THURSDAY RUBBER MATCH GAME VS SWEETS
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The AppleSox play their last road game of 2016 tonight, hoping to sour the Sweets' playoff hopes in the series finale.
WENATCHEE APPLESOX at Walla Walla Sweets
Borleske Stadium | 7:05 p.m.
R- Ross Clevenger (1-3) vs. L- Chris Murphy (2-1)
GAME NOTES | APPLESOX STATS | LISTEN LIVE
The Wenatchee AppleSox (18-32, 8-15, 8-12 North), fifth place in the North Division are visiting the Walla Walla Sweets (27-23, 12-11, 8-12) in another must-win game for Walla Walla’s playoff hopes...the AppleSox are playing their 17th franchise season (12th in the WCL) and are led by second-year skipper, AJ Proszek (48-64) (.429), who is in his 4th season with the Sox...Proszek is assisted by Kyle Hunt and Colton Loomis, both in their first seasons.
LAST NIGHT - APPLESOX 1, WALLA WALLA 6
WALLA WALLA – The Wenatchee AppleSox (18-32, 8-15 second half), were stifled at the plate as the Walla Walla Sweets (27-23, 12-11), won 6-1, Wednesday at Borleske Stadium to even the series 1-1...early on, the AppleSox had trouble figuring out Easton Lucas (7-2)...the Pepperdine arm threw five shutout innings, and struck out seven of the first ten batters to face him, en route to a career-high nine strikeout night...the AppleSox picked up six innings from Grady Miller (3-4), who allowed four runs to score; the highest total since his first start in June against Yakima Valley...Walla Walla opened the scoring in the second inning on a one-out double for Nick Vigo...in the fifth, another three runs came off of Miller, as Vigo hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score a man with the bases loaded, and Willie MacIver supplied a 2-RBI double...in the seventh, Wenatchee answered Walla Walla with a run of its own, in an inning that could’ve yielded much more damage to the Sweets...with the bases loaded, and nobody out, Ryan Johnston forced a 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Matt Fraizer, and while it allowed a run to score, it successfully limited the damage for the Sweets...Walla Walla got its final two runs off of Nick Hoefling in relief, ending his league consecutive scoreless innings streak at 10 innings...MacIver slammed a second double for another RBI, and Coby Kauhaahaa delivered a clutch RBI single for the the 6-1 final...Kyle Narahara, second in the WCL North in saves, with 10, got the final three outs in a non-save situation for the Sweets.
TONIGHT'S NOTES
TOGLIA SWINGING
Last night, Michael Toglia extended his hitting streak to an AppleSox season-best 10 games, passing Evan Douglas’ nine-game stretch from June 4-22 earlier this season...Toglia’s stretch started on July 23 against the Kitsap BlueJackets...over the stretch, Toglia’s average has risen from .279 to .316 and he has gone 17-for-40 (.425) with 11 runs scored, 13 runs driven in, 2 HR, 8 BB, and 4 stolen bases.
LAST START FOR CLEVENGER
Tonight marks the final start of 2016 for AppleSox reliever/starter Ross Clevenger...in a flip-flop role, Clevenger has built innings both in the starting rotation and the ‘pen this summer...his last league start was in Yakima prior to the All Star Game and he gave up just two runs over five innings in a losing outing...Clevenger’s lone win this season came as a starter in Bend, June 21 when his club backed him with a nine-run second inning.
WCL PLAYOFF PICTURE GAINS CLARITY
In the North Division, Victoria in as first-half champ...one Bellingham victory or one Walla Walla defeat puts the Bells in the playoffs as the second-half champion...the only way the Sweets can make it would be to win their final four games and for the Bells to lose their final three games...in the South Division Corvallis in as first-half champ...Yakima Valley is in if Gresham loses to Corvallis tonight...with a loss the Pippins and GreyWolves could tie for first in the second half, but YV holds the tiebreaker.
HARMED BY DOUBLES
Facing the worst double-hitting team in the West Coast League, last night, the AppleSox allowed four two-baggers...it was the second-highest total of doubles allowed by Wenatchee in a single game this season.
