Wenatchee Win Streak Snapped at 5, AppleSox Lose Slugfest 10-8

Joel Norman

Wenatchee AppleSox Media

Reeve Boyd and Easton Amundson both hit home runs but the Wenatchee AppleSox fell to the Springfield Drifters, 10-8, on Thursday night at the Hamlin Sports Complex.

All eight of the AppleSox runs came with two outs and they recorded the final out with the bases loaded in the ninth. Wenatchee (9-3) could not overcome committing three errors even with its 14 hits, one off tying a single-game high this summer.

Boyd’s home run was his first hit of a three hit night that included drawing a walk. He launched a pitch 363 feet to left-center field with two down and a man on in the top of the second to open the scoring. The incoming freshman at Oregon State hit .461 (6-for-13) with 5 RBI and at least one hit in each of the three games against Springfield on this road trip.

Amundson blasted his team-leading third home run of the summer 413 feet the opposite way in the third inning. It marked his second of the season against Springfield righty Rylan Haider and all three of his home runs have come against the Drifters. Amundson’s long ball extended his hitting streak to nine games, which is the second-longest in the WCL after Nanaimo’s Ethan Rivera’s 10-game streak. Amundson singled and scored in the ninth inning to record his fourth multi-run game and score his 13th run in the last nine games.

Boyd’s and Amundson’s home runs supplied the AppleSox first four runs but Springfield scored three times in the second and once in the third to even it up heading to the fourth inning. The Drifters scored for a third consecutive inning when eight men came to the plate in a three-run fourth to make it 7-4.

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The AppleSox recorded more two-out action in the fifth when Brandham Ponce extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single. After Marcus Harrison singled, Izzy Lopez hit a low line drive to right field that dropped in front of and rolled past a diving right fielder Bobby Blandford. Lopez was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple but two runs scored tie the game up.

The Drifters took the lead for good with a third and final three-run inning in the sixth. A ground ball too short with runners and first and third looked certain to be an inning ending double play instead was an error to plate the go-ahead run and then two more runs scored two batters later on a double to right-center.

The AppleSox loaded up the bases in the ninth and Lopez was hit by a pitch to plate a run but a pop out to left-center ended the game.

Wenatchee still won the series and remains one game back of first-place Bellingham thanks to Kelowna’s 3-1 win over the Bells on Thursday. The Falcons come to town on Friday night as the AppleSox open up a four-game homestand at 6:35. The series includes a Father’s Day matinee against the Falcons at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday.