Applesox Come Up Short on Opening Night

Brady Bean gathered three hits for the Applesox, but the Yakima Valley Pippins took home the win on Opening Night 5-1.

Wenatchee (0-1) fell behind early with starter Mitch Haythorn (0-1) on the mound. Haythorn tossed three innings giving up four runs, three earned, on three hits. He struck out six hitters and, at one point, struck out five in a row. The Applesox committed four errors, and hit into three double plays. 

Yakima Valley (1-0) starter Ty Pangborn (1-0) tossed five innings giving up one run on five hits with no walks and two strikeouts.

Haythorn got into some trouble to start off the first with back-to-back full count walks, while Finley Spicer drove both walks in with a two-run double to the left-center field gap to make it 2-0. 

The Pippins continued their momentum in the 3rd. Dillon Anderson led off the inning with a single and stole second and third. He scored on a RBI double by Jacob Brooks. Kyle Bittner hit a ball to second, where Noah Fields committed a throwing error and allowed another runner to score and give Yakima Valley a 4-0 lead. 

Wenatchee picked up a run on a Bean RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 3rd to make it a 4-1 game. 

With Joe Thorton on the mound, Bittner hit a dribbler back to the mound and Thornton threw the ball a bit high allowing Bittner to reach. Bittner stole second and came home on an RBI single by Ethan Buckley.

Thornton tossed three innings giving up just one run unearned on a hit with a walk and a strikeout. 

Easten Brooks and Alec Ammerman combined for three scoreless innings in relief. 

Head Coach Mitch Darlington said after the game the Applesox just could not get the big hit when it counted, as all 10 of Wenatchee’s hits came on singles. He added the four errors and three double plays didn’t help matters. 

The Applesox take on the Pippins for game two of the three-game series at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium at 6:35 p.m. Saturday.