Wenatchee Wins Series

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – After a tough offensive outing Wednesday, the Wenatchee AppleSox (10-5, 7-5) exercised their demons in a 17-4 win over the Klamath Falls Gems (3-9), Thursday night.

Caleb Wood led the AppleSox offensively Thursday, going 5-6 with three RBIs and a run scored. He elevated his team-leading average to .468 by the end of the series finale.

The scoring for the AppleSox started in the second inning as they brought home three runs. One scored on a bases loaded walk, a Mike Livingston single and a wild pitch by starter Garrett Sumpter.

Klamath Falls made it a game in the bottom of the second, coming up with two runs spurred by a Connor Counce solo home run. It was his second blast of the season.

The Sox opened the game up in the middle third, scoring four runs in the fourth and fifth innings, while adding another two in the sixth. The Gems countered with one run in the seventh, but the AppleSox added four more in the top of the eighth to bring their run total to 17.

Michael McCann was another offensive star, going 4-6 with 2 RBIs and Cooper Elliott, Nate Esposito, and Mike Livingston combined for six hits in the bottom third of the order.

Griffin Canning looked strong throughout, despite his minor hiccup in the second.

Clark McKitrick posted three innings in relief of Canning. He gave up a solo home run to Jay Anderson. The shot to center field was his first of the season. McKitrick came back to post a zero in the ninth and earned the save for the Sox.

Tonight the AppleSox are back in town to face the Walla Walla Sweets. The series begins when Tom Zarosinski tosses the first pitch of the set at 7:05 p.m.                                    

 

WEN   0 3 0   4 4 2   0 4 0     17 18 3

MED   0 2 0   0 0 0   1 1 0      4   8  3

 

WP – Griffin Canning

LP – Garrett Sumpter

S – Clark McKitrick

Sox Pitch a Gem

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Strong pitching led the Wenatchee AppleSox (9-5, 6-5) to a 2-1 win on Wednesday night against the Klamath Falls Gems (3-8).

The AppleSox scored two runs for their starter Brandon Bailey in the second inning of Wednesday’s contest.

With the bases loaded, Mike Livingston came home to score when Sam Brooks worked a walk. Cooper Elliott scored during Caleb Wood’s at bat when Wood sent a ball on the left side of the infield and it was misplayed by the Gems’ third baseman. Brown was thrown out between second and third after thinking that Tyler Frost was going to round third to score on the fielding error behind Elliott.

The Gems tallied their only run of the game in the third inning, when Thomas Walker brought home John Williams via a hard-hit single to left field.

The AppleSox bullpen took over in the fourth inning to back up Bailey. He will be on a limited pitch count all summer, following his long season with Gonzaga and 2013 Tommy John surgery.

Nathan Hadley and John Pomeroy made their first appearances of the WCL season. Hadley threw two and a thirds innings of one-hit baseball. Pomeroy followed with one and two thirds innings of his own on the mound in which he hit 98 on the radar gun and worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh.

Trenton Brooks recorded the final out of the eighth and retired the Gems in the ninth, even after walking the tying run and hitting the winning run and placing them aboard. He got Brett Cumberland to ground out to second base to end the game and recorded his first save of 2014.

The series with Klamath Falls concludes tonight at 6:35 p.m. It is the rubber match of the three game series.                                        

 

WEN   0 2 0   0 0 0   0 0 0      2   3  4

MED   0 0 1   0 0 0   0 0 0      1   6  2

 

WP – Nathan Hadley

LP – Jordan Kron

S – Trenton Brooks

Sox Drop First To Gems

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Wenatchee AppleSox (8-5, 5-5) dropped the series opener to the Klamath Falls Gems (3-7) on Tuesday, 10-8.

Things got off to a great start in game one of the series. The AppleSox plated three runs on a bases clearing three RBI double to right center field by Michael McCann.

In the bottom of the first, a fielding error extended an inning that would’ve left the AppleSox on top of the scoreboard at 3-1. Instead, Klamath Falls scored two more runs to even the score at three.

