Ridgefield Edges Pippins in Series Finale
August 2, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
YAKIMA, Washington - Yakima Valley fought well in game three against the Ridgefield Raptors, but a 5-4 loss handed Yakima Valley their 30th loss of the season.
The Raptors took the series 2-1 over Yakima Valley at The Orchard with the win Thursday night. Two runs in the seventh inning ended up putting the game out of reach for the Pippins' offense, which did not produce as much as they did in game two.
Ridgefield struck first with an RBI double from Justin Stransky to bring in Taylor Takata in the first inning. The Pipps responded with two runs in the second frame to take an early lead.
RBIs from Aidan Morrison and Toussaint Bythewood gave Yakima Valley their first runs of the game. Ricco Longo and Jake Lockwood came around to give the Pipps a 2-1 lead headed to the third.
This lead did not last long, as Ridgefield tied it with Ryan Camacho's RBI single. Stransky scored to make it 3-3. A run in the fourth by Yakima Valley continued the pattern of back-and-forth action.
Morrison once again made his presence felt with a sacrifice fly to bring Rece Schuerman in from third. The Pippins led 3-2 all the way until the sixth inning. Ridgefield tied it up once again as Takata plated the first of his three RBIs.
Once Julian Nunez was brought in, the Raptors tied it up once again. They would go on to take the lead an inning later thanks to Takata. The University of Hawaii commit added his third hit of the game and drove in two runs to give Ridgefield the lead.
Yakima Valley was only able to add one more run in response, as Bythewood came home off Dom Longo's RBI single. This was Longo's second hit of the game, and the Pipps cut the deficit to one run.
However, Yakima Valley went quiet on the scoreboard over the final two innings and dropped game three 5-4. This loss meant Yakima Valley had dropped their sixth series in a row, as the Pipps fell to 18-30 overall on the season.
AJ Hendrickson made the start for Yakima Valley on Thursday and allowed just two runs in five innings of work. Justin Cuellar and Trace Green both appeared out of the bullpen.
Cuellar went for just two innings, as three runs scored against him. The incoming freshman for UCLA walked two batters, which was matched by Green during the eighth and ninth frames. In his debut, Green allowed two hits and no runs.
Offensively, Yakima Valley saw two hits from Dom Longo, but only five hits outside of his total. Bythewood, Drew Johnson, Schuerman, Lockwood and Morrison each added one, while the Pipps went 7-35 overall at the plate.
Yakima Valley will look to get back in the win column starting on Friday night against the Portland Pickles. The Pippins will be on the road this weekend but will return for their last home series of the regular season against the Kamloops NorthPaws starting on Tuesday evening.
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