APPLESOX WELCOME LEAGUE LEADERS, BEND

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The Bend Elks come to Wenatchee sporting the WCL's best record at 22-5.

The Bend Elks come to Wenatchee sporting the WCL's best record at 22-5.

GAME NOTES 7/6
BASEBALL BLURBS 7/6

APPLESOX WELCOME LEAGUE LEADERS
The Wenatchee AppleSox (14-14, 11-13), fourth place in the WCL East, face the hottest team in the WCL, the Bend Elks (22-5, 22-5), after sweeping the Klamath Falls Gems in back-to-back 4-0 shutout wins...last night marked the AppleSox fourth shutout of the season...the AppleSox are playing their 16th franchise season (11th in the WCL) and are led by first-year skipper, AJ Proszek (14-14) (.500), who is in his 3rd season with the Sox, after managing the pitching staff in 2013 and 2014...Proszek is assisted by Miles Kizer and Cory LeBrun, both in their first seasons.

LAST NIGHT
For the second-consecutive night, the AppleSox threw a shutout for a 4-0 win at Paul Thomas Sr. Field...it was the AppleSox second-straight 4-0 win and the third time the Klamath Falls Gems had been shutout in 2015 (2-of-3 by AppleSox)...both games also finshed in a rapid 2 hours and 4 minutes...Wenatchee opened scoring in the first inning for the second-consecutive night , with Keston Hiura driving in Joey Jansen...the duo repeated the scoring trend for a 2-0 lead in the fifth...the Sox doubled their lead in the sixth on a Nick Nyquist RBI triple, and a Scott Hilpert RBI groundout...it was Nyquist’s second triple this season (first in league play)...it was the Sox fourth triple in league play this season...Zach Haggett threw seven innings  of three-hit baseball to earn his third win of the season (second for the AppleSox behind Hunter Wells’ 4)...Brian Gadsby got the final two innings in relief, holding the Gems.

WELLS NAMED CO-WCL PLAYER OF WEEK
Hunter Wells is rolling for the AppleSox...his 1.11 ERA is third-lowest in the WCL, his 33 strikeouts rank second amongst qualifying pitchers, and his four wins have him tied for first with Patrick McGuff, of the visiting Elks, for the league lead...Wells threw eight innings in a shuttout win over Klamath Falls, July 4, and only gave up four hits, while striking out six and walking two...he shared honors with West Tunnell, who was 12-for-26 last week for Bend, with 3 home runs, 8 runs scored, 8 RBI, and a .500 on-base percentage...Elks players have received at least a share of the honor in four of the last five weeks (Tunnell, Patrick Flynn, Cadyn Grenier, Tyler Davis).

PITCHING HEATING UP
The AppleSox pitching staff is throwing to the tune of a 1.65 ERA through five games this month...team had a 4.26 ERA in the month of June...AppleSox pitchers haven’t allowed a run in the last 20 innings...last night marked the fifth time in team history that a pitching staff has executed back-to-back shutouts (record: three-consecutive [June 2007, all against Kelowna - 2-0, 6-0, 5-0]).

BEST SHORT STRETCH OF SEASON
The AppleSox are 4-1 in their last five...their best five game stretch of league games this season...Keston Hiura is the team’s leading hitter over the last five, with a .368 average (7x19)...he is tied for most runs scored at five, and leads in RBI with six...Joey Jansen is second-leading hitter over last five, with a .353 mark (7x21, 4RBI)...as a team, the AppleSox have not had a losing game decided by less than a run since June 25 (three-consecutive losses)...the team’s current three-game winning streak matches the season high, set after a three game sweep of Medford, June 15-17.

BEND’S BATS; LEADERS IN CATEGORIES:
Average (.336), OPS (.898), SLG (.484), OBP (.414), total bases (510), RBI (204), home runs (25), tied-triples (7), doubles (67), hits (354), runs (240), at bats (1,054).

APPLESOX ALL-TIME
Through the first fifteen franchise seasons and 838 games, the AppleSox own a 527-311 (.628) record...the AppleSox are 387-211 (.647) since the inception of the WCL in 2005...Wenatchee is 336-193 (.634) all-time in WCL league games (including playoffs), and 55-15 (.786) all-time in non-league contests since 2005...all-time, the AppleSox are 418-268 (.609) against league opponents (including playoffs) and 107-40 (.728) vs. non-league teams...Wenatchee owns a 318-160 (.665) all-time home record, and is 219-170 (.565) on the road...Wenatchee is 34-28 all-time in extra-inning games.