WCL Walla Walla Sweets

Sweets Drop Third Series in a Row

June 23, 2014 - West Coast League (WCL)
Walla Walla Sweets News Release


WENATCHEE, Wa. - Take away one bad inning, and it would have been a pitcher's duel.

That accurately sums up Sunday's game, in which the Wenatchee Applesox assembled a six-run fourth inning against Walla Walla Sweets starter Cody Carroll.

For the first time in the series, the Sweets scored first. Jarod Gonzales led off with a walk in the top of the first inning, Andrew Mendenhall followed with a single, and after a flyout, Parker Osborne drove Gonzales home on a bloop single to shallow center field.

But the Applesox answered with a run of their own in the bottom half on three consecutive singles by Trenton Brooks, Caleb Wood and Ty Jackson, tying the score at 1-1.

Carroll and Wenatchee starter Drew Rasmussen would exchange zeroes the next two innings, but after a scoreless top of the fourth for the Sweets offense, Wood led off the home half with a solo home run, his first of the season, down the left-field line. From there, it was all downhill for Carroll, who could not record an out in the inning before yielding to Cody Mathews, who himself allowed two singles, two walks and a hit batsman before finally retiring the side.

"He started off okay for us, but ran into that jam in the fourth (inning)," manager J.C. Biagi said of Carroll. "He lost the fastball command we were seeing in the first few innings and wasn't able to make the quick recovery we needed. He'll get his normal rest and hopefully we see the good stuff we know he's capable of in his next outing."

The Applesox retained their 7-1 lead through the eighth inning on continued excellence from Rasmussen and Hunter Wells, who took over on the mound to begin the sixth inning. Wells was effectively wild, working numerous three-balls counts and walking three but also striking out five through his four innings of relief work.

But in the top of the ninth, the Sweets finally began to dissect Wells' game plan. Aldo Ferrante led off with a single, Mike Paulson walked, and Sean Bouchard also singled to load the bases with nobody out. John Skrbec followed with a grounder to third, and Wenatchee third baseman Joe Gillette touched third to erase Paulson, but then threw wildly to first base, scoring Ferrante and putting men on second and third.

The inning continued with a walk to Gonzales to load the bases, and after Mendenhall struck out looking, Jordan Frabasilio walked to force home a run. But Kyle Nixon struck out on three pitches to end the game and hand the Sweets their third straight series loss.

Once again, however, the Sweets' bullpen was a bright spot. Mathews, Brian Greisman, Spencer Hobson and Jay Flaa combined to allow just one run over five innings. Greisman was particularly impressive, stranding a runner on second in the fifth and stranding two in the sixth, and adding a pair of strikeouts to put two scoreless innings in the books.

The Sweets return to Borleske Stadium Monday, when they face the Thurston Country Senators at 7:05 PM in the first game of a non-league series.



West Coast League Stories from June 23, 2014


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