World photo/Don Seabrook Grant Sherrod with the Wenatchee AppleSox runs down a fly ball in right field for the first out in the second inning of his team's baseball game against Cowlitz Tuesday night, July 26, 2022. The Sox came away with a 9-2 win to start their three-game series with the Black Bears.
World photo/Don Seabrook Grant Sherrod with the Wenatchee AppleSox runs down a fly ball in right field for the first out in the second inning of his team's baseball game against Cowlitz Tuesday night, July 26, 2022. The Sox came away with a 9-2 win to start their three-game series with the Black Bears.
That was all the AppleSox needed to bury the Cowlitz Black Bears 9-2 Tuesday on a sweltering night at Paul Thomas Sr. Stadium. It was so hot at first pitch that team volunteers offered free Otter Pops to patrons out of a cooler as they walked in the front gates and fans brought water sprayers to spritz themselves mid-game.
Both pitchers were cooking to start, working through the first two frames in 20 minutes.
After being held hitless for the first two innings, Wenatchee hit around the order their second time through and hung seven runs on Cowlitz in the third. Only two of those runs were earned, as the Black Bears infield booted the ball around with two errors, but the AppleSox took advantage.
The first seven batters of the inning all reached base but Joichiro Oyama sparked the run after driving in two runs with a bases-loaded single up the middle. Micael Davinni drove in Oyama two batters later with a single and then Aiva Arquette collected a pair of RBIs with the AppleSox third hit of the inning.
Before the Black Bears could blink, the game was out of reach. Cowlitz started to get to Davis Spencer in the fourth inning after plating two runs on a single from John Olson and a double from Seth Sweet-Chick. Head coach Mitch Darlington pulled Spencer following a one-out walk to Louie Albrecht and put in Garrett Gores, who was lights-out over the final five innings.
Gores allowed just one hit and walked only one batter through 5.2 innings, earning his first win of the summer.
Davinni led the offense with three hits. Oyama, who leads the WCL in runs, hits and stolen bases, finished 1-for-2 with three walks and two RBIs. Arquette drove in two runs and collected a pair of hits and Sherrod hit 2-for-5 with a double and RBI. Oyama walked three times in his final three at-bats but was caught stealing on all three occasions, matching his season total.
The AppleSox, who now sit at 10-6 in the second half after winning their last two games, remain in first place in the North Division with a one-game lead over the Bellingham Bells — who already locked up a playoff berth by winning the first half.
With two weeks left in the regular season, the heat is on (quite literally). It’s a race between Wenatchee, Bellingham, Kamloops and Kelowna.
The AppleSox look to take the series on Wednesday night and push their winning streak to three.
Zach Johnson is a 29-year-old sportswriter from Lakewood, Colorado. When he's not out covering local sporting events you can find him carding birdies at the local golf courses, biking the Apple Capital Loop Trail, or skiing Mission Ridge.
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