Egan, Allen Help Pippins Walk-Off Cowlitz
July 4, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - Welcome back, Owen Egan.
The UCLA sophomore, who played for the Yakima Valley Pippins in 2023, made the most of his 2024 debut Wednesday night at The Orchard. The 6-foot right-hander, who started the game in left field, pitched a flawless ninth inning and delivered a bases-loaded, one-out single in the bottom of the inning as the Pippins walked-off the Cowlitz Black Bears 10-9.
The win was the second straight for the Pippins to start the second half of the West Coast League season, and also gave Yakima Valley the series win over the Black Bears. Game 3 is at 12:05 p.m. Thursday on Independence Day.
The offense for both these teams didn't get off the ground until the third inning. Cowlitz struck first with an RBI single from Shea Bowen. He brought in Dylan Schlaegel to give the road team a 1-0 lead.
Then, Preston Allen put together a massive swing of the bat in response. The bases were loaded up off of two walks and a single by Adrian Hinojosa, when Allen belted a ball over the right field fence for a grand slam. The Pipps took a 4-1 lead off Allen's second home run of the season.
Yakima Valley held on to the lead until the fifth, when Cowlitz put three more runs on the board. Schlaegel, Keaton Grady and Will Anderson tied up the middle game of this three-game series, and the Pippins looked like they were in trouble.
However, even after two more runs came around for Cowlitz in the sixth, Yakima Valley took the lead right back with a three-run sixth frame. Rece Schuerman, Egan and Kaden Kirshenbaum helped give the Pipps the lead, as David Ballenilla found an RBI groundout in the effort.
Two runs came for both teams in the seventh. Sergio DeCello and Rowan Kelly helped Cowlitz cut into the deficit. It was 7-7 as the game headed to the bottom of the seventh.
The Pippins punched back with two runs from Julian Angulo and Schuerman. Egan again came up big with an RBI single to help at the plate.
Cowlitz tied the game in the eighth with Grady's second scored run of the game. Bowen's swing of the bat helped bring him in, and it was a 9-9 game headed to the ninth inning.
Egan came in to pitch for Yakima Valley and shined on the mound. He pitched in eight games last summer for the Pippins and put away three straight Cowlitz batters to send the Pippins offense up in the bottom of the ninth.
The Pipps led the offense off with Allen, who found his second hit of the ball game. His single was followed by a pinch-hit bunt from Zach Blaszak. Spencer Shipman put together a pinch-hit single with one out and brought Egan to the plate.
The UCLA product struck a ball into shallow center field and brought Allen in to score the winning run. It was his second RBI of the night, and the Pipps celebrated on the field after they took the win 10-9. This was the third walk-off win for Yakima Valley so far this season, as Egan finished up the ninth in exciting fashion.
On the bump, Yakima Valley saw a solid beginning for Colton LaFave, before the game got away from him in his final inning of work. He finished with 4.2 innings pitched and allowed four runs on seven hits.
He was relieved by Justin Cuellar, Garin Gurtler and Egan in the ninth. They combined for three punchouts and four runs the rest of the game. Egan earned the win in his first time on the mound for the Pippins in 2024.
Offensively, three players finished with multiple hits in this one. Allen, Angulo and Egan combined for six of the 11 hits in game two for Yakima Valley. The grand slam from Allen gave the Pippins their 10th home run of the season, which keeps them near the top in the WCL.
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West Coast League Stories from July 4, 2024
- Pippins Celebrate Fourth with First Series Sweep of Season - Yakima Valley Pippins
- Egan, Allen Help Pippins Walk-Off Cowlitz - Yakima Valley Pippins
- Packed House Cheers AppleSox to Victory - Wenatchee AppleSox
- HarbourCats Falter Late in Loss to AppleSox - Victoria HabourCats
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