Three Big Innings Lead AppleSox To Weekend-Opening Win

The Wenatchee AppleSox erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third and defeated the Yakima Valley Pippins, 9-2, on Friday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Wenatchee (24-13, 6-4 second half) got its best production from its 2-3-4 hitters as Max Hartman, Aidan Dougherty and Evan Cloyd combined to drive in six runs and score four runs. Hartman doubled twice, walked two times and scored two runs. Dougherty drove in four with three hits while also stealing his team-leading 15th bag. Cloyd homered in the first and doubled in a run in the third.

David James (4-0) moved into a tie with Carson Boesel for the team lead in victories with a season-high matching 2.2 innings. James did not allow any runs or hits and struck out one. He entered with a runner at first and one out in the fifth before firing back-to-back shutout innings in the sixth and seventh.

The AppleSox scored five runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good and break a 2-2 tie. Cam Hoiland recorded a leadoff double for his first of three hits on the night and then scored three batters later on a Dougherty double before he scored on a double by Cloyd. Jonathan Fitz hit a two-out 2-RBI single before Hoiland singled in the final run as the 10th batter of the inning.

The 2-3-4 hitters put the AppleSox on the board first in the bottom of the first inning when Hartman doubled and scored on a groundout by Dougherty before Cloyd hit an opposite-field home run for his second long ball of the summer. The Pippins answered with a two-spot in the top of the second but that would be all they would get.

Wenatchee tallied two more in the bottom of the eighth when Dougherty hit a two-out 2-RBI single. His stolen base in the sixth inning marked his team-leading 15th and moved him into a tie with Enzo Apodaca (2021) for the eighth-most in a single summer with the AppleSox.

The series continues Saturday night as All-Star right-handed pitcher Garrett Ahern gets the start. First pitch for each of the final two games of this series is 7:05 and tickets are available at applesox.com/schedule