Union-Bulletin

WALLA WALLA - Just when the West Coast League's East Division-leading Wenatchee AppleSox thought things couldn't get any worse, they did on Wednesday night at Borleske Stadium.

The Walla Walla Sweets used 14 hits and a gutty outing from starting pitcher Kyle Kingsley to fashion a star-spangled, 13-3 triumph before a Fourth-of-July crowd of 1,677.

On Tuesday night, Walla Walla posted a 12-0 win in Wenatchee.

The Sweets, winners of eight of their last 11 games, improved to 12-15 and dropped Wenatchee to 19-5.

"It started (Monday night) with our ability to get (Wenatchee's) starter out of the game," Walla Walla manager J.C. Biagi said of his team's offensive surge. "We've been able to see a lot of pitches and a lot of bodies on the mound. We've forced the issue with the bats."

Walla Walla's Nick Vilter commenced the scoring in the bottom half of inning one with a two-out, two-RBI double to left field that scored Alex Bonczyk and Kelani Brackenridge. Bonczyk led off the first by reaching base on an error and Brackenridge was hit by a pitch.

The Sweets went up 3-0 in the second inning on a run-scoring single to center by Bonczyk.

The AppleSox plated their first run in the third inning.

Walla Walla scored three times in the fifth to assume a 6-1 lead. Shane Zeile bounced an RBI double down the left-field line and Vilter hammered a two-out, two-run home run over the hand-operated scoreboard in left field on a 2-1 offering from Wenatchee starter Lawrence Chew.

The AppleSox tallied twice in the sixth inning, but would go scoreless the remainder of the contest.

The Sweets unleashed pre-dusk fireworks in their half of the sixth. RBI singles by Bonczyk, Spencer O'Neil, and Chance Kopacz highlighted a six-run explosion that resulted in a nine-run disparity, 12-3.

Walla Walla's final run crossed the plate on a Vilter double off the left-center wall in the eighth inning.

Vilter and Bonczyk led the Sweets with three hits apiece. O'Neil and Brackenridge added two knocks each.

Kingsley lasted five-and-two-thirds innings. He allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out one while improving his record to 2-1.

"He toughed it out," Biagi said. "He threw his breaking ball for a strike, kept his fastball down, and got a lot of ground balls and pop outs. We've seen it with our entire pitching staff the last couple of weeks."

A trio of Walla Walla relievers - Hunter Virant, Garrett Tygerson, and Ben Ruff - combined to give up just one hit over the final three innings and change.

The teams conclude their series today at 7:05 p.m.