Wenatchee AppleSox Baseball Club

The Wenatchee AppleSox (No. 13 in Perfect Game USA's rankings of the top collegiate summer league teams) and Kitsap BlueJackets are set to square off tonight at 7:05 PST in the final regular season series for both teams at Paul Thomas, Sr. Baseball Stadium.

The Sox (34-17) have clinched first place in the West Coast League's East Division and are coming off a split of the series with Bellingham. This marks the fifth straight year Wenatchee has clinched the pennant.

Kitsap (14-37) struggled to keep the wheels turning after sweeping their season-opening series with Cowlitz. That series is the only one the BlueJackets have won this season.

The Sox and BlueJackets played their first series of the season June 26-28 in Bremerton, Wash., and the Sox swept all three games, 10-6, 6-4 and 7-2, respectively. The series between the two squads dates back to 2005, and Wenatchee leads it 26-16. The Sox have won the last eight.

East Division Playoffs are Set

With the split of the series with Bellingham, the Sox clinched the East Division title, and Bellingham (31-20) has clinched the final playoff spot with Kelowna's loss to Walla Walla on Sunday. The divisional playoffs are a best-of-three round that will be played on August 11-13.

The first game (August 11) will be played in Bellingham, as the second-seeded team hosts the first game. The series will then move to Wenatchee for Game 2 (August 12), and, if need be, Game 3 (August 13). The times for Game 2 and 3 (if played) will be at 7:05 P.M. PST.

Purchase your tickets here or at the Town Toyota Center box office. General admission tickets will also be made available at the Paul Thomas, Sr. Baseball Stadium ticket booth, which opens one hour prior to game time.

Hippi to Coach in Final Regular Season Series

The Wenatchee/Kitsap series marks the end of an era. AppleSox pitching coach Rob Hippi will be coaching in his final regular season home series.

Hippi will be making his return to his alma mater, Central Washington University, to serve as the pitching coach for the Wildcats. The move will bring Hippi out of retirement, but he said he's excited to have the opportunity to give back to his alma mater and was flattered CWU came after him.

Hippi has spent the past seven seasons as the pitching coach for Wenatchee.