APPLESOX FACE SOUTH SECOND-HALF LEADERS

The AppleSox are back at home to open a six-game homestand, and will play at 7:05 p.m., 6:05 p.m., and 7:05 p.m. this weekend/Monday. 

WENATCHEE APPLESOX vs. Gresham GreyWolves
Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium     |       7:05 p.m.  
R- Justin Blatner (2-1) vs. L- Gabe Benavides (1-3)
GAME NOTES       |       APPLESOX STATS       |       LISTEN LIVE

The Wenatchee AppleSox (10-20, 0-3, 4-8 North), tied for fourth place in the North Division are at home to take on a streaky Gresham GreyWolves team (14-16, 3-0, 7-8 South), that has jumped out to an early advantage in the WCL South division (second half)...the AppleSox beat the GreyWolves 2-1 in a series early this year...the AppleSox are playing their 17th franchise season (12th in the WCL) and are led by second-year skipper, AJ Proszek (39-50) (.438), who is in his 4th season with the Sox...Proszek is assisted by Kyle Hunt and Colton Loomis, both in their first seasons.

THURSDAY NIGHT - DOUBLEHEADER -- APPLESOX 3, KNIGHTS 5 | APPLESOX 1, KNIGHTS 4
CORVALLIS –  The Wenatchee AppleSox (10-20, 0-3 Second Half), were swept in Thursday night’s scheduled doubleheader with the Corvallis Knights (18-9, 0-0), 5-3 and 4-1 at Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Ore... Wenatchee scored first in the opener of the doubleheader...an RBI triple, courtesy of Haydan Hastings in the second inning, resulted in an early 1-0 lead for the AppleSox...Jimmy Dobrash pitched well, tossing three innings of shutout baseball to start the game...the Knights got a leadoff double and began getting aggressive on the base paths in the fourth...two runs came to score and Corvallis scored five runs in total during the fourth and fifth innings off of Dobrash and reliever Dylan Riddle (0-2)...Jacob Fricke came in and won the ballgame with four scoreless innings of relief for Corvallis...in game two, Corvallis carried over momentum from late in game one to claim a first-inning lead off of Luke Mattson (1-5)...Jordan Rathbone brought the AppleSox back on an RBI triple in the second inning...it was Rathbone’s fourth of the year, two shy of the team’s single-season record, set by Keston Hiura last summer...as a team, the AppleSox have tied the team single-season record for triples with the 2011 and 2015 AppleSox at 13...again, Corvallis scored all the late runs plating one in the fourth and two in the fifth, for the 4-1 win...all of the runs were charged to Mattson, with Miceal Taylor throwing a fine 1 2/3 innings scoreless in relief...the AppleSox couldn’t figure out starter Branden Cutsforth (1-0) in the second game. He tossed the full seven innings, earning the win for the Knights. 

TONIGHT'S NOTES
APPLESOX GOING FOR FIRST WIN OF SECOND HALF
The AppleSox face a team that they had quite a bit of success against in the earier part of 2016...Wenatchee went 2-1 in the first series meeting with the Gresham GreyWolves...Wenatchee almost had a sweep, leading into the seventh inning of game three, but a 6-run frame for the GreyWolves upended the AppleSox bid for the sweep...Gresham scored 11-unanswered runs after falling behind 6-0 in the game...Wenatchee hit three home runs in the series at Gresham...two of which were credited to Otis Statum. 

TOGLIA AMONGST WCL LEADERS
Michael Toglia has been having a great pre-All Star break run for the ApleSox...Toglia is second in the WCL in runs batted in (18), and ranks first in the North...his three home runs have him tied for second in the league, and first in the North...two triples has Toglia tied for third in the league, and his 23 hits ranks him in the league’s top-25.

THE TRIPLE THREAT
13 triples on the 2016 season has tied this current AppleSox team with the 2015 and 2011 squads for most in a season, with 30 games left on the schedule...Jordan Rathbone has hit four triples, which has him ranked first in the WCL and two away from tying last year’s Keston Hiura for the single-season team record.

HOT AND NOT... AT THE HALFWAY POINT
Halfway through the 2016 season, Victoria is putting up amazing numbers...the HarbourCats have won 23 of the last 24 games...Gresham has won 4-of-5 and Corvallis and Bellingham have each won 5-of-7...Wenatchee has lost 11-of-13..Kelowna has lost four straight and 6-of-7, and Cowlitz has lost 4-of-5.

TRYING TO REPLICATE
Wenatchee needs to replicate its offensive performance agaisnt Gresham from the first series meeting...the Sox hit .313 with 18 runs batted in, five doubles, two triples, and three home runs...the Sox had a .400 on-base percentage and slugged .473.

A REMATCH
Both Justin Blatner and Gabe Benavides are making their second starts against their respective opponents...a great 5.2 innings of shutout baseball led the AppleSox to a 9-1 win...Gabe Benavides pitched in Gresham’s last win versus the AppleSox, lasting 4.1 innings, giving up six runs, five of which were earned...he got credit for a no-decision in the comeback win.