Pippins Swept on the Road by Cowlitz
June 24, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
LONGVIEW, Washington - Yakima Valley entered the road series with the Cowlitz Black Bears with an 11-7 record, which put them right near the top of the WCL South Division. However, after three straight losses to Cowlitz, the Pippins fell to 11-10 Sunday.
The Black Bears defeated the Pippins 10-2 in a dominant showing in the final game of this long chain of daily action for the Pipps. In the ninth game in nine days, Yakima Valley just couldn't muster much in terms of offense in this series. Cowlitz outscored the Pippins 21-5 in this three-game stretch.
Sunday, the Black Bears took an early two-run lead after the first frame. Keaton Grady and Jonathan Mendez scored on a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly, respectively. However, it seemed like the Pipps offense was going to be able to match Cowlitz's production soon after.
The Pippins scored two runs in the next inning, as Adrian Hinojosa reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Rece Schuerman to come in to score the first of Yakima Valley's two runs. Jack Sheward came across later as a wild pitch got away from Andrew Allanson behind the plate for Cowlitz. It was 2-2.
Unfortunately for Yakima Valley, this would be the only time they produced any significant offense all day long. Cowlitz, on the other hand, had plenty of fight left in them. The Black Bears entertained their home audience with two more runs in the fourth inning, as Jaron Nevarez was brought in on a 2-run homer from Noah Malone. The Cowlitz left fielder came into game three hitless on the season but went 2-for-4 at the plate Sunday.
They piled on more scoring with a three-run fifth frame, as Jonathan Mendez, Sergio DeCello and Carter Monda all came in to score to make it a 7-2 Black Bears lead.
Three more runs came around later in the game, as two scored for Cowlitz in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
Adam Brooks made the start for the Pipps and did not have his usual strong stuff on the mound from the beginning. He allowed three of the nine total walks dealt by Yakima Valley pitchers in the game and allowed four earned runs in 4.0 IP.
He was eventually replaced by four other arms out of the Pippins bullpen, including Garin Gurtler, Tyler Disch, James Rivera and Parker Smith. The four relievers combined for four strikeouts, with three of them credited to Disch, who had one of his stronger outings of the season, outside of the two earned runs.
Offensively, Yakima Valley struck out 12 times at the plate. Things looked rough in the beginning as Wayne and Spencer Shipman both combined for seven strikeouts. They hit in the one and two spots in the Pippins lineup but weren't able to reach base successfully enough to lead to productive at-bats further down in the order.
Preston Allen seemed to be breaking out of his slump a bit at the plate. He finished 2-for-4 on the day and completed the series with his 28th hit of the summer campaign. This total places him in a three-way tie for the second most hits in the league.
Yakima Valley is off Monday before returning to action at The Orchard on Tuesday in the first game of a three-game series with the Portland Pickles. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.
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West Coast League Stories from June 24, 2024
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- Pippins Swept on the Road by Cowlitz - Yakima Valley Pippins
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