Marathon Game Ends with Walk-Off Win for Yakima Valley
July 30, 2025 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - In the age of the pitch clock, games rarely exceed three hours. Tuesday night was the exception, as the Yakima Valley Pippins walked off the Springfield Drifters in a marathon 18-17 game.
The Pippins relinquished a four-run lead in the top of the ninth inning to send the game to the bottom of the frame. Jack Varney led off the inning, reaching on an error. Sam Moore sacrificed Varney into scoring position before Dustin Doherty was hit by a pitch. Garren Gooler struck out before Dillon Anderson was intentionally walked for the second time in the contest. Greg Luna hit with the bases loaded and patiently drew a walk from Drifters' pitcher Andrew Gauna, winning the game after three hours and 42 minutes of playing time.
Anderson sparked the high-scoring Pippins offense, leading the game off with a double. His season-defining moment came three innings later, spanking a grand slam over the right field wall to put Yakima Valley on top 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
Springfield would not go quietly in the late innings. The Drifters scored four runs in the top of the seventh and three runs in the top of the eighth to stay within reach of the Pippins' big numbers. Facing Koshi Arai in the top of the ninth, the Drifters worked to score two runs with one out to make the game 17-15.
Arai exited with two runners on base and Connor Batzer came in, immediately picking up the second out of the inning. Batzer then induced a towering fly ball to left field that dropped between Zech Samayoa and Doherty to tie the game, 17-17. With the go-ahead run at first base, Batzer induced a flyout by Jack Brooks to right field to send the Pippins back out on offense.
Yakima Valley scored one run in the first inning before again matching an inning number thanks to the grand slam by Anderson to score four in the fourth. The Pipps would match an inning number again in the sixth inning, sending 11 batters to the plate to score six runs on four hits. Varney put the cherry on top of the big frame, mashing a double to right field that made the score 11-6 at the time.
The Pippins weren't done putting up big numbers. The next inning, the Pipps responded to a four-run output by the Drifters by scoring six runs again. This time, Yakima Valley brought 12 hitters to the plate, picking up only two hits and walking five times. Two batters were hit by a pitch, and the score was 17-10 going into the top of the eighth.
Batzer earns the win in relief, his first of the season, to improve to 1-4. Andrew Gauna takes the loss for the Drifters, now 0-1 this season.
Yakima Valley breaks a four-game losing streak to improve to 4-15 in the second half of the season and 11-35 overall. Springfield falls to 9-10 in the second half and is now 21-25 this summer.
The Pippins look to continue to play spoiler for the Drifters' outside shot at the West Coast League playoffs. Game two between the Pipps and the Drifters is Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. It will be "Winning Wednesday" at The Orchard, presented by St. Joe's Bingo, with bingo cards given to the first 250 fans. Tickets for Wednesday's game and the Pippins' four other remaining home games can be purchased at www.pippinsbaseball.com/tickets, the only official ticketing link of the Yakima Valley Pippins.
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