How to run batch files using CodeDeploy appspec file hooks on windows ec2 instance?

I am trying to run batch files to stop/start console apps within a windows ec2 instance upon deployment using CodeDeploy. For testing, I wrote a batch script to run a program that produces a simple text file. This batch script is listed under the ApplicationStart hook of my appspec.yml file. For some reason the text file is not being produced. My assumption is that the script isn't being run. Not sure on how to resolve this issue.

appspec.yml:

version: 0.0
os: windows
files:
  - source: /
    destination: /source/app
hooks:
  ApplicationStart:
    - location: .\application_start.bat 
      timeout: 300

application_start.bat

START C:\source\app\ConsoleApp1\bin\Release\ConsoleApp1.exe

I checked the script after deploying it and was able to run it manually just fine. What might I be missing?