Darlington Adds Four Players From California Colleges

AppleSox head coach Mitch Darlington announced on Thursday the addition of four players from California colleges to the 2024 roster. Jack Haferkamp, Ryan Halamicek, Elijah Pelayo and Jarren Sanderson are four newcomers signed to come to Wenatchee this season.

Jack Haferkamp is in his senior season at Santa Fe Christian High School and will head to UC Santa Barbara this fall. The outfielder is batting .238 through seven games but hit an eye-popping .493 with six home runs last season to earn All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) honors. Haferkamp batted .337 in his junior season in 2022 and recorded 13 extra-base hits, two more than last season. 

The Carlsbad, Calif. native has racked up noteworthy honors ahead of July’s MLB Draft, including playing in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Perfect Game All-American Classic last August at Chase Field in Arizona. He also appeared on SB Live’s 2024 California preseason high school baseball all-state team and was also honored as among the top 48 2024 draft-eligible players in the pacific time zone by being named to the Area Code Select West Game in Los Angeles last month. Future Stars Series ranked Haferkamp as its 113th-best prospect on its top 200 draft-eligible high school players list last month.

We’re sure we’re going to have some major-league scouts watching him over the summer,” Darlington said. “One article that we looked into said he could go as high as the seventh round but it all depends on how his spring season goes. He’s going to play a lot of center field for us and can run down a ball in the gap. At the plate there’s a lot of power and a lot of speed, which fits into what we’re trying to do.”

Ryan Halamicek is a freshman right-handed pitcher at Cal State Northridge who has started all five games that he has pitched in so far. He had a 3.05 ERA over his first 20.2 innings before a tough outing on Mar. 16 when he surrendered six runs in five innings. Halamicek has struck out 11 and walked eight while recording a 2-2 record. 

The Yucaipa, Calif. native graduated from Redlands East Valley High School last spring.  He went 6-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 65 strikeouts as a senior. Halamicek recorded four complete games and earned all-league first team, All-CIF and All-Inland Empire honors while being named Spring Athlete of the Year in the Redlands Unified School District. He also was a water polo goalkeeper for four years and received first-team all-league as a senior.

“He has a really firm fastball with a good off-speed mix,” Darlington said. “We expect Ryan to come up here and probably be in a starting role for us throughout the summer. A guy that we can rely on on a weekly basis and a guy that we really think could be successful in this league and be a dude for us.”

Elijah Pelayo will be heading into his senior season at Cal State Bakersfield when he joins the AppleSox this summer. The infielder is batting .281 with five multi-hit games and 9 RBI through 20 games. Pelayo’s best performance came in a doubleheader against NJIT on Mar. 9 when he went a combined 4-for-5 with a pair of multi-hit games, 2 RBI, two stolen bases and two hit by pitches. 

The Pico Rivera, Calif. native previously played at Mt. San Antonio College from 2022-23 before joining the Roadrunners. He came on strong in his freshman year in 2022, batting .329 with 13 doubles, 19 stolen bases and 34 RBI in 43 games. Pelayo then hit .246 with 21 RBI in 2023 before transferring to Cal State Bakersfield. 

“Elijah is a huge pickup for us,” Darlington said. “He’s been Cal State Bakersfield’s everyday shortstop. I think his glove and his ability to lock down shortstop and just being an elite defender is going to get him in our lineup on a nightly basis. He reminds me a lot of Izzy Lopez from last season. Just a really elite defender who can make any play and any throw across the diamond.”

Jarren Sanderson is hitting .364 in his first six games of his freshman year at Cal State Northridge. He has started three games and recorded his first multi-hit game last Sunday with a 2-for-4 day against Cal Poly. The day before he drove in three runs for the second consecutive game. Sanderson is an infielder/outfielder who has made two starts at designated hitter and one at left field.

The Torrance, Calif. native graduated from Junipero Serra High School last spring and recorded a huge senior season. He collected first-team all-league and first-team All-Daily Breeze honors while also being selected to the 2023 Senior All Star Baseball Classic. Sanderson hit .588 with two home runs as a junior to earn first team All-CIF and first-team all-league en route to leading the Cavaliers to a league championship in 2022.

“Really, really good athlete,” Darlington said. “Jarren has really good speed. He’s a big kid at 6-foot-6, over 200 pounds and he’s just a freak athlete. He’s going to make our lineup better, he’s going to make us better defensively and just having a good athlete like that that can play multiple spots will be fun to watch this summer.”

The 2024 season begins on May 31 as the AppleSox host the Port Angeles Lefties at 6:25 p.m. at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. The AppleSox have 31 home games and play until mid-August. The franchise’s five West Coast League championships are second-most in league history and head coach Mitch Darlington’s club set single-season franchise records for walks drawn, home record, home winning streak, sweeps and home runs hit in a single game in 2023. Season ticket packages are available for purchase now at applesox.com/season-tickets.