Six Returning Players Signed To 2024 Roster

Wenatchee AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Friday the return of six players to the teams’ roster for the 2024 season. Braiden Boyd, Evan Canfield, Jack DeDonato, Hunter Gibson, Quincy Vassar and Jadon Williamson will all return to the team this summer.

Each of them played for the AppleSox in 2023 and will be appearing in at least their third season with the AppleSox this summer. Three of them have local ties as DeDonato’s family resides in Wenatchee, Boyd is from Chelan and Vassar is from Brewster.

“These are our culture setters,” Darlington said. “These are guys who are going to have your back. There are a lot of conversations that happen in the clubhouse that happen without the coaching staff present so it’s important to have leaders of the team who have our back and know what we want to accomplish. I think they are going to set the tone.”

Braiden Boyd finished his first full season with the AppleSox in 2023 as a key multi-inning reliever. His nine appearances tied for fourth-most by an AppleSox pitcher. Boyd tossed three-or-more innings five times, including a season-high four innings on Aug. 4 at Kelowna to earn his third and final save of the season. The southpaw finished the summer 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA, 22 strikeouts and 17 walks over 22.2 innings ahead of his freshman year at Washington State.

Boyd got his first work at the college level on Aug. 1, 2022, when he struck out three hitters in two innings in a non-league game against the Cascade Collegiate League. That came following a remarkable junior season at Chelan High School, where Boyd earned 2022 Caribou Trail League Player of the Year and First Team All-CTL en route to a fourth-place finish at the 1A State Tournament. He followed that up by again earning First Team honors in 2023 and helped the Goats earn another berth at State. 

“A lot of our fans saw Braiden’s progression last summer,” Darlington said. “As we got later into the summer he got more significant innings for us. The thing that excites me the most is that he’s going to have a full year at a Division-I program. Nathan Choate does a great job at developing arms. I’m expecting Braiden to come in here and take a big step forward. I think he’s a guy who can come in here and compete for a spot in our starting rotation.”

No pitcher has appeared in more games than Evan Canfield over the last two seasons as he prepares for his third summer in Wenatchee. The Bothell native earned All-WCL Honorable Mention and recorded a 2.03 ERA in his second season with the AppleSox. The right-hander’s 12 appearances led the team and his 36 strikeouts were third-most. Canfield recorded five different outings of at least three innings, including a season-high 5.1 innings of shutout ball in a 5-1 win over Bellingham on July 25. His finest outing was his first of the season, when he tossed five shutout innings and struck out nine to earn the win against Springfield on June 7. 

Canfield went 4-0 with a 1.22 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 29.1 innings in nine games in 2022 in his first season with the AppleSox. He tossed at least three innings of relief four times, including five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts against Kelowna on July 5. The right-hander’s finest work of the season may have been his final outing of the summer, a five-inning scoreless start against Walla Walla with five strikeouts on Aug. 5 to earn the win on the night the AppleSox clinched a playoff spot. 

Canfield is a redshirt sophomore at Edmonds this spring. He appeared in 10 games last season, recording a 4.63 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 22 walks over 23.1 innings in 10 games (four starts). He also previously pitched in the WCL in 2021, posting a 3.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts and five hits over 12 innings in three games with Port Angeles, including only allowing two runs on four hits and striking out seven AppleSox hitters in 5.2 innings on Aug. 4. 

“He has been really good for us the last two summers,” Darlington said. “He has probably been our best reliever both summers. He’s a guy we can go to not just late in games but in the middle of one. It’s amazing how he comes out here in the summer and is relaxed and confident and just fills up the zone. Honestly one of the better relievers in the West Coast League the last couple of summers. You can pencil in where he will fit in our bullpen and build the rest of it around him.” 

The 2024 WCL season marks the fourth consecutive that Jack DeDonato will be a part of with the AppleSox. If DeDonato appears on the field for one regular-season game in 2024 then he will match John Gebbers (2000-03) as the only player to play in parts of four seasons with the AppleSox. He made his most appearances with the team last season, pitching in relief nine times. DeDonato did not allow an earned run in five of his outings out of the bullpen and finished the summer with 10 strikeouts and seven walks over 13.2 innings.

DeDonato made his AppleSox debut on Aug. 5, 2021, striking out three hitters and allowing one run over 1.2 innings of relief and then pinch hit two days later. Darlington added DeDonato to his inaugural season roster late in June 2022 and DeDonato appeared in three WCL games and two non-league games. The southpaw’s finest moment with the AppleSox came on Aug. 3 that summer, when he tossed five innings out of the bullpen to earn the win against Yakima Valley.

DeDonato enrolled at college ahead of the 2022 season but has not appeared in game action yet. He began his collegiate career at Washington State before transferring to New Mexico and now is at Lower Columbia under AppleSox and Red Devils pitching coach Mike Callia. He graduated from Mercer Island High School in 2021 after earning first-team All-State as a pitcher and first baseman as a senior. Perfect Game ranked him as the second-best left-handed pitcher in Washington after going 4-1 with 34 strikeouts and a 1.56 ERA in 20.1 innings.

“The biggest thing that sticks out to me with him is his leadership and the way he holds all of the other pitchers accountable,” Darlington said. “I feel like whenever you show up to the yard he is one of the first ones there. He’s always in the office trying to get better. How he sets the tone and handles his business day in and day out is so important in summer baseball. He’s working hard in the gym and he’s constantly doing the little things right. You need guys like that to set your culture in summer baseball.”

