The Wenatchee AppleSox begin the postseason tonight with the best-of-three games North Division Series against the Victoria HarbourCats.

These two teams split the regular-season series against each other. The AppleSox won all three games in the Apple Capital of the World June 9-11 before the HarbourCats took all three games in Victoria July 14-16. The series in June was the AppleSox’ first sweep at home while the series in July was the only time that they were swept this summer.

This is the 15th time in franchise history that the AppleSox have made it to the postseason and the third time in the last four years after missing the playoffs from 2014-18. Head coach Mitch Darlington has qualified for the postseason for the second time in as many years at the helm, becoming the first AppleSox head coach in AppleSox history to make the postseason in each of his first two seasons.

Wenatchee finished the regular season with a 37-17 record. Its 19-8 record in the first half was the team's best mark in either half since the West Coast League adopted the two-halves playoff format in 2016. The AppleSox also broke single-season franchise records for home victories (21), home game winning streak in league play (12), three-game series sweeps (eight), most home runs hit in a league game (four on July 13), players used in a single summer (56) and walks drawn (299).

Second baseman Frankie Carney finished the regular season with a .356 average in 42 games, the second-best in the WCL. It’s also tied with 2015 alum and fellow UC Irvine product Keston Hiura for the third-best mark by an AppleSox hitter to play at least 40 regular-season games. Carney ended the summer on a 16-game hitting streak, the longest by an AppleSox player this summer and the third-longest in the entire WCL.

Victoria won the second-half title by going 19-7 in it and finished 38-15 overall. The HarbourCats' 25-2 record at home broke their franchise's and the WCL's single-season record. They also shattered the league record for stolen bases with 150 steals, breaking their record of 149 a year ago. The HarbourCats also led the WCL in runs (359), hits (510), RBI (296), total bases (685), batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.388) and slugging percentage (.379). Gonzaga commit Hudson Shupe led the team with a .353 batting average, third-best in the WCL.

The AppleSox and the HarbourCats have met in the postseason once before in 2019. Victoria won the final two games of the series to take the series. Wenatchee won Game 1 behind seven shutout innings, 10 strikeouts, four hits and no walks from Jake Saum. The HarbourCats broke open Game 2 with a three-run fifth inning to earn a 7-2 win to even the series. Game 3 was an instant classic as the AppleSox, down to their final out, scored four runs in the top of the ninth to turn a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead. Wenatchee failed to record an out in the bottom of the inning as Victoria walked it off to clinch the series and earn a berth in the West Coast League Championship Series. Current AppleSox pitching coach Mike Callia pitched 1.2 scoreless innings in Game 1 against Wenatchee.

The AppleSox send Samuel Round to the mound for the first game of the series. The incoming freshman at Gonzaga went 2-0 with a 3.66 ERA, 30 strikeouts, 13 walks and 21 hits over 27 innings in seven games (five starts) in the regular season. Round tossed at least five innings in each of his last four starts and allowed three runs or less in every game that he started. The right-hander pitched against Victoria in relief on June 11, allowing one run on two hits, two walks and two strikeouts over 1.1 innings.

The HarbourCats will start Daniel Gonzalez, an incoming freshman at Louisiana Monroe. The right-hander had no record with a 3.17 ERA, 19 strikeouts, three walks and six hits over 11.1 innings in five games (two starts) prior to the postseason. His last appearance came four days ago when he started and tossed a 1-2-3 first inning against Edmonton on just 11 pitches. Gonzalez faced the AppleSox on July 15, firing scoreless fifth and sixth innings.

Tickets for tonight’s game are available for as affordable as $5 and can be purchased at applesox.com/2023-schedule. The series shifts to Victoria for Game 2 tomorrow night and Game 3 will be played on Thursday at Royal Athletic Park, if necessary.