Three Homers Not Enough, Pippins Fall at Kelowna
June 29, 2024 - West Coast League (WCL)
Yakima Valley Pippins News Release
KELOWNA, British Columbia - After a 12-inning loss the night before, Yakima Valley headed out on the road for its only trip north of the border this year for a Friday game that featured some early Independence Day fireworks - so to speak.
Yakima Valley and the Kelowna Falcons combined for 22 runs Friday, with Kelowna ending up on top 12-10 at the end. The Pipps added their seventh, eighth and ninth home runs of the season, with the first coming just two pitches into the game.
The Pippins had runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth before a strikeout ended the game.
Casey Wayne struck the second pitch of the ball game out of the yard and gave Yakima Valley the first lead. This was his third homer of the season, which leads the team. However, the Falcons found five runs in response an inning later.
Aidan Kuni, Myles Walton, Jacob Devenny, Eddie Fines and Drew Stevens all came across to give Kelowna a 5-1 lead. The scoring ceased until the fifth frame, when both teams added one run. It was 5-2 after Kaden Kirshenbaum sent a big fly over the wall for his first homer of the season as a Pippin.
Once Sam Flores scored off Devenny's single to center field, Kelowna extended its lead to 6-2 heading into the back half of game one. Yakima Valley started to cut back into the deficit with a single from Julian Angulo, which brought in Preston Allen.
Yakima Valley's pitching changed in the seventh, as starter Quentin O'Connor finished his day with eight earned runs and 10 hits in his 6.2 innings. He was relieved by Davis Koester to finish up a disastrous six-run frame in the seventh by the Falcons. Kelowna led 12-2 as the game headed to the eighth inning.
The Pippins offense showed signs of life with runs from Angulo and Rece Schuerman in the eighth. Angulo came in on a sacrifice fly by Kirshenbaum, who brought in his second run of the night to that point.
Schuerman was plated on an RBI single from Aidan Morrison, which was just his second hit of the season. The Whitworth College outfielder last had a base knock all the way back on June 1.
It all came down to the ninth, as the Pipps trailed 12-5 headed into their last at-bats. This is where the fuse was lit, and the fireworks started to go off for the Pippins offense.
Preston Allen smacked his first homer of the season and brought in Adrian Hinojosa to make it 12-7 with no outs. Allen finished the day with a 2-for-5 effort at the dish and two RBIs.
He was followed by back-to-back singles from Angulo and Schuerman. Then, Spencer Shipman drew a full count walk to load the bases up. Kirshenbaum stepped up to the plate next and drew another walk to make it 12-8.
After a pitching change, Morrison drew another free base with a walk, and Schuerman scored to make it 12-9. It began to appear like the Pipps had found some late game magic and were going to pull a rabbit out of the hat.
Shipman came around on a fielder's choice off the bat of Wayne and cut the deficit to just two runs with two baserunners on for Yakima Valley. Adrian Hinojosa walked to the box with a chance to tie the game with a base knock, as it was 12-10.
Five runs had already come in for the Pippins in the frame, but a long at-bat led to a swinging strikeout that ended the game by Hinojosa. Yakima Valley lost its sixth game in the last seven.
Offensively, the Pipps were led by Allen, Angulo and Schuerman. Each of them had two hits in the game and produced three combined RBIs. Eleven hits got down for Yakima Valley in game one, as Shipman was the only player in the lineup to not finish with at least one base knock.
Three home runs were the most in any game for Yakima Valley all season, and the Pipps will need to continue this strong offensive showing the rest of the series to avoid their third series defeat in a row.
On the mound, the Pipps sent three relief arms after O'Connor's night was over. Koester allowed one hit in his appearance, while Logan Smith and James Rivera both came in near the end of game one. O'Connor took the loss after allowing a season-high eight runs on his stat sheet.
The Pippins will have another crack at the Kelowna Falcons on Saturday night from Elks Stadium. Game two is set for a 6:35 p.m. first pitch.
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