AppleSox, HarbourCats Clash In Postseason Again
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GAME 1 - NORTH DIVISION SERIES
First Pitch: 6:35 p.m.
Park: Serauxmen Stadium
Watch: wcleague.watch.pixellot.tv
Listen: kcsyfm.com
GAME NOTES
Wenatchee Probable Pitcher: Garrett Ahern gets the ball for the series opener, making his third road start of the summer… The incoming sophomore at Grand Canyon went 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA, 31 strikeouts, 10 walks and 31 hits over 33 innings in eight starts in the regular season… Ahern started against the HarbourCats on Fireworks Night, July 3rd at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium and allowed three unearned runs over four innings… The AppleSox won six-of-eight games that Ahern pitched in, including each of the first six…
Victoria Probable Pitcher: Carson Cormier faces the AppleSox for a third time this summer and gets the start for Game 1 of the North Division Series… He went 1-0 with a 1.45 ERA, 34 strikeouts, eight walks and 16 hits over 24.2 innings in 12 games (three starts)… Cormier did not allow any runs in a combined 3.1 innings vs. Wenatchee on June 9 and July 4…The incoming freshman at TCU earned a WCL All-Star berth last month and only allowed four earned runs all summer…
Rivalry Renewed: For the second straight season the Victoria HarbourCats and the Wenatchee AppleSox will match up in the North Division Series… The difference between this year and last is that this time the AppleSox have home-field advantage after being swept last season… Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 will take place at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium… Game 1 is at Serauxmen Stadium in Nanaimo because Royal Athletic Park is Victoria is being prepared to host a Canadian Football League game on Aug. 31… Wenatchee and Victoria also matched up in the North Division Series in 2019, with the HarbourCats winning in three games… The AppleSox won four-of-six games against the HarbourCats in the regular-season series this summer… The winner of this series will face the winner of the Edmonton-Bellingham matchup on Wednesday in the North Division Championship Game…
Last Game: The AppleSox concluded the regular season with a 35-19 record thanks to a 10-4 win over the Bend Elks on Thursday night at Vince Genna Stadium… Max Hartman reached base five times and scored three times to finish tied with Portland’s Tanner Griffith for the WCL lead with 51 runs, marking the third straight season that an AppleSox player led or tied for the WCL lead in runs...
The HarbourCats: Concluded the regular season with an 11-8 win over Corvallis to salvage a three-game series… Finished 2024 29-25 with the fourth-best record in the North Division… Won 11 of their final 15 games, including nine straight July 22-Aug. 1… Advanced to the WCL Championship Game last summer… Have made the playoffs in each of their four seasons led by head coach Todd Haney…
Batting Champion: Aidan Dougherty finished the regular season a WCL-best .380 to tie Connor Spencer of the 2013 AppleSox for the best batting average with at least 40 games played in a single summer… The incoming junior at UConn finished the regular season on a 10-game hitting streak while also leading the WCL with five triples… Dougherty joined Payden Cawley-Lamb (.350 in 2011) and Curtis Van Wyck (.352 in 2007) as the only AppleSox to ever win a West Coast League batting crown…
Back In The Playoffs: This is the third consecutive season that the AppleSox have qualified for the WCL Postseason and the fourth time in the last five seasons… Wenatchee has made the playoffs in 16-of-its-24 seasons and is looking to win its seventh league championship this summer… The AppleSox won the Pacific International League crown in 2003 before winning the WCL title in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2012… Head coach Mitch Darlington has qualified for the playoffs in all three seasons at the helm and his 99 regular-season victories are second-most in franchise history…
Second Half Champs: The AppleSox have guaranteed the top record in the North Division in the second half thanks to Victoria and Bellingham both losing last night… The AppleSox are 16-10 in the second half and already won the first half with an 18-9 mark… Their 34-19 overall record is third-best in the WCL behind Corvallis (41-13) and Portland (39-14)… Wenatchee has ensured that it will host the North Division Championship Game on Aug. 14 if it advances that far…
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)…
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...
