AppleSox Take First Lead In Ninth, Beat NightOwls

The Wenatchee AppleSox scored two runs on an error in the top of the ninth inning to defeat the Nanaimo NightOwls, 5-4, on Friday night at Serauxmen Stadium.

Cannon Peery doubled twice, scored twice and also drove in two runs to give Wenatchee (21-10, 3-1 second half) its third straight win. Jackson Campbell (1-0) fired four scoreless innings in relief to keep Nanaimo (12-15) at bay until the AppleSox’ ninth-inning rally.

Wenatchee trailed 4-3 entering the ninth inning before the AppleSox scored twice on an error. Max Hartman and James Castagnola set the table for the rally with a walk and a hit by pitch, respectively. Evan Cloyd put down a sacrifice bunt to move both men up 90 feet. Peery hit a high chopper over the mound that Nanaimo shortstop Nevin Noonan intended to throw to first but could not corral. The ball hit off his glove and ricocheted to where his second baseman would have been. Hartman broke for home on contact and immediately scored and Castagnola scored all the way from second without hesitation.

The NightOwls threatened in the bottom of the ninth on back-to-back two-out singles but David James shut the door for his second save.

Nanaimo raced out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first with all three runs coming with two outs. Two RBI triples around an RBI single put the NightOwls in the lead eight batters into the game. They added another two-out run in the fourth for their final run of the night.

Peery helped the AppleSox strike in the top of the second on a one-out double before Antonio Gianni hit a sacrifice fly two batters later. Peery drove in Cloyd on another double after a leadoff hit by pitch in the fourth.

The AppleSox go for the series win on Saturday night when they face the NightOwls again at 6:35. Quincy Vassar starts and is six strikeouts away from becoming the AppleSox all-time leader.