The Sox scored one run in the top of the second. Klamath Falls countered with four of their own in the bottom of the second, making the score 7-4.

Things held until the seventh inning, when the AppleSox scored three more runs to even the score at seven. Michael McCann got the three-run, two out, rally started with a double down the left field line. Caleb Wood also had an outstanding night from the plate. He went 4-4 and was hit by a pitch in the first inning.

Klamath Falls scored three more runs in the bottom half of the inning, which started with another fielding error. It was one of four that the AppleSox had on Tuesday.

Tyler Frost surrendered the runs in relief and lost his first game of 2014. The Gems were led by Thomas Walker, who went 3-5 and came around to score each of the three times he was on base.

The series with Klamath Falls continues tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. In 2014, the AppleSox have still never lost the second game of a league series after dropping the first.                                 

 

WEN   3 1 0   0 0 0   3 1 0     10 15  4

MED   3 4 0   0 0 0   3 0 x      8  12  2

 

WP – Kody Kuhlman

LP – Tyler Frost

S –

Blaine Hardy Becomes Sixth AppleSox Player in MLB

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Former AppleSox pitcher (’06), Blaine Hardy, made his MLB debut on Monday night for the Detroit Tigers. With the appearance, Hardy becomes the sixth AppleSox player to make it to the professional level.

Hardy threw for two innings out of the bullpen on Monday against the Royals and only allowed one hit while keeping the Kansas City squad scoreless. He also struck out two batters.

Hardy is from Edmonds-Woodway High School in Edmonds, Washington and played college baseball at Lewis-Clark State College.

The Kansas City Royals made Hardy a part of their organization in 2008, when they took him with a 22nd round pick in that years’ draft.

He was later released by the Royals during the 2013 spring training camp. The southpaw got his second opportunity when the Tigers picked him up in April of 2013. He started with the AA affiliate Erie Seawolves.

He eventually worked up to play for the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, where he stayed until being called up to the Tigers roster two days ago.

In his first major league start, he got to face the same Kansas City Royals team that released him a little over a year ago. In his first appearance he was strong, getting out of a first and third jam while in relief of Justin Verlander.

“As a young pitcher, Blaine was a guy that was athletic and had good stuff,” said the head coach of the AppleSox Ed Knaggs. “He just kept playing and playing and playing to work his way to the bigs. He had size and he wasn’t a soft left-hander by any stretch. He was like a lot of our guys just trying to find his way and had a lot of good tools to work with. For him, I’m sure his ability to hang in there and persevere has to be his story.”

Road Trip Continues at Klamath Falls

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APPLESOX SERIES NOTES vs. KLAMATH FALLS

The Wenatchee AppleSox (8-4, 5-4) face the Klamath Falls Gems (2-7) in a three game series from Tuesday June 17th to Thursday June 19th. The three game series is the AppleSox third league series on the season. The AppleSox are entering their 15th season (10th in the WCL) and are 471-253(.651) under skipper Ed Knaggs, who is in his 14th season as head coach of the AppleSox club. The AppleSox have achieved a winning record in all 14 seasons during Knaggs’ tenure. Knaggs is assisted by AJ Proszek and Jason Krohn.

The three game series with the Gems will have live stats for all games provided by pointstreak.com. All games will have live radio coverage on KCSY Sunny 93.9 FM in Wenatchee and on various translators throughout North Central Washington (Lake Chelan Valley 95.3 FM, Okanogan Valley 101.9 FM, Methow Valley [Twisp-Winthrop] 106.3 FM)...audio is also available at applesox.com/listen-live. AppleSox play by play broadcaster Trevor Williams will call the action. Pregame shows for all three games start at 6:15 pm. KWCC-TV (LocalTel cable channel 12 or Charter cable channel 19) will televise games, allowing fans to hear the Sunny FM radio broadcast and simultaneously watch the animated playbook provided by pointstreak. AppleSox Baseball provides updates on Twitter on @AppleSox and via Instagram by searching: AppleSox.

