AppleSox cruise to 7-1 victory in Edmonton

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Wenatchee AppleSox opened their six-game road trip with a convincing 7-1 victory over the Edmonton Riverhawks on Friday night at RE/MAX Field, propelled by strong pitching and timely hitting.

Right-hander Ryan Martinez (1-0) continued his dominance over Edmonton, securing his third win in as many career appearances against the Riverhawks. Martinez delivered a season-high six innings, striking out two batters to earn his first win of the 2024 season and fourth overall in two years with the AppleSox.

The game remained tight until the seventh inning when Wenatchee's offense erupted. Aidan Dougherty broke the game open with a bases-clearing triple, driving in three runs as part of a four-run frame. Dougherty's clutch hit extended his remarkable efficiency with the bases loaded this summer, having now driven in 19 runs in just 10 such at-bats.

Earlier, Cannon Peery and Kanoa Morisaki provided crucial run support with RBI doubles in the fourth inning, breaking a 1-1 tie and putting Wenatchee (29-14, 11-5 second half) ahead for good.

Morisaki's productive night began in the second inning when he drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the game's first run. The Riverhawks responded with a run of their own in the bottom half, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the contest by Martinez and the AppleSox bullpen.

Dougherty's triple in the seventh inning was his fifth of the season, tying him for the second-most in AppleSox history. He later scored on a groundout to cap off the decisive inning.

With the win, Wenatchee evened up the season series against Edmonton. The AppleSox will look to secure their 11th series victory of the summer when the teams face off again on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. local time.