Pippins Give up Five Unanswered Runs in Bend Defeat

Sports stats



WCL Yakima Valley Pippins

Pippins Give up Five Unanswered Runs in Bend Defeat

July 27, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release


YAKIMA, Washington - The Yakima Valley Pippins returned home Friday to play the Bend Elks in their first home series in more than three weeks. Things started out great, until Easton Admundson belted a ball over the right field fence in the sixth.

Yakima Valley took an early 4-0 lead but dropped game one to the Bend Elks 5-4 at The Orchard. The offense was solid for the Pippins, but just did not have quite enough in the end to pull off a victory.

The scoring began in the first inning, as Julian Angulo hit an RBI single. Toussaint Bythewood and Dom Longo came around in the first, as the Pipps led the Bend Elks 2-0.

Two more runs from Longo and Owen Egan came around in the third frame, as Preston Allen belted a two out double to give the Pippins a 4-0 lead.

But that's when the scoring ceased for the home team, as the rest of the game went Bend's way. In the sixth, Abbrie Covarrubias smacked a leadoff single for his first hit of the game. The USC Trojan was followed by Easton Talt's walk.

After that, Admundson crushed a 3-run homer over the heads of Longo and Bythewood, as they watched the fifth hit for Bend leave the yard. This was Admundson's third big fly of the summer, and he cut the deficit to just one in the sixth inning. It was 4-3 when the Pippins offense returned.

The Pipps did not punch back, as two more runs gave the road squad the lead by the eighth inning. Isaiah Burke touched home plate in the seventh, and Admundson scored once again an inning later. It was 5-4 headed to the final frame.

Yakima Valley's Garin Gurtler retired three straight batters in the top of the ninth to set the Pippins offense up in a solid position to make the comeback. However, two strikeouts of Mauricio Guardado and Spencer Shipman, followed by a line out to the shortstop from Zach Blaszak, ended the game.

The Pippins starting pitcher AJ Hendrickson had a great beginning to his outing. After the first time through the Bend lineup, the Everett Community College arm allowed just one hit with three strikeouts.

He followed this up with only two hits allowed and one strikeout the second time through the order. Things got hairy as he began the third time against the Bend lineup though, as a single from Burke in the seventh sent Hendrickson packing to the dugout.

He was replaced by Zaid Flynn, who ended up pitching just one-third of an inning. Flynn finished with a walk and a strikeout before being replaced by Gurtler. The Big Bend pitcher went the rest of the way and finished with 2.1 innings pitched for one unearned run and two hits.

Yakima Valley saw three hits apiece from Allen and Longo, while Angulo added his 27th RBI of the season. The Pippins first baseman remains in the top-10 in that category after a solid game one performance against Bend.

The Pipps will look for their first win against the Elks in 2024 with another matchup on Saturday night. Game two will take place at 6:35 p.m. PT from The Orchard, as the Pipps look to even up the series at home.

• Discuss this story on the West Coast League message board...

West Coast League Stories from July 27, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Yakima Valley Pippins Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central