Fast Start Lifts Pippins to Series Win over Wenatchee
June 21, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - Flipping the script from a day earlier, Yakima Valley pitchers tossed 10 punchouts in a 7-6 victory over Wenatchee in Game 3 on Thursday at The Orchard.
The decisive rubber match between these two teams featured exciting plays on both sides, and the Pipps closed the deal in the ninth inning to hand the AppleSox their first series loss of the season. Six runs came around for Yakima Valley in the first inning, and the Pippins never gave up the lead.
In the first, Casey Wayne led off with a walk. Then, Zach Blaszak reached on a bunt that started a stretch of five straight base knocks for the Pipps. Preston Allen, Julian Angulo, Brennan Morgan and Spencer Shipman all found their first hits of the game in the opening frame. After one inning, the score was 6-0, as each of the first six Pippins batters scored.
The Pippins put together their highest-scoring first inning of the season and put Wenatchee in a difficult position with their starting pitcher, Braiden Boyd, in his first start of the summer. He ended up pitching four complete innings, and gave up eight hits, six earned runs and three walks.
The AppleSox were able to strike back with a couple runs in the second inning, when Cannon Peery and Luca Boscarino came in to score. They both found their first hits of the game in their first at-bats. Yakima Valley led 6-2 after an RBI from Elijah Pelayo.
The scoring went quiet for a few more frames, until Wenatchee drew nearer with two more runs from Pelayo and Aiden Dougherty. Pelayo finished the night with two hits and an RBI, while Dougherty found his first, and only hit, of the series. Yakima Valley still held a 6-4 lead.
The Pipps offense was able to bring Adrian Hinojosa in to score off an RBI single from Blaszak. This was his third hit in four plate appearances in the game, and his strong day finished with a 3-for-5 effort with one run scored. The Pipps extended their lead to 7-4.
Two more runs made it a very close game in the eighth inning, as Kade Benavidez and Cannon Peery scored their first runs of the ball game. Benavidez drew a walk, and Peery smacked his second hit of game three to get on base. It was 7-6, with the Pipps still in front heading to the ninth inning.
Garin Gurtler came in to close the deal for Yakima Valley and did just that. He earned his first save of the season by retiring Jayden Holloway by strikeout in his first matchup. Then, Dougherty found a hit to get over to first with one out in the inning, but quickly Mauricio Guardado made the future UConn Husky pay on his way to try and steal second base.
The Pippins catcher flexed his elite arm talent from behind the dish as he gunned down Dougherty for the second out. Then, Hartman couldn't recover at the plate and popped out to end the ball game. Pippins won it 7-6 in front of nearly 1,400 fans.
On the mound, the Pippins dominated Wenatchee. They dealt 10 strikeouts between a trio of strong performances on the bump. Starter Max Goldberg went for 4.1 IP and allowed three earned runs with four strikeouts. He was relieved by Donovann Jackson, who made his seventh appearance of the season.
Jackson retired five of the 14 batters he faced by strikeout, which matched a single-game season high for him. Once the AppleSox began to figure out Jackson's stuff, the Pipps sent Gurtler out to close the door in the ninth.
Offensively, Angulo finished with another strong game against Wenatchee. He went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and was joined by Blaszak, who also had three hits. Their combined effort of 6-for-9 at the plate proved to be a challenge for Wenatchee to find outs at the top of the Pippins lineup.
The 11th win of the season keeps Yakima Valley up in the top three of the South Division in the WCL as they head on the road for a three-game series at Cowlitz that begins Friday night. Game One is scheduled for a 6:35 p.m. PT first pitch from Story Field.
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