Pippins Top Kamloops, Win First Series Since Early July
August 8, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - Yakima Valley entered the final series of the summer already eliminated from postseason eligibility. However, that fact has not stopped this team's ability to fight for everything they want on the field.
After walking off to victory in game one against Kamloops the previous night, the Pippins followed it up with an 8-3 win to take the series against the NorthPaws on Wednesday. The fans at The Orchard witnessed the Pipps take their first series victory in over a month, as Yakima Valley last won a series back on Fourth of July against Cowlitz.
This game was dominated on the mound by Pippins starting pitcher AJ Hendrickson. The Everett Community College sophomore went for his longest outing of the season and completed seven full innings of work. He only allowed one earned run with two strikeouts.
Hendrickson was followed by two scoreless innings from Nic Lewandowski out of the bullpen. The two arms for Yakima Valley only allowed a combined five hits to Kamloops, with just one earned run.
The lone concern from this game came defensively, as the Pippins committed four defensive errors. That is why only one of the three runs from Kamloops was earned.
Offensively, Dom Longo shined in game two. He finished with three hits in four tries and drove in three of the eight runs for the Pippins. He was joined by Aidan Morrison as the only other Pippin with more than one hit in this game, as the Whitworth College senior went 2-4 in this contest.
Toussaint Bythewood, Rece Schuerman, Kaden Kirshenbaum and Spencer Shipman each added one hit, and helped the Pippins smack nine hits all together in game two. The Pipps also only struck out five times, which was a welcome sight to behold after all the strikeout issues in Portland this past weekend.
The big offensive stretch came in the fifth, sixth and seventh frames for Yakima Valley. After Bythewood scored in the first and Mauricio Guardado scored in the second, that's where the scoring stopped for Yakima Valley in the first half of the game.
However, even when they entered the second half of the game down 3-2, Yakima Valley showed that they had a ton of fight left in them. Bythewood and Longo both scored in the fifth to give the Pipps a 4-3 lead.
Then, an inning later, Longo smacked a 2-RBI single to bring Jake Lockwood and Morrison around. This extended the lead for the Pippins to 6-3. In the seventh, the Pipps added their final runs of the game. Schuerman and Kirshenbaum were brought in on Morrison's second hit of the game.
Yakima Valley dominated down the stretch, and head into the final game of the 10th season of Pippins baseball with some momentum. With fireworks and a Scott T. Pippin bobblehead giveaway scheduled for Thursday night, The Orchard will be active as the Pipps close out the summer.
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West Coast League Stories from August 8, 2024
- Harbourcats Playoff Tickets Now Available On-Line - Victoria HabourCats
- Pippins Top Kamloops, Win First Series Since Early July - Yakima Valley Pippins
- AppleSox Fall in Extras at Bend - Wenatchee AppleSox
- HarbourCats Gear Up for Playoffs With 11-8 Win - Victoria HabourCats
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