Rogues Take Series From Sox

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MEDFORD, Ore. – For the first time in 2014, the Wenatchee AppleSox (8-4, 5-4) dropped a series, as the Medford Rogues (7-3) won Monday afternoon’s contest 7-2.

The Rogues picked up a first inning run off of starter Drew Rasmussen, as Yuto Kata came around to score on a Tanner Lubach ground out in the infield.

In the top half of the third, Wenatchee evened things off of Nathan Kuchta and the Rogues. Cooper Elliott led off the frame with a ground rule double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and Mike Livingston drove him home on a hard hit RBI single up the middle.

The tie was short lived, Monday. The Rogues came back to score four in the bottom of the third and never looked back, as the tacked on two more in the fifth.

The AppleSox only other run was started in the seventh off another lead off hit for Elliott. He singled this time, followed by a Nate Esposito single and a Livingston walk. Sam Brown knocked in Elliott on a fielder’s choice play at first base.  

Griffin Canning and Caleb Wood turned in solid performances for Wenatchee. Wood was 3-5 on Monday and Canning retired the side one-two-three in his only inning of work out of the bullpen.

The AppleSox will make a short trip to Klamath Falls on Tuesday to start a three game series. Ty Jackson will take the mound in game one of the three game set. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm.                                      

 

WEN   0 0 1   0 0 0   1 0 0      2   8   0

MED   1 0 4   0 2 0   0 0 0      7  12  0

 

WP – Nathan Kuchta

LP – Drew Rasmussen

S –

Evening Things

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MEDFORD, Ore. – The Wenatchee AppleSox (8-3, 5-3) won their third consecutive WCL series game two on Sunday, defeating the Medford Rogues (6-3) 3-2.

The AppleSox took advantage of an early error by the Rogues in center field as Trenton Brooks got to second base with two outs in the top half of the first. Michael McCann, who made his second appearance with the club (this time as the designated hitter) singled home Brooks to get things started later in the half inning, following a Ty Jackson walk.

From there, the Sox turned things over to starter Ian Buckles. Buckles said hello and goodbye to the first seven batters that he faced Sunday and retired the side one-two-three in four of his first five innings.

He allowed just one hit through the first five innings of play. The lone run up to that point was manufactured when Adonis Morrison led off his 2014 WCL season with a double down the left field line and came around to score on a fielder’s choice ground out.

That score came in the third for the Rogues, however the AppleSox quickly erased the tie in the top of the fourth. Tanner Nishioka started the inning with a bunt single and was later brought around to score on a Tyler Frost sacrifice fly.

Another run was added in the fifth after Sam Brown led off the inning with a hard single up the middle. McCann later singled him home on a bunt play, originally intended to be a sacrifice, which McCann ended up beating up the line.

In the sixth, Brown’s presence was felt again defensively as he made a diving catch in center to preserve Buckles’ 3-2 lead. The web gem went alongside a beautiful catch in the hole on the left side of the infield, corralled by Nishioka earlier in the game.

Calvin LeBrun took over in the seventh, and while the Rogues got runners to the corner in the eighth with just one out, LeBrun and new catcher Nate Esposito dialed up a double play ball to Nishioka, Caleb Wood and Simon Rosenbaum to get out of the jam.  

In the ninth, LeBrun retired the side one-two-three with a lead off strikeout, a pop up, and a ground out, to secure the win and pick up his first save of the season.

The series concludes with a matinee game three tomorrow at noon.                                             

WEN   1 0 0   1 1 0   0 0 0      3   8   0

MED   0 0 1   0 0 1   0 0 0      2   6   1

 

WP – Ian Buckles

LP – Brandon Erickson

S –  Calvin LeBrun

Rogues Chip Away at Sox For 6th Straight

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 MEDFORD, Ore. – The Medford Rogues (6-2) extended their winning streak to six games on Saturday as they knocked off the Wenatchee AppleSox (7-3, 4-3) to win 8-4 at Harry & David field.

The Rogues were able to play small ball throughout the first four innings as they etched across one run in the each of the second third and fourth innings.

In the fifth, the Rogues plated four as they continued to put the baseball in play off of AppleSox starter Tom Zarosinski.

