AppleSox aim to clinch road series against HarbourCats in Victoria

VICTORIA, B.C.  - The Wenatchee AppleSox will aim to secure a series win on the road against the Victoria HarbourCats as they face off at Royal Athletic Park on Saturday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

Wenatchee will send right-hander Sam Round to the mound for his first start of the summer in league play. Round, who redshirted this spring at Gonzaga, started five of the seven games he pitched in for the AppleSox last summer, going 2-0 with a 3.66 ERA, 30 strikeouts, 21 hits, and 13 walks over 27 innings.

The HarbourCats will counter with Malik Harris, who is set to make his second start of the season. In his first outing against Kamloops on June 2, Harris fired four shutout innings, striking out four while allowing one walk and two hits.

In a thrilling extra-inning contest on Friday night, the AppleSox emerged victorious with a 3-2 win in 12 innings. Antonio Gianni delivered the decisive blow with a two-out RBI single in the top of the 12th, giving Wenatchee its only lead of the game.

The AppleSox pitching staff matched a franchise record with 17 strikeouts in the game, led by Evan Canfield's nine punchouts in five innings. Carter Seely followed with six strikeouts in five shutout innings of relief, and Carson Boesel added two more in his two innings of work.

Gianni's game-winning hit was his third dramatic moment of the season, following a two-out game-winning single on Opening Night against Port Angeles and the team's first home run of the season on June 1.

The loss was a rare occurrence for the HarbourCats at home, as it marked only the sixth time in their last 37 games at Royal Athletic Park that they failed to secure a victory. Last season, Victoria set a WCL record with a 25-2 mark at home.