Peery Slam, Big Innings Help Sox Sweep NorthPaws

Cannon Peery hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and the Wenatchee AppleSox swept the Kamloops NorthPaws with a 15-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Norbrock Stadium.

Wenatchee (12-3) improved to 7-2 away from home and two games ahead of the Edmonton Riverhawks for first place in the North Division with 12 games remaining in the first half. The AppleSox extended their season-best winning streak to five games with a five-game fifth and a six-run ninth.

Peery drove in four runs for the second straight day one swing of the bat. His grand slam put a cap on five straight batters to reach and score with two outs in the fifth. Peery drove in eight of Wenatchee’s 38 runs over the last two days and recorded six hits as the cleanup hitter.

The AppleSox needed his slam and that big fifth inning to take the lead for good after falling behind two different times early on. A two-out RBI double in the first and a two-out solo home run in the second put the NorthPaws ahead, 3-2, until the fifth inning.

Luca Boscarino tripled in Peery after a leadoff single in the second and Boscarino came in to score on a suicide squeeze bunt single by Hunter Friedberg. The AppleSox used another bunt to tie the game up went Max Hartman reached on a drag bunt to plate Elijah Pelayo in the fifth.

Pelayo hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Antonio Gianni hit an RBI single in the seventh to add to the big offensive output. Five straight singles to open up the ninth inning pushed the game out of reach as 11 men came to the plate and six scored.

Wenatchee’s 12-3 start is its best start to a season since 2012 and is tied for the second-best start through 15 games in franchise history after a 14-1 start to the 2011 season. The AppleSox also opened the 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2009 season 12-3.

The AppleSox return home Monday night for a non-league game against the DubSea Fish Sticks before getting back on the road to face the Yakima Valley Pippins Tuesday-Thursday. Tickets for Monday’s game are available at applesox.com/schedule and it’s Mascot Night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.