Trenton Brooks helped the Sox drive in Nick Valaika in the seventh inning on a hard single up the middle. This was after Caleb Wood hit a double to put Valaika in scoring position.

In the eighth and ninth innings a combination of walks and batters hit by pitches, allowed the AppleSox to manufacture runs on the base paths. They eventually loaded the bases in the ninth with the score 8-4, however, there were two outs and they couldn’t reduce the defecit further.

Ian Buckles will take the mound for the AppleSox on Sunday as they look to even the series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 pm.

                                             

WEN   0 0 0   0 0 0   1 2 1      4   7    1

MED   0 1 1   1 4 1   0 0 0      8  14   0

 

WP – Jackson Bertsch

LP – Tom Zarosinski

S –

AppleSox Ready For One Game With Honkers

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AppleSox-Honkers Game Notes

The Wenatchee AppleSox (6-2, 4-2) square off with the Northwest Honkers (8-7) on Thursday June 12th. Their one game non-league series follows a series win over Kitsap when the AppleSox mounted bottom of the inning come-from-behind wins in games two and three of the series. The AppleSox are entering their 15th season (10th in the WCL) and are 469-251 (.651) under skipper Ed Knaggs, who is in his 14th season as head coach of the AppleSox club. The AppleSox have achieved a winning record in all 14 seasons during Knaggs’ tenure. Knaggs is assisted by AJ Proszek and Jason Krohn.

The three-game series with the Honkers will have live stats for all games provided by pointstreak.com. The game will have live radio coverage on KCSY Sunny 93.9 FM in Wenatchee and on various translators throughout North Central Washington (Lake Chelan Valley 95.3 FM, Okanogan Valley 101.9 FM, Methow Valley [Twisp-Winthrop] 106.3 FM). Audio is also available at applesox.com/listen-live. AppleSox play by play broadcaster Trevor Williams will call the action. Thursday’s pregame show will start at 6:45 pm. KWCC-TV (LocalTel cable channel 12 or Charter cable channel 19) will televise games, allowing fans to hear the Sunny FM radio broadcast and simultaneously watch the animated playbook provided by pointstreak. AppleSox Baseball provides updates on Twitter on @AppleSox and via Instagram by searching: AppleSox.

Astounding AppleSox Walk Off Again

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Courtesy of AppleSox Communications

WENATCHEE, Wash. – In baseball, we “ooh” at the long home run, we gawk at the 100 M.P.H. fastball and we turn our caps inside out for good luck. When it comes down to it though, everyone is hoping for that story. The unbelievable moment that sticks with you forever. The Wenatchee AppleSox (6-2, 4-2) provided that for the fans left at Paul Thomas Sr. Field, Wednesday night as they plated four in the bottom of the eleventh to come from behind in their second straight game and win it 13-12.

At first glance, Wednesday’s game didn’t appear to be out of the ordinary. The Kitsap BlueJackets (4-2) and AppleSox found themselves locked in a pitchers’ duel through the first five innings.

After five innings of play, a Simon Rosenbaum home run gave the AppleSox a 2-1 lead. The shot to left was just the Sox third hit of the game, however they would go on to score seven more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, creating a less than exciting 9-1 score in Wenatchee.

With the game seemingly in hand, the Sox turned to their bullpen. In the seventh the BlueJackets were retired one-two-three. In the eighth, things changed drastically. Zack Haggett allowed four runs in the eighth to cut the BlueJackets defecit to 4.

In the ninth, things got worse. A lead off home run for Jacob Martinez (who entered the game in the eighth) made it 9-6. Blake Valley then singled. To follow, Xavier Palmer and Dylan LaVelle were both retired and the game seemed back in control.

With two strikes and two outs against the BlueJackets leading hitter, Haggett hung a pitch over the zone and Austin Bush crushed it to center field for a two run blast; The second home run for Kitsap in the inning, making it a one run game. Zach Larsen then singled and Kyle Blankenship entered the game for Wenatchee out of the bullpen.

