AppleSox Wrap Up Season Series With Bend On A WINatchee Wednesday
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The Wenatchee AppleSox will attempt to record their sixth sweep of the summer tonight as they face the Bend Elks at 6:35 at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.
Wenatchee has earned back-to-back victories to open the series and has moved a game out first place behind Victoria in the second half. Tonight is the AppleSox final game against a South Division opponent for the rest of the regular season. Wenatchee has played Bend and Springfield from the South and is 8-3 against them, including 5-0 against the Elks.
Prior to this season the AppleSox had never swept the Elks in the first 22 seasons of their existence but now has an opportunity at a full season sweep of the Elks. Wenatchee has won the season series against Bend four times (2005, 2009, 2010 and and 2023). The last and only time that the AppleSox won the first two games of a three-game series against the Elks at home came July 22-23, 2011 with 2-1 and 8-1 wins before falling 3-2. Wenatchee won the first two games of the season series at home the next year but the third game was rained out, preventing the opportunity to earn a sweep.
The AppleSox again used a crooked inning to help take a comfortable lead against the Elks last night, scoring five runs in the bottom of the third. Wenatchee also scored eight runs in the fifth inning on Monday night in the series opener to overcome a 5-1 deficit. The AppleSox have trailed for an inning-and-a-half in the first two games of this series.
Wenatchee has regained the lead for the most home runs hit in the WCL at 25 with last night’s three-homer outburst. It is the third time this season that the AppleSox have recorded a multi-homer game after Cooper Whitton, Nick Putnam and Carson Ohland all went deep. Ohland homered for a second consecutive game, becoming the third AppleSox player to accomplish the feat this season. Easton Amundson homered in back-to-back games June 7-8 against Springfield and again in three straight league games June 17, 18 and 21. Josh Williams hit two home runs last Wednesday and followed it up with a grand slam on Thursday night. Ohland is batting .500 (14-for-28) in his last eight games with at least one hit in seven of those games.
Samuel Round looks to earn his second victory as he makes his third start of the summer tonight. The incoming freshman at Gonzaga tossed a season-high six innings last Thursday in Wenatchee’s 18-1 win against Nanaimo. Round allowed one run on four hits, three walks and five strikeouts to help the AppleSox earn a series victory against the NightOwls. The right-gander is 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA, 10 strikeouts, seven walks and 10 hits over 12 innings in four games (two starts).
Eli Takalo will start for the Elks as they try to salvage the series. He is 2-1 with a 6.26 ERA, 11 strikeouts, 13 walks and 16 hits over 18.2 innings in eight games (one start). Takalo last pitched a week ago against the Cowlitz Black Bears and suffered the loss by giving up four runs (two earned) on one hit, three walks and two strikeouts.
Tonight is another WINatchee Wednesday. Fans who attend the game are eligible to win prizes from local businesses. Keep your ears open in the middle innings and you could head home a winner. Purchase tickets for tonight’s game and any of the remaining 10 home games now at applesox.com/2023-schedule
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.
