Cloyd’s Big Day Leads AppleSox To Win

Evan Cloyd finished a triple away from hitting for the cycle and the Wenatchee AppleSox defeated the Victoria HarbourCats, 11-10, on Thursday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

Wenatchee (20-10, 2-1 second half) earned its ninth series win and improved to 11-4 at home with two different five-run innings. They surrendered the game’s first run in the top of the first but tied it in the second before a five spot in the third. Victoria (15-15, 1-2 second half) got within four runs with one in the sixth before Wenatchee scored five more times that inning. The HarbourCats recorded back-to-back four-run innings in the seventh and eighth.

Cloyd launched his first home run on a solo shot to open the second, doubled in two runs in the third, singled in a run in the sixth and singled again in the eighth. He also drew a walk in the fifth in his first multi-hit night of the summer.

Roberto Gonzalez reached base three times with a hit by pitch and two walks and also scored twice. Max Hartman also scored twice and leads the West Coast League with 29 runs. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI single in the sixth. Hartman is tied with Elijah Pelayo (June 20-30) for the longest hitting streak by an AppleSox player this summer and is five games away from matching the longest in the WCL.

Cam Hoiland (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings to earn his first win. He surrendered an unearned run in the first inning and then induced two double plays to end the next two innings. JD Goodcase got the final six outs and twice stranded the tying run on the basepaths to earn his first save of the summer.

James Castagnola gave the AppleSox the lead permanently in the third with a 2-RBI bases-loaded single for his fourth and fifth runs driven in of the series after three on Wednesday night. Cloyd followed two batters later with a 2-RBI double before Garrett Cutting grounded out to short to plate the fifth run of the third.

Cloyd added another RBI single in the sixth to drive in the final run of the frame after Hartman’s RBI single and Jake Larson’s bases-clearing 3-RBI double.

The HarbourCats made it interesting with a huge rally in the seventh and eighth. Goodcase allowed a single to the first batter that he faced in the eighth but stranded him at second. He got two quick outs in the ninth before an error but again got out of it on a ground ball to end the game.

Wenatchee won the season series against Victoria, 4-2, and improved to 18-6 in division play. The AppleSox now travel to Nanaimo to face the NightOwls for the first time this summer. First pitch on Friday night at Serauxmen Stadium is at 6:35.