Biggest Win of the Season for the Sweets

WENATCHEE, Wash. — If Friday night was the most complete win of the season for the Sweets, Saturday night was the biggest win of the year. Walla Walla shut out Wenatchee 13-0 to take their first series of the season. It was also the first shut out of the year for Sweets pitching.

The Sweets scored the bulk of their runs in three innings. Up 1-0, the Sweets brought home three runs in the top of third. RBI singles from Andrew Graham and Cort MacDonald brought home two runs, while the other run scored on a throwing error from the Wenatchee catcher trying to catch Graham stealing allowing David Mysza to score.

In the fifth, Walla Walla scored five runs to take a 9-0 lead. JJ Moran brought home the first run with an RBI single. In the next at bat, another catcher error on a double steal allowed a run to score. Kennedy Hara brought home Moran. The final two runs scored off a two-RBI knock from Mysza. Five runs in an inning ties a season high for the Sweets in 2024.

The final four runs scored in the eighth inning. Stevie Hom brought the first two runs home with a two-RBI double, the lone extra base hit of the night. The final two runs of the game came home off an RBI single from Logan Meyer and a sacrifice fly from Joel Esparza.

In all three innings, the Sweets sent nine or more batters to the plate.

On the mound, Liam Hohenstein made his fourth start of the season and tossed five scoreless innings while striking out five. Since he went the minimum required of a starter, he becomes the first starter of the year to get the win for the Sweets.

Sumner Estes, Daiki Mizuniwa and Ryan Prescott held down the final four innings and never had more than two baserunners on at one time.

At the plate, the Sweets recorded 14 hits, the second most in a single game this season. Over the last three games, Walla Walla has racked up 40 hits.

The Sweets were also the beneficiaries of six errors from Wenatchee, the most for an opponent this season. In contrast, Walla Walla didn’t commit an error in the field, their fourth clean game defensively this season.

It is the first time since July 3, 2012, Walla Walla has shut out an opponent on the road and scored 10+ runs. That game, the Sweets won 12-0, also against the Wenatchee AppleSox.

With the win, Walla Walla improves to 7-12 on the year. The win also moved the Sweets half a game away from climbing out of last place. The Sweets also clinched their first series of the season.

Walla Walla looks to go for the sweep Sunday evening. The last time the Sweets swept a team was July 14-16 with three wins over the Springfield Drifters. First pitch is set for 5:35. Sweets’ coverage of the game can be found on Mixlr.com.

By: Cooper Huskey

Date: June 23, 2024