Pippins Dominate Springfield to Win Series
June 7, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
SPRINGFIELD, Oregon - Yakima Valley played back-to-back tight games on the road against Springfield, but the Pippins turned in their best offensive showing of the early season on Thursday en route to a 22-6 win over the Drifters.
The win gave the Pippins their second straight series win and propelled them to a 4-2 record in the West Coast League's South Division heading into a three-game homestand against defending champion Corvallis back at The Orchard. First pitch Friday is at 6:35 p.m.
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The offense got started early for Yakima Valley, as they scored three runs in the first three innings. An RBI double from Preston Allen in the first, and a two out, 2-RBI single off Rece Schuerman's bat in the third inning, made it 3-0 Yakima Valley.
Ethan Salscheider started on the bump for the Pippins and kept Springfield quiet into the middle of the game. He was able to punch out three Drifters in the first three innings. Then, the middle innings featured the portion of the game where Yakima Valley put the game out of reach.
From innings five through nine, Yakima Valley scored at least two runs per frame. This was highlighted by a six run fifth inning, where the Pipps batted around. Five straight singles and a 2-RBI sac fly by Casey Wayne made it 9-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth. Springfield scored their first run of the game in the bottom, but it would not end up being enough to induce a comeback.
The Pipps stayed hot, scoring 11 runs in the next three innings. Patrick Fregoso, who made his WCL league game debut on Thursday night, recorded his second RBI base knock of the night in the top of the sixth, and was one of the four runs Yakima Valley scored in the sixth. The Pipps carried this success offensively all the way through the rest of the game, as they scored a season-high 22 runs.
Defensively, the Pippins pitching staff was great once more. Salscheider's night went 5.0 IP, for just one earned run and four strikeouts. He would be relieved by four different arms out of the Pippins bullpen. Gavin Brubaker, Brennan Morgan, Davis Koester and Tyler Disch all went just one complete inning on the mound, each. They combined for eight more punchouts, which made it the fourth time in six meetings against Springfield where Yakima Valley struck out double digit batters.
Offensively, the Pipps recorded 19 runs batted in, and three batters in Yakima Valley's lineup combined for 12 of them. Jack Sheward, Fregoso and David Ballenilla brought in 12 of the runs on the night, which was extremely impressive, considering they batted seventh, eighth and ninth in the lineup.
Sheward, overall, had the best night offensively. He went 5-for-7 at the plate and scored three times. Allen went 3-6 at the dish and brought in two of the 12 RBIs.
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