Series Preview: AppleSox
- Updated: July 2, 2019
The Kelowna Falcons continue their six-game road trip as they work their way south of the border for their first meetings of the season and a three-game series against the Wenatchee AppleSox beginning on Tuesday night at Paul Thomas Field.
2019 Season Series:
Tuesday, July 2nd @ Paul Thomas Field (7:05 PM)
Wednesday, July 3rd @ Paul Thomas Field (6:35 PM)
Thursday, July 4th @ Paul Thomas Field (6:35 PM)
Tuesday, July 16th @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)
Wednesday, July 17th @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)
Thursday, July 18th @ Elks Stadium (6:35 PM)
2019 Returnees:
P Wyatt Hummel (Okanagan College/West Kelowna, BC)
P Ian Turner (Mt. Hood Community College/Maple Valley, Washington)
INF Jake Fischer (Okanagan College/Edmonton, AB)
INF Ezra Samperi (Mt. Hood Community College/Gresham, Oregon)
INF Tylor Nixon (Yakima Valley Community College/Hamilton, Montana)
INF Dan Pruitt (Western Oklahoma State/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
INF Matt Voelzke (George Fox University/Lake Oswego, Oregon)
OF Austen Butler (University of British Columbia/Port Coquitlam, BC)
Between The Foul Poles:
Kelowna:
- The Falcons come into the mid-week set after a tough sweep at the hands of the Victoria HarbourCats in the provincial capital through the Canada Day long weekend. Kelowna dropped a 5-2 game on Saturday night before falling by a 10-5 score on Sunday night with Monday afternoon’s loss being the toughest, battling from behind but falling by a 5-4 score in 10 innings to the HarbourCats.
- Something that the Falcons offence was able to get going through their three-game set in Victoria was the home run ball as Kelowna hit three jacks out of Royal Athletic Park, all coming in the late innings. Brandon Hupe provided two big flies while Jake Fischer added a single on Monday afternoon as the Falcons improved their team total to 10 in home runs on the season, one of seven teams in the WCL to own double digit home run tallies.
- Although the team ERA may not be where the Falcons would like, sitting 3rd last at 5.43 on the season, Kelowna pitching has done a nice job of keeping the hits against down over the course of the 21 games they have played. Kelowna ranks 3rd in the league in batting average against at .236, which sits behind just Bellingham and Corvallis for the league lead. The Falcons have surrendered the third-least amount of hits all season as well, giving up just 163 in 177.1 innings pitched during the 2019 campaign.
Wenatchee:
- The AppleSox come into the mid-week set against the Falcons after picking up wins in two of three games against the Cowlitz Black Bears over the weekend. Two big wins on Friday and Saturday by 10-2 and 10-1 scores, respectively, was followed up by a 10-5 defeat on Sunday in the series finale with Wenatchee having won five of their last nine games.
- Collecting hits was something the AppleSox thrived in during their three-game set against the Black Bears, connecting on 27 hits to defeat Cowlitz. Wenatchee enters the week 3rd in the West Coast League in batting average at .274 with some of that number being helped by their ability to get the ball out of the ballpark, ranking 4th in the league in home runs with 14.
- Pitching has been one of the sore spots for this AppleSox squad over the course of the 2019 season, which sees them hold a record of 9-12 through 21 games played. Wenatchee owns an ERA of 5.14, which ranks 3rd last in the league with a batting average against of .259. One of the stats that has worked for Wenatchee this season has been punch outs as they lead the league in strikeouts with 204 through 185.2 innings pitched this season.
Players To Watch:
Kelowna:
INF Cole Cummings (6’2”/190
lbs/UC Santa Barbara)
The lengthy left handed hitter has continued to just pile up hits and rack at the plate, coming into the three-game set against the AppleSox with an average north of .350 at .354. The Corona, California native has hits in each of his last four games, collecting a double, triple and 3 RBI’s in that span for the Falcons. Cummings has come up in some key spots as well and produced with a knock, including the 8th inning of Monday’s ballgame where he tied the score with an RBI single to left field.
OF Brandon Hupe (6’2”/190 lbs/University of British Columbia)
Of the 8 hits that Hupe has collected this season, 6 of them have been for extra bases and have been about as clutch as can be, especially with a late inning home run and RBI double in the 10th on Monday. The Vancouver, BC native has homers in back-to-back games and has hits in each of his last three games, tying for the team lead in big flies with the pair. Hupe has registered five hits in that three game span with two of them games seeing multi-hit performances with at least an RBI being earned in all three games as well.
INF/P Matt Voelzke (6’3”/180 lbs/George Fox University)
One of the better arms for Ryan Wright and his staff to turn to in the late innings has been the third-year Falcon in Voelzke, who has outstanding numbers from the mound. Getting into 9.1 innings in 5 appearances this season, the Lake Oswego, Oregon product has an impressive 12 strikeouts while walking just three batters and giving up two hits. Voelzke’s last appearance came in Victoria on Saturday night where he notched three innings of scoreless work, surrendering a hit with two walks and two strikeouts to keep the game within striking distance.
Wenatchee:
INF Cole McKenzie (6’2”/185 lbs/Purdue
University)
One of the contributors on the offensive side for the AppleSox over the season has been McKenzie, who comes into the series against the Falcons with a .338 batting average, sitting 4th on the team but holds the most at-bats at 77. The Billings, Montana native is 26-for-77 while scoring a team-high 18 runs this season with 6 doubles and a home run to go along with 6 RBI’s. McKenzie has gotten on base in eight straight games, including scoring four runs in his last three games as well as drawing four walks.
INF Quinn Ayers (6’3”/200 lbs/University of Northern Colorado)
Tied for the team lead with 2 home runs and leading the AppleSox in RBI’s with 12, Ayers has been a solid wealth of power for Wenatchee over the course of their 23 games this season. The Las Vegas, Nevada product has gone 15-for-49 this season, good for a .306 batting average, while also colleting a pair of doubles. Ayers recently had a five-game hitting streak snapped before going 2-for-4 with an RBI double in his last game against the Black Bears.
P Alec Gomez (6’1”/175 lbs/Gonzaga University)
A solid arm from the bullpen comes in the way of right hander Alec Gomez, who has thrown in six games this season and brings a 1.50 earned run average into the three-game set. The Sammamish, Washington native has pitched 12 innings this season, holding an 0-1 record while striking out 16 batters to walking just 3. Gomez has pitching in two innings in each of his six outings this year but struggled in his last appearance, surrendering two runs on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in two innings in a loss to the Black Bears.
The Falcons look to close their road trip on a winning note with the start of their three-game series against the AppleSox going through the mid-week of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. All games can be heard on mixlr.com/kelowna_falcons with the Voice of the Falcons, Trevor Miller.
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