Klassen Posts Strong Debut as Sox Fall in Series Finale

WENATCHEE, WA - Blake Klassen reached base four times in his AppleSox debut, but the Sox lost to the Victoria HarbourCats, 8-5, on Thursday night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.

The incoming freshman at Arizona was added to the AppleSox roster on Wednesday, then started at third base on Thursday. He was hit by a pitch twice, walked, singled, scored a run and stole two bases. Klassen also made several solid plays defensively over at first base. However, his strong play was not enough to overcome an early hole.

The AppleSox allowed five runs in the second inning to get into an early hole. Due to an error, none of those runs were earned, but nine HarbourCats came to the plate in the lengthy frame.

In the third inning, the Sox scored their first two runs of the game. Johnny Graham led off with a solo home run over the right-field fence for his first of the season. After Ryan Altenberger walked, he was erased on a fielder’s choice in which Johnny Sage reached first base safely. Sage then went to second base on an errant pickoff attempt and moved to third base on a passed ball. He scored two batters later on a double to shallow left field by Hunter Montgomery.

After the HarbourCats got one run in the fifth and another in the sixth, the Sox responded in the bottom of the inning with a three-spot. Klassen walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Trent Sellers. With two outs, Graham singled and Altenberger walked to load up the bases. After a pitching change, Sage greeted the new pitcher with a two-run double to left-center to cut the deficit to two. However, the HarbourCats got a run in the eighth to expand their lead to three runs.

The AppleSox hit the road for the first time in the 2019 season on Friday as they play the Yakima Valley Pippins at 7:05 p.m.