This week in AppleSox baseball: New faces, opening day wins, and rain delays

The 2026 AppleSox season officially kicked off this past weekend, and boy, was it entertaining. The ‘Sox started their season up north in Edmonton, taking on the Riverhawks in a three-game series.

Wenatchee secured an opening-night win in game one, scoring six runs off nine hits, two stolen bags, and a home run. Newcomers Nikko Paoletto and Joseph Coupland stood out in the game, with Paoletto going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Coupland going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs.

Pitching was equally impressive, with Luke Sterkel and Joe Thornton combining for nine innings of two-run ball. Sterkel got the start and went five innings with six strikeouts, three hits, and only two runs. After him, Thornton finished the race, tossing four innings of scoreless baseball with five strikeouts.

That opening-day matchup was delayed by over an hour due to heavy rain that poured in right before first pitch. Lucky for both teams, game two was nothing but sunshine.

Both Edmonton and Wenatchee unveiled new jerseys in the game, with the Riverhawks releasing their “Tree-Hugger” jerseys for nature night and Wenatchee rolling out their new navy road uniforms. Edmonton took the win in game two, tallying 10 runs off 10 hits despite committing six errors in the field.

The main difference between the two matchups was pitching. Left-hander Levi Arnold got the start for Wenatchee in game two and was chased out after just ⅔ of an inning. Arnold finished the night with six hits, one walk, one balk, and six runs given up.

After him, it was a platoon of relievers to try and stop the bleeding. Righty Jonathan Christner went 2 ⅓ with no runs, lefty Grayden Lucas went two innings allowing just one run, righty Dylan Schlenger pitched a single three-up three-down inning, and right-hander Miles DuCharme closed out the game with two innings, two hits, four walks, and three runs.

Paoletto had another standout performance in game two, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. But it was not enough to mount a comeback, causing the ‘Sox to lose 10-7 to the Riverhawks.

With the series set up for a deciding game on Sunday, a torrential downpour caused the game to be canceled before it could even start. The third game of the series will be rescheduled for later in the year when Edmonton comes down to Wenatchee.

The game was not the only thing canceled on account of rain. The team’s flight out of Edmonton was canceled as well, forcing the squad to take a bus 14 hours south back to the valley.

After two games, two rain delays, and a long travel night, the AppleSox sit at 1-1 on the season. They now head up north again to take on the Bellingham Bells for three games starting on June 2 and concluding on June 4.