8th Innings Errors Result in Heartbreaking Loss in Bend

BEND, Or.- The Pippins entered game 2 frustrated after a 10-run blowout in game one, and exited even more frustrated after a blown lead in the 10-9 loss.

The back and forth ballgame was one of the best played all season, and the Pippins overcame 2 different Bend leads but couldn’t quite pull it out.

For the 5th straight game, Yakima Valley allowed a run in the first inning, this time on a leadoff double and sacrifice fly. 2 more would cross in the 2nd, but it would have been more had it not been for starter Daniel Charron working out of significant trouble in both frames.

A scoreless 3rd from Charron woke up Pippins bats, and they would tie it at 3 in the top of the 4th on a pair of RBI hits from Jake Borst and Liam McCallum.

Bend would immediately answer with 2 more when a pair of 2-out RBI knocks made it 5-3 heading to the 5th.

The Pippins chipped away when a 2-out infield single set up a Jaxon Sorenson RBI double to cut it to one. Charron would retire the side in order in the bottom half, and the Pippins tied it up again on another McCallum RBI in the 6th.

Julian Taudin-Chabot made his first appearance of the year and after allowing the potential go-ahead run to reach 3rd with one out, he struck out the next 2 and sent it to the 7th.

With a new arm on the hill, the Pippins took their first lead of the series on a 2-run home run from Jaxon Sorenson to tally his 3rd hit and 3rd RBI on the day. That wouldn’t be the last homer of the game, as Tyler Griggs blasted his first with 2 outs in the 8th, and the Pippins led 9-5.

It wouldn’t stay that way for long. With 1 out in the bottom half, a single, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk would load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate against the heart of the order. Caden Duke would do his job, inducing a would-be inning ending double play ball to short, but a tough error meant that everyone was safe, and the Elks would score 5 to retake the lead 10-9.

The Pippins had a leadoff walk needing one in the 9th, but 3 straight strikeouts shut down the threat the the Elks would escape with a 10-9 victory.

Yakima Valley will try to salvage the series tomorrow in the finale at Bend, with first pitch at 6:35 and the audio stream starting at 6:20 on Mixlr.

By Zach McKinstry

June 11, 2022