Five AppleSox Earn 2024 All-WCL Honors
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Five members of the 2024 Wenatchee AppleSox received All-West Coast League honors in the league’s end-of-the-season recognition Wednesday.
Aidan Dougherty earned First Team All-WCL as outfielder while Max Hartman and Quincy Vassar earned Second Team honors as an outfielder and a starting pitcher, respectively. Evan Canfield and Jonathan Fitz received All-WCL Honorable Mention.
Dougherty led the WCL with a .380 average and five triples. He finished tied for the third-most hits, tied for the third-most RBI, scored the seventh-most runs (41) and tied for the seventh-most stolen bases (21). The incoming junior at UConn tied with Connor Spencer (2013) for the best AVG by a Sox player in a single season who played in a minimum of 40 games. He has the third-most steals by an AppleSox player in a single season and is tied for the third-most in an AppleSox career. Dougherty thrived with the bases loaded, going 8-for-11 with 22 RBI when batting with AppleSox at each base. He recorded two different five-hit games, marking the seventh and eighth times in the 24-season franchise history. Dougherty became the second AppleSox player to record five singles in a 5-for-6 summer debut June 1 vs. Port Angeles and then went 5-for-6 with a walkoff double in the 10th June 13 vs. Bellingham. The Snohomish native ended the summer on a 10-game hit streak July 26-August 8 and hit .487 over it with seven straight multi-hit games in the middle of it.
Hartman was an everyday regular for the AppleSox, appearing in a team-high 51 of a possible 54 games. He became the ninth player in franchise history to appear in at least 50 games. The incoming junior at Washington State opened the season with five consecutive multi-hit games, becoming the first AppleSox player to ever record at least two hits in each of his first five games of a season. The 2024 All-Star thrived with runners in scoring position (.361), against left-handed pitchers (.437) and at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium (.358). The St. Albert, Alberta native tied Portland’s Tanner Griffith for the most runs in the WCL (51) while also tying for the fifth-most hits (64), the seventh-most at-bats (196) and the ninth-best on-base percentage (.440).
Vassar became the AppleSox’ all-time leader in strikeouts (124) and innings (130.2) in his third summer with Wenatchee. His 2.92 ERA was the fourth-best among qualified WCL pitchers and his 49.1 innings were sixth-most. The graduate senior at Vanguard tossed two complete games, first with an eight-inning and four-strikeout effort June 29 at Bellingham followed by a nine-inning, eight-strikeout game against Victoria in Game 2 of the North Division Series. Postseason included, Vassar tossed at least five innings in seven-of-10 starts. One of those three that he didn’t came when the 2024 WCL All-Star started on three days rest for a beleaguered AppleSox pitching staff June 9. The Brewster native only allowed two runs over his final 18 innings of the regular season, spanning four games.
Canfield earned All-WCL Honorable Mention for a second straight summer after becoming the third pitcher in franchise history to reach 100 strikeouts. The 2024 WCL All-Star recorded a 2.40 ERA over eight games (five starts) and punched out 34 batters over 30 innings. The incoming junior allowed one unearned run and struck out eight over eight innings June 14 at Kamloops a week after punching out nine in five innings at Victoria. Canfield went on to toss seven shutout innings to earn the win in the North Division Championship Game vs. Bellingham. The Bothell native recorded a 0.69 ERA in five games (four starts) in June, punching out 31 over 26 innings.
Fitz led all AppleSox catchers with 22 starts before also starting all five postseason games. The incoming sophomore at San Diego tied for fifth on the team with 23 RBI and drew 21 walks, good for fourth-most. Including the postseason, Fitz hit .304 over his final 28 games. The 2024 WCL All-Star recorded six multi-hit games and a .982 fielding percentage. Fitz drove in 11 runs over six straight starts July 6-23 and posted seven multi-walk games, postseason included. The Convington, Kentucky native drew seven free passes over three straight games June 19-23.
Wenatchee’s five All-WCL honorees were third-most in the North Division behind Bellingham and Edmonton’s nine apiece. The AppleSox recorded the best record in the North Division in the first half and second. Wenatchee won the 2024 North Division Championship by defeating Bellingham Aug. 14 before falling to Portland in the WCL Championship Game two days later.
