Pippins Fall to Corvallis as Offense Disappears
June 9, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - Yakima Valley couldn't follow up the exciting walk-off finish from the previous night with a series victory on Saturday against the Corvallis Knights. The Pippins dropped game two 5-2 at home.
The only runs for the Pipps came in the fifth inning, as Adrian Hinojosa and David Ballenilla came across home plate on a couple of fielding errors for Corvallis. Ballenilla chopped one to the left side of the infield for what looked like would be the third out. Instead, he advanced all the way around the bases as the Knights struggled to complete a throw during the sequence.
The Pipps cut the deficit to just two runs after Corvallis jumped out in front to a 4-0 lead by the fourth inning. Brandon Cabrera hit two RBIs in the second and fourth innings, respectively, to lead the way for the Knights.
Later in the game, Corvallis added another run in the top of the seventh to make it 5-2, as the Pippins needed to find some offense. Drew Johnson would find his first hit of the summer in just his third plate appearance, as he recorded the fifth hit of the night for the Pipps. However, Mauricio Guardado and Ballenilla would go down to keep the score 5-2.
In their last chance at the plate, the Pippins saw a leadoff walk from Jack Sheward, as he reached base for the first time of the night. Hinojosa made things difficult after he grounded into a double play, to bring up Johnson with two outs and no one on. A groundout ended the game.
Parker Smith made his pitching debut in league play in this game, as he relieved Colton LaFave. Smith finished with a strong line in his first game against a WCL opponent, tossing two innings and recording two of the three strikeouts for the Pippins' league-leading punchout staff.
Offensively, Preston Allen stayed red-hot. He went 3-for-4 at the plate and finished the night with 14 hits heading into the final game of the homestand. So far in this series, Allen has five hits and a walk-off RBI to his name.
The Pippins are back in action at 5:05 p.m. PT Sunday as they look to win their third consecutive Game 3 of a series. They took the opening weekend series in the final game by a score of 13-4. Their first road series was secured in game three by a final score of 22-6.
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West Coast League Stories from June 9, 2024
- AppleSox's Big Sixth Inning Proves the Difference, Beat the HarbourCats 5-2 - Victoria HabourCats
- Pippins Fall to Corvallis as Offense Disappears - Yakima Valley Pippins
- Two-out Runs Doom AppleSox Saturday - Wenatchee AppleSox
- Bats Come Alive on Fireworks Night, HarbourCats Level the Series with 9-6 Win - Victoria HabourCats
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