Elks Walk Off AppleSox In Season Opener
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In a game suspended until the next day due to darkness the Bend Elks defeated the Wenatchee AppleSox, 15-14, in the first game of the season for both teams on June 4 at Vince Genna Stadium.
The game began on June 3 but was suspended at 10:20 p.m. with the AppleSox leading 13-11 as the light pole closest to the right side of the press box down the first base line suddenly went out. Soon all of the stadium lights went off and the game was suspended almost an hour later until the umpires and coaches decided to head home and resume action at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Bend trailed, 14-11, entering the bottom of the ninth inning but rallied to score four runs and the game-winning hit came with two outs. Each of the first five Elks hitters reached base before the AppleSox recorded an out and all nine men came to the plate for Bend.
The AppleSox’ bats came out hot to open up the game. Wenatchee scored four runs in the first inning thanks to each of their first five hitters reaching base safely. Oyama and Michael Davinni opened up the season with back-to-back singles before Fahsel drove both of them in two batters later with a 2-RBI single. Lydon and Xander Orejudos hit a couple of hard ground outs that plated two more runs and the AppleSox sent all but one of their hitters to the plate.
Bend tied it up in the bottom of the first off a grand slam but the AppleSox retook the lead in the top of the second briefly on an RBI-double by Davinni before the Elks scored three times in the bottom of the second.
The two teams went back-and-forth a bit as the Elks struck three times in the bottom of the third to take a five-run lead but the Sox clawed back with a three-run frame of their own in the fourth.
Davinni had a memorable debut, going 2-for-3 with three walks and three runs scored. Fahsel, signed to a 10-day contract less than a week ago, drove in five runs, scored three times and drew two walks. Eight-of-nine AppleSox hitters recorded at least one base hit and the third-highest scoring team in the West Coast League from a year prior got off to a memorable start offensively.
Garrett Gores put forth a gutsy effort in relief for the AppleSox by tossing four innings out of the bullpen He allowed four runs on seven hits but struck out six and only walked one. He held the Elks off the scored board in the fourth and fifth innings after they combined to score 10 runs through the first three innings.
Quincy Vassar followed Gores up with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and four strikeouts until the stoppage of play. Vassar started the suspended game on the mound on Saturday and closed out the eighth to complete two scoreless innings. He came out again for the ninth after Carson Lydon led off the top of the inning with a double and scored on a Corey Jarrell sacrifice fly. Vassar allowed back-to-back base hits before exiting as the Elks rallied to walk off Wenatchee.
The first game of the season concluded at about 3:30 and the two teams will meet again three hours later at 6:35 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:10 p.m. on the AppleSox Radio Network with the Horan Estates Winery Pregame Show and fans can listen live to the game at 6:35 p.m. on 93.9 FM in Wenatchee or on kcsyfm.com worldwide.
Listen to today’s AppleSox podcast for a recap of Game 1 and head coach Mitch Darlington’s postgame comments.
