AppleSox Earn 10th Series Win

The Wenatchee AppleSox rallied for three runs over the final two innings and defeated the Kamloops NorthPaws, 5-4, Thursday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Wenatchee (28-14, 10-5 second half) improved to 12-2 in the third game of a series and 14-4 when being out-hit by its opponent as it won its fourth series in five opportunities in the second half. A day after being held to less than five runs for the first time since July 11, the AppleSox scored exactly five runs despite hitting .185 for the game.

James Castagnola led the offense with two hits, including a solo home run in the fourth for his second of the summer. Both of those home runs came in the series with the NorthPaws after he launched his first of the season Tuesday night. He tied the game up 2-2 in the fourth with the opposite-field shot.

The AppleSox scored first thanks to an Aidan Dougherty sacrifice fly in the first inning but would not hold a lead again until the eighth. The NorthPaws scored twice in the second on a pair of back-to-back two-out singles after two walks to open the inning. Kamloops regained the lead in the sixth before adding an insurance run on a pair of doubles in the seventh.

Wenatchee answered with two runs in the bottom of the seventh before taking the lead again for good the next inning. Max Hartman hit an RBI single to the gap between first and second before Aidan Dougherty reached on a fielder’s choice a batter later to tie the game up, 4-4. Brady Bean drove in the eventual winning run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth. Wenatchee filled up the bases with two walks and an error on a sacrifice bunt but only got one run.

Caleb Costa struck out three over a season-high five innings. Andrew Monson (5-0) surrendered a run in the seventh but recovered to toss back-to-back 1-2-3 innings to close out the game. He punched out five and moved into a tie with teammate Carson Boesel, Corvallis’s Kaden Segel and Edmonton’s Vicarte Domingo for the WCL lead in victories.

Wenatchee battles Edmonton on the road Friday night for the first game of a six-game road trip. The AppleSox dropped a home series to the Riverhawks two weeks ago for their only series loss of the second half. First pitch Friday night is at 6:05.