Pippins Score in Eight Straight Innings to Break Losing Streak
July 25, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
WALLA WALLA, Washington - After a scoreless first frame, Yakima Valley's offense exploded for 14 runs in their first road win in six games.
It was a 14-8 dominant showing for the Pippins on both sides of the ball in game two on Wednesday night from Borleske Stadium. In front of nearly 700 fans, the Pipps finished with double-digit hits on offense, and compounded that with double-digit strikeouts on the mound.
Logan Egge and Owen Egan were the standouts on the bump for the Pipps. They combined for nine of the 10 punchouts, and only pitched a combined six full innings. Egge recorded five strikeouts in just 2.0 innings in his second appearance in a WCL game.
Offensively, Drew Johnson, Rece Schuerman, Casey Wayne, and David Ballenilla each went for multiple hits in this game. Johnson led the way with a 3-for-5 effort and two RBIs, but Schuerman added two more RBIs with a 2-run shot over the left field fence early in the game.
Zack Blaszak drew four walks in his seven plate appearances, and scored once, while Dom Longo did not find a hit, but drew three walks and recorded three RBIs.
Overall, the walks drawn by the Pippins were a major difference maker: 13 walks allowed by Walla Walla compared with six walks dealt by the Yakima Valley staff.
Walla Walla took an early 5-1 lead after two innings. It initially appeared like the Sweets were going to ride the momentum of their 10-1 victory in game one of this series right into another win. However, Yakima Valley went on to score in eight straight frames after a scoreless first.
The one run in the second inning came from Wayne. Then, an inning later, Schuerman hit the home run that gave the Pipps two more runs on the scoreboard. It was the Gonzaga catcher's second home run of the season, and it was 5-3 at the end of the third.
The Pipps would score four more runs over the next two innings to take the lead. Ballenilla scored on a bases loaded walk of Longo in the fourth. Then, three runs in the fifth from Kaden Kirshenbaum, Ballenilla and Toussaint Bythewood gave the Pipps the advantage.
Yakima Valley drew four of its 13 walks in that fifth frame, which led to a lot of the scoring. Walla Walla struck back with two runs in response, but only managed to tie the game up after the first half of game two.
The Pippins offense did not slow down at all in the back half of the game. Two runs in the sixth from Wayne and Ballenilla gave Yakima Valley the lead right back, as the Pipps led 9-7.
Then, two in the seventh from Julian Angulo and Schuerman extended on the dominant offensive showing by the Pipps in this one. Angulo found his only hit of the ball game, and Adrian Hinojosa even added one of his two RBIs on the day with a sacrifice fly.
In the final two frames, the Pippins added three more runs to finish with 14 on the night. Blaszak finally scored after he had been stranded at third base three straight times, while Schuerman and Spencer Shipman joined him by coming around as well.
The Pippins closed out Walla Walla with Garin Gurtler on the mound, and once the third out was made, Yakima Valley rejoiced on the field. They celebrated earning their first win after holding a six-game losing streak. The cold stretch dated all the way back to game two on the road at Corvallis.
Yakima Valley will play one more game in the Battle of the Basin series of 2024 at 6:35 p.m. PT from Borleske on Thursday. The winner of this game will win the three-game series this week. However, the stakes for the season series are a little bit different.
If the Pipps pull off their first road series victory since mid-June with a win on Thursday night, they will take the Battle of the Basin season series 4-2. If Walla Walla wins on Thursday, they will win just their third series of the entire regular season. This result would also finish the 2024 Battle of the Basin with a 3-3 draw.
• Discuss this story on the West Coast League message board...
West Coast League Stories from July 25, 2024
- Pippins Score in Eight Straight Innings to Break Losing Streak - Yakima Valley Pippins
- HarbourCats End Road Trip with Sweep of Lefties - Victoria HabourCats
- Poor Defense Costs AppleSox Wednesday Night - Wenatchee AppleSox
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.
