AppleSox Host HarbourCats On Fourth Of July

First Pitch: 6:35 p.m.
Park: Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium
Tickets: applesox.com/schedule
Watch: wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv
Listen: kcsyfm.com


GAME NOTES

Wenatchee Probable Pitcher: Cam Hoiland makes his second start and third appearance of the summer in the rubber match… Hoiland appeared in relief on Sunday at Bellingham and surrendered two runs on two walks and a hit in the seventh… He made his summer debut in the mound June 24 with four strikeouts over four shutout innings against Kelowna… The incoming senior at Cal Poly recorded a 2.35 ERA with five strikeouts and one walk in three games this spring…

Victoria Probable Pitcher: Payton Hawkinson pitches for the fifth time and starts for the third time this summer tonight… He has a 0.90 ERA but did allow a run on a leadoff solo home run by Aidan Dougherty in the ninth inning in his first outing of the summer June 8 vs. Wenatchee… Hawkinson has struck out eight, walked six and allowed six hits over 10 innings… He has twice pitched a season-high four innings and most recently tied a scoreless third inning on Sunday…

Last Night: The AppleSox scored five times over the seventh and eighth innings to rally back from two different deficits and win, 7-6… Wenatchee trailed 3-2 entering the seventh before James Castagnola hit a 2-RBI single to put the AppleSox in the lead… Victoria stormed back with a three-run top of the eighth but could not hold the two-run lead… Jake Larson and Castagnola drew back-to-back two-out bases-loaded walks before Roberto Gonzalez scored the eventual winning run on a wild pitch…

Rubber Match: Tonight is the first rubber match that the AppleSox are playing since June 20… Wenatchee has won three-of-four times in the final game of a three-game series where both teams split the first two games... A win tonight would give the AppleSox their seventh series victory but a loss would be their fourth series loss…

Clutch Castagnola: James Castagnola has played a huge role in the late innings in the AppleSox’ last two games… He drove in three runs over two plate appearances last night after previously playing two runs over the eighth and ninth innings on Sunday… Castagnola has 8 RBI already in six games with five of them coming in his last two games…

Free Passes: The HarbourCats’ pitching staff has done an excellent job at limiting walks in the first half of games but has faltered in the later innings the last two nights… AppleSox hitters have not drawn any walks in the first five innings the last two nights but have then gone on to walk a combined 11 times over the final four innings… Victoria pitching has issued 104 walks, the third-fewest in the West Coast League…

First Half Champs: For the first time since the two-half playoff berths began being awarded in 2016 the AppleSox have won the North Division first half title and have locked up home-field advantage as the top seed in the first round of the playoffs… This is the 16th playoff berth in franchise history and the fourth in the last five seasons… Wenatchee had to wait for the result of Edmonton's game on Monday before officially claiming the title… The AppleSox and the Riverhawks both finished with 18-9 records in the first half but Wenatchee (+37) held a better run differential than the Riverhawks (+35)…