The Bonds Beyond Baseball
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Every summer, as college baseball seasons wrap up around the nation, summer ball leagues are just getting started. Year after year, college players from all over the country arrive in Wenatchee to play for the AppleSox and continue developing their skills on the field. However, it takes more than the team itself to make this new and unfamiliar city feel like home to the players.
What often gets overlooked is the important role host families play in shaping players' experiences when they’re off the field. Host parents open their homes and families to players each season, giving them not only a place to stay for the summer but also ensuring that they have a support system and a place to call home, even when they may be hundreds of miles away from their own.
While host families play a crucial role in creating a comfortable home away from home for players, many find that the hosting experience is equally as impactful for them. For Sharon Hougan, six seasons of hosting have taught her that there is much more to the experience than offering up a spare room in her house. Seven years ago, Sharon overheard a conversation among strangers discussing hosting AppleSox players, and she’s never looked back since. When asked about why she decided to host for the first time, Sharon explained, “I heard these people talking about having these boys stay with them, and I thought ‘that sounds so cool, how do you get to do that?’ so [AppleSox] interviewed me and I decided to do it, and the rest is history!” Years later, Sharon has become a familiar face within the AppleSox family, known for bringing homemade pre-game apple cinnamon rolls for players and rarely missing a game. She explains that her involvement in the organization is truly something she cherishes: “Everybody is just so friendly, so welcoming, and it’s just so special.”
For players, having a place to stay for the summer is a necessity, but host families that go the extra mile to create lasting relationships truly make all the difference. For third-year AppleSox player Kanoa Morisaki, that bond was established soon after his arrival for his first season here in Wenatchee. After moving in with his host family, Shirley and Larry Auvil, midway through the 2024 season, Kanoa recalls being pleasantly surprised with how quickly they welcomed him into their home, making him feel like he’d been there all season long. “They took me in about halfway through that first season and made me feel like I had been there all along… it was great,” he said. “It felt like I became comfortable with them pretty instantly, and they’ve always just treated me like one of their own grandkids.”
Two summers later, Kanoa continues to return to the same host family, saying that their relationship has only grown stronger with time. Along with providing him a place to stay, he also says the Auvils have made Wenatchee feel like a second home and a place that he knows he can always come back to in the future, even after his time with the AppleSox.
For first-year host family Shawn and Kit Evenhus, that sense of belonging is exactly why they decided to host in the first place. Having once been a WCL player himself, Shawn understands firsthand how important a good host family is in creating a positive summer experience for players, both on and off the field. Years before hosting was ever a thought, Shawn played for the AppleSox in their 2001 season, as well as other summer collegiate league teams, where he experienced what it was like to live with a host family. This year, he and his wife have decided they want to take advantage of the opportunity they now have to return that hospitality.
As parents of young kids, one of whom is just into baseball, Kit and Shawn saw hosting as a way to bring positive role models into their home while simultaneously paying forward the positive experience Shawn had during his time playing summer ball. “We wanted to be one of those host families who make it a really great experience for the player and also just get to have that fun experience for our kids,” Kit said. For the Evenhuses, hosting is a way to give back to a program that Shawn was once a part of while creating new experiences and memories for their own family.
While most AppleSox only spend a brief moment of their baseball careers in Wenatchee, the lasting relationships formed between hosts and players often outlast the season itself. Regardless of families’ individual motivations to host, one aspect of the experience remains the same: everyone involved gains something meaningful from this unique and special experience.