Jeff Bohling doubled and Daniel Woodrown hit an infield single to the right of the Sox first baseman Rosenbaum who made a head-first diving attempt to tag out Woodrow at the bag. While late to first, Rosenbaum gunned down Jeff Bohling at the plate, while he tried to sneak his way home as the go-ahead run.

Both teams were held scoreless in the tenth, while the eleventh held plenty of drama.

In the top half, Kitsap punched across three more runs on Blankenship. Things had spun out of control and Wenatchee had given up 11 unanswered runs to the BlueJackets.

With Head Coach Ed Knaggs out of town on business, AJ Proszek (the pitching coach) and Jason Krohn (an AppleSox assistant) were left to rally the troops.

Proszek explained that the goal headed to the bottom of the ninth was to approach each plate appearance one at bat at a time and fight back.

One day removed from a three-run come from behind walk off in the ninth inning, the AppleSox had just a little bit of magic left up their sleeves.

Mike Livingston led off the AppleSox eleventh with a strikeout and things seemed bleak. Yet, Livingston’s motto: “Think crazy things; It helps” was about to be put to the full test as the AppleSox didn’t just think about doing crazy things. They DID crazy things.

Sam Brown followed the strikeout with a single. Trenton Brooks then unloaded on a fastball and sent it way out to right, tallying the fourth home run of the game between the two teams (while bringing the Sox within one run of tying). The BlueJackets turned to Thomas Casey to get the save.

Nick Brooks looked as though he was going to squeeze in a bleeder off Casey to the right center field gap, however, Valley came on and made a tremendous catch for Kitsap and the Sox were down to their last out.

Ty Jackson then came to the plate and was hit by a pitch. Proszek and Krohn promptly sent in Tanner Nishioka to pinch run. He stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Down 3-0 in the count, Casey elected to walk Cooper Elliott and the table was set for Rosenbaum, who homered earlier.

Proszek and Krohn shocked Paul Thomas Sr. Field, though, when they decided to pinch hit Tyler Frost for Rosenbaum (based on a strong batting practice performance by Frost). At the plate for the first time in 2014, for Wenatchee, Frost delivered with a hard single back up the middle that scored Nishioka and placed Elliott at second, while tying the game.

At this point, the storyline came together perfectly. Walking into the batters’ box was Taylor Johnson; the catcher from George Fox signed to a temporary contract. Johnson singled home the winning run the day before with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth.

Wednesday, Johnson was 0-5 coming to the plate in the eleventh. He saved his lone hit for the best possible moment, though. He split the shortstop and the third baseman to the left side of the infield when he pulled a Casey pitch through the hole.

With outstanding speed, Cooper Elliott (who was 3-4 from the plate to start the game) rounded third and slid safely into home, just ahead of the tag from Martinez. The fans who stuck it out through the roller coaster ride went wild and the field was mobbed by AppleSox players.

Elliott recalls that by the time he looked up from the slide at the plate, Johnson was already being congratulated by half of the team behind first base, while the rest of his teammates were running to embrace Elliott at the plate.

In back-to-back game winning situations, Johnson delivered. The score went from 9-1 AppleSox to 12-9 BlueJackets and swung back the the Sox as they wrapped up the series 13-12.

For Johnson, he called it the best two consecutive games he has ever had in baseball, citing that it is special to know that his teammates trust him in key game winning situations. Elliott reiterated the excitement for Johnson in his post game interview as before he could say anything about his individual performance, he said he was glad that Johnson got the chance to win it again.

It was a “pinch me I’m dreaming” moment, Wednesday. The thing was, pinch all you wanted and the scoreboard didn’t change, the smile didn’t fade from Taylor Johnson’s face, and your heart didn’t slow a lick. That’s because it wasn’t a dream. It was a great story brought to life on the diamond and no matter how ridiculous it seemed, the story grew into a non fiction gem, now forever a part of AppleSox history.

                                        

KIT      0 0 0   0 1 0   0 4 4   0 3          12  19   4

WEN   0 0 0   0 0 0   0 2 3   0 4          13  15   2

 

WP – Kyle Blankenship

LP – Thomas Casey

S –