After spending the 2022 season primarily coming out of the bullpen, Hunter Gibson shined as a starting pitcher last season in Wenatchee. The right-hander tossed at least 5.1 innings in all three games and only allowed two runs over 17.1 innings while striking out 13. Almost as impressive as his ability to log innings was Gibson’s ability to limit walks, issuing just two. He recorded 2.70 ERA after his first seven appearances in an AppleSox jersey in 2022 following a five-inning shutout performance in relief against Corvallis on July 17 in which he struck out six, walked one and allowed one hit.

The Ellensburg native is in his redshirt junior year at North Colorado and his first season with the Golden Bears. He recorded a 2.96 ERA with 37 strikeouts and four walks over 27.1 innings in 10 appearances at Big Bend in 2021 as a freshman before redshirting in 2022. Gibson posted a 2.67 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 26 walks over 92.7 innings in 16 games (all starts) for the Vikings last spring.

“He was coming off an arm injury the summer before in 2022,” Darlington said. “I think that played a big reason into the summer with us, the bumps and the ups and downs. When it was his day to start last summer we were excited. We knew that we had a shot to win it if we just scored a few runs. He is the definition of a bulldog on the mound. Kind of a fiery kid who doesn’t care who he throws against and wants to go right at hitter. Doesn’t walk a lot of guys, which I love, just fills it up and lets his defense play. I think our team fed off that last summer.”

No pitcher has recorded more combined strikeouts over the last two seasons in the WCL than Quincy Vassar, who will also pitch for a third consecutive summer in Wenatchee. He has recorded 87 strikeouts in two summers with the AppleSox, including tying for fifth among WCL pitchers in 2022 (45) and tied for seventh in 2023 (42). The Brewster native recorded a 4.26 ERA in 2023 while his nine starts tied for the third-most in the WCL. Six of those starts were of at least five innings and he punched out a season-high seven hitters in five innings on July 5 at Port Angeles.

Vassar’s biggest performance in two seasons with the AppleSox came in Game 2 of the 2022 North Division Series, when he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out eight Kamloops NorthPaws in seven innings to earn the victory as the AppleSox swept the series. Vassar tossed at least five innings in six-of-eight starts and struck out at least five hitters seven times in his first summer with the AppleSox.

Vassar is in his senior year at Vanguard and has a 4.43 ERA with 17 strikeouts and four walks over 22.1 innings in six appearances (three starts). The southpaw appeared in 17 games last season with the Lions for the fourth-most on the team. He had a 4.50 ERA with 41 strikeouts and 21 walks over 38 innings. Vassar recorded a 4.78 ERA with 24 strikeouts and just nine walks in 26.1 innings over 20 games (two starts) in his first year at Vanguard in 2022. The southpaw began his collegiate career at Bellevue Community College by posting a 1.91 ERA with 29 strikeouts and only eight walks in 28.1 innings over eight relief outings as a freshman in 2021. 

“I feel like Quincy is the kind of guy who summarizes AppleSox baseball,” Darlington said. “He’s that local kid who grew up watching the AppleSox and always wanted to be part of it. Now he’s had his time the last two summers to be a huge part of us. He’s coming back to put his mark on not only the wins and the losses but the record book as well as he is creeping in on a lot of AppleSox records. He’s a guy who, when I look back at my first two seasons, I can’t help but look back and smile because of the dedication and commitment he has for the AppleSox. He’s always the first guy when the season ends who tells you he’s coming back when you haven’t even offered any contracts yet. It’s going to be awesome to have him back for a third summer.”

Jadon Williamson proved himself as perhaps the most dominant multi-inning relief pitcher in the WCL last summer. He tied for third on the AppleSox in innings pitched despite making all 10 of his appearances in relief. He also tied for the team lead in strikeouts (42), also tied for the seventh-most in the WCL en route to earning All-WCL Second Team honors. Williamson recorded five outings of at least four innings in the regular season and then tossed 7.1 innings out of the bullpen on Aug. 8 in the postseason. His most important performance came on Aug. 3 when he tossed 5.2 scoreless innings and struck out seven against Bellingham in a 3-1 win. Williamson finished the summer with a 1.63 ERA and allowed one run over 7.1 innings in one postseason appearance. 

The Longview native is in his first season at Lewis-Clark State College after two seasons at Lower Columbia College that he concluded by earning NWAC Tournament MVP thanks to only allowing one run and striking out 14 over 8.2 innings of relief in the 2023 NWAC Championship Game against Tacoma. He posted a 0.43 ERA with 29 strikeouts and seven walks over 21 innings in five games last spring. 

Williamson’s first year with the AppleSox came prior to joining Lower Columbia as he pitched in two games late in the 2021 season. He spent 2022 with Cowlitz and recorded a 4.11 ERA with 26 strikeouts and 14 walks over 19.2 innings in 16 games.

“He was our horse in the bullpen,” Darlington said “It got into the sixth or seventh inning and you could hand him the rock and know what you’re getting. Up to a mid-90’s fastball at times, big physical body and has everything he needs. This is a kid who it wouldn’t surprise you to see his name in the draft some day. He’s just got to keep working and I know he will. It’ll be fun to see the improvements that he made from last summer.” 

The 2024 season begins on May 31 as the AppleSox host the Port Angeles Lefties at 6:25 p.m. at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. The AppleSox have 31 home games and play until mid-August. The franchise’s five West Coast League championships are second-most in league history and head coach Mitch Darlington’s club has scored the most runs by any team in the WCL the last two seasons. Season ticket packages are available for purchase now at applesox.com/season-tickets.

Listen to the latest edition of the Wenatchee AppleSox Podcast below as broadcaster Joel Norman caught up with Quincy Vassar to talk about pitching in a third summer with the AppleSox.