Sox ink two OSU players

Four UCLA Bruins to play for AppleSox
WENATCHEE — Four UCLA players have committed to play for the Wenatchee AppleSox this summer, bringing to 14 the number of players the summer collegiate team has signed. The UCLA group includes two current freshmen and two graduating high school seniors that will start play in Westwood next fall.

AppleSox add three UC Irvine freshmen
WENATCHEE — Three freshmen from perennial national baseball powerhouse UC Irvine will be joining the Wenatchee AppleSox for the summer. A pair of pitchers, right-hander Kyle Hooper and left-hander Matt Whitehouse, and catcher Drew Sandler will spend their summers with the defending West Coast League champs.

Sox still working on Rec Park redo
WENATCHEE — Jim Corcoran didn’t go the state Legislature this year seeking funds for a new home for his Wenatchee AppleSox baseball team. Given economic conditions, he may not go next year, either.

AppleSox sign Zags
WENATCHEE — The 2010 version of the Wenatchee AppleSox is beginning to take shape. The AppleSox have revealed five Gonzaga University players are set to be on their roster when the West Coast League season begins in June.

AppleSox announcer back
WENATCHEE — Chris King, who was the Wenatchee AppleSox play-by-play announcer for the 2008 season, will return this summer to announce the team’s 54 games on 560 KPQ radio. “I had a blast working with the team in 2008 and I couldn’t be more excited to return,” said King, a 2009 WSU graduate, in a press release. “Wenatchee is such a great baseball town, and the way the community supports the AppleSox is second to none.”

It’s Farrar by a nose, Wenatchee cyclist’s Tour de France trek voted region’s top sports story
For most of the month of July, Tyler Farrar had Wenatchee by his handlebars. The Wenatchee native became the first cyclist from Washington state to race in the Tour de France, and he didn’t disappoint his legion of fans at home or abroad. The 25-year-old collected five top-three finishes in the 21-stage event.

Call ’em the Sweets
WALLA WALLA — The West Coast League’s expansion franchise in Walla Walla has settled on a nickname: the Sweets. The summer collegiate baseball team also has adopted an onion logo.

NCW’s green scorecard
It’s good to be green these days. In North Central Washington, sports organizations are keeping in step with the environmental movement, and many are doing their part (some better than others). Here are some ways local sports teams and venues have gone green.

WCL releases schedule
WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee AppleSox know they’ll be defending the West Coast League championship trophy in 2010. Now they know precisely when that defense will begin.

It’s two up, one down, for West Coast League
PORTLAND — The West Coast League is adding two teams — including one that will compete in the same division as the Wenatchee AppleSox — and subtracting one for the 2010 summer season. Two new franchises in Walla Walla and Longview-Kelso will begin play this June in the summer collegiate baseball league, but the Spokane RiverHawks, who finished in third place in the WCL East in 2009, will take the summer off as they prepare to move to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

West Coast League adds Walla Walla
PORTLAND, Ore. — A West Coast League franchise has been awarded to Walla Walla for 2010.

Former Wenatchee AppleSox a silver lining for Oakland's
OAKLAND, Calif. - Clayton Mortensen didn't make a great early impression Friday night against the Seattle Mariners.

Summer collegiate baseball attendance
Here are the 2009 average-attendance-per-game figures for teams in the five most prestigious summer collegiate baseball teams in the country. Three teams from the Alaska Baseball League — Peninsula Oilers, Athletes in Action and Glacier Pilots — didn’t provide attendance figures and are not included in this list.

Packing ’em in
WENATCHEE — Jim Corcoran likes to joke that he’s surprised that 10 people show up to Wenatchee AppleSox games.