BLACK BEARS HAND APPLESOX GAME-TWO LOSS

WENATCHEE, Wash. – The Wenatchee AppleSox (18-14, 3-2 second half) lost 12-4 to the Cowlitz Black Bears (15-17, 4-1 second half), to take a 2-0 lead in the series, and earn their first road series win at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium, all-time, Wednesday night.

Wenatchee scored first, with a solo home run in the second inning for Josh Zamora. It was Zamora’s second home run of the season.

The AppleSox added on in the third inning against Cowlitz started Christian Cosby (3-1), with an RBI single for Evan Johnson. It was good for a 2-0 AppleSox lead, and was Johnson’s league-leading 39th RBI of the year. He is now 9 RBI away from the AppleSox single-season record.

Hunter Boyd (3-1) was fantastic in his first three innings, only surrendering one hit, and he had retired 8-straight batters into the fourth inning. That is when Cowlitz capitalized on two Wenatchee errors, and another two passed balls, for a 4-2 lead.

In the fifth, Cowlitz added another on a sacrifice fly, and Boyd’s night was done after five innings. He did register seven strikeouts and now leads the league in strikeouts (45).

Steen Fredrickson was first in relief. He gave up three home runs in the next three innings, as Cowlitz totaled its sixth home run of the series. The Black Bears entered the series with only seven home runs in total on the season.

Delvin Granberg hit his second home run of the series during the flurry. Another two Cowlitz runs scored in the ninth off of Mike Townsend, on two AppleSox errors, following a walk.

Wenatchee did plate two runs in the ninth inning off of Kevin West. Connor McCord hit a solo home run. It was his first home run of the season. Dugan Shirer also added an RBI single.

McCord (3-1) will get the start for the AppleSox Thursday. The series finale wraps up with a 7:05 p.m first pitch at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium.