in the second half and a game back of the North Division-leading Kelowna Falcons. If the season ended today the AppleSox would hold the fourth and final spot in the North Division. They hold the second-best overall record in the North Division behind the HarbourCats but the Kelowna Falcons have the best record in the second half. Kelowna would have home-field advantage in its best-of-three North Division Series against Victoria while the AppleSox would take on Bellingham for its North Division Series
The Elks have won four consecutive games and are fresh off a sweep of the Port Angeles Lefties. Bend has scored double-digit runs in each of the last four games and has cumulatively won 49-21. The Elks are tied for third in the South Division in the second half with a 6-3 record and are a game back of the first-place Corvallis Knights.
The AppleSox faced the Elks at the start of the season and swept them to open up the season 3-0 for the first time since 2009. Wenatchee earned narrow 6-4 and 4-3 victories in the first two games of the weekend before pulling away with a 12-1 victory on June 4. The AppleSox’ eight runs scored in the seventh inning of the series finale are tied for the most by the team in an inning this season with their eight runs scored in the third inning on July 2 in a 12-4 win at Edmonton.
Felix Schlede makes his second start of the summer for the AppleSox. He pitched into the third inning in his summer debut on July 8 against Kamloops and did not allow any runs on one hit, two walks and three strikeouts. Schlede pitched for the AppleSox last season, going 0-2 with an 11.67 ERA, 18 strikeouts, 19 walks and nine hits allowed over 12.1 innings. He recorded a 3.79 ERA with 28 strikeouts, 20 walks and 12 hits over 19 innings in 13 games in relief as a freshman at Central Arizona this spring.
Bend will send Eric Valdez to the mound for his second start and seventh appearance of the season. The incoming sophomore at Feather River College is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA, 10 strikeouts, nine walks and 11 hits over 9.1 innings. Valdez surrendered two runs on three hits, two walks and five strikeouts over three innings on July 12 against Cowlitz out of the bullpen in his most recent outing.
Fans can tune in to the action tonight and all season long on KCSY Sunny FM. Pregame coverage presented by Kenady Real Estate Group begins at 6:10 p.m. 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 FM in 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
All West Coast League games can also be watched on wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv. Tonight’s game can also be watched on The NCWLIFE Channel.
