AppleSox Look To Earn 12th Series Win

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: Garrett Ahern makes his eighth start of the summer and sixth at home tonight… Though he picked up a no-decision, last Saturday marked the first game that he pitched in that the AppleSox lost… Ahern surrendered two runs (one earned) over four innings at Edmonton while picking up two strikeouts, one walk and four hits… The right-handed from Grand Canyon has fired at least four innings in seven starts and has only allowed more than three runs once… Overall, Ahern is 2-0 with a 2.79 ERA, 27 strikeouts, nine walks, and 27 hits over 29 innings…

Nanaimo Probable Pitcher: Incoming Cal Poly freshman Caden Pearlman faces the AppleSox for the first time in his seventh appearance for the NightOwls… He is 0-2 with a 4.69 ERA, 17 strikeouts, 10 walks and 14 hits over 15.1 innings in six games (four starts)… Pearlman last pitched July 27 vs. Bellingham, allowing four runs on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 4.1 innings to suffer his second loss of the summer… He had not allowed an earned run in his previous three appearances prior to last Saturday…

Last Game: The AppleSox rallied for 10 runs over the fourth and fifth innings to overcome a 3-0 deficit and defeat the NightOwls, 10-7… Kanoa Morisaki hit a go-ahead 2-RBI single in the fourth to score the third and fourth runs of the frame before Wenatchee erupted for six runs in the fifth… The AppleSox despite being outhit 15-7 and improved to 14-8 in those instances…

10-Or-More: The top offense in the WCL recorded its 14th double-digit effort at the plate last night… Wenatchee has only lost once when scoring 10-or-more runs in 2024…The AppleSox lead the WCL with 355 runs and a .288 batting average… Wenatchee is 41 runs away from breaking its franchise record set in 2022… The AppleSox are also trying to top the 2012 team’s .292 batting average to set another record…

Canadian Dominance: Last night’s victory improved the AppleSox 20-8 against Canadian teams this summer… Postseason included, Wenatchee is 60-23 against teams from Canada since Mitch Darlington became head coach in 2022… Wenatchee went 23-9 last season and 17-6 in 2022…

August Departures/Arrivals: The AppleSox have several key players departing but also a few new faces coming to town this weekend… Carson Boesel, Jackson Campbell, Caleb Costa, David James, Josh Mejia and Cannon Peery all concluded their summers after Wednesday’s game but Chase Hansen, Kaden Larson, Carson Ohland, Reece Vassar and Cooper Whitton will look to make their 2024 debut this weekend… Ohland and Whitton both played for the AppleSox last season while Larson is a pitching coach Mike Callia Lower Columbia College connection and Vassar is the younger brother of AppleSox southpaw Quincy Vassar…

30 Wins: For the second straight season and for the sixth time in franchise history the AppleSox have earned at least 30 wins in a season... It’s the first time that Wenatchee has hit 30 victories in back-to-back summers since 2011-12... The AppleSox will need to finish 4-1 over their final five games to match last summer’s 37-17 record for the second-most wins in a single season in team history...

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… The AppleSox and the Riverhawks both finished with 18-9 records in the first half but Wenatchee (+37) held a better run differential (+35)…

Stretch Run: Only five games remain in the regular season and the AppleSox are still pushing to lock up home-field advantage for the North Division Championship Game and the West Coast League Championship Game, if they can reach them... Wenatchee’s 33-16 mark is currently tops in the entire North Division and would earn them home-field advantage for the North Division Championship Game if the season ended today and they reached it... The AppleSox have the third-best record in the WCL behind Corvallis (37-12) and Portland (35-14)...