In what has now become an annual tradition, baseball fans from Yakima escape the dreariness of winter in the Valley for a burst of sunshine, cold drinks, and baseball in Arizona. We join our friends with the Seattle Mariners and enjoy the rite of passage that is Spring Training.

For the 2019 edition of the trip, the details are as follows:

• Depart Sunday, March 10, return Thursday, March 14
• Trip to include 5 days/4 nights/3 games (2 in Peoria, 1 on the road)
• Includes: round-trip airfare from Pasco-Phoenix | Ground Transportation (to and from the airport to hotels and hotels to ballparks) | Hotel accommodations | game tickets to (3) spring training games (including an all-you-can-eat ballpark buffet from a party deck in Peoria) | special behind-the-scenes look at the 2019 M’s and the facilities
• Cost: $1,495/pp (double-occupancy)

Past trips have included meeting Mariners greats, visits with the management team, and a chance to see live bullpens from All-Star pitchers inside the practice facility. In addition to the great behind-the-scenes, the company has been fantastic – it is a great way to end winter and prepare for the warmth of summer.

“We can’t wait to get down there this year,” said PBV president Zachary Fraser. “Each year we see something unique, different – and you can’t beat the weather!”

To schedule or for additional emails, contact the Pippins travel partner Paul Schneidmiller at Worldwide Travel Service via phone (509-525-8040) or via email at paul@wwts.bz.

To see the full details, click here

YAKIMA, Wash. — A day after announcing their 2019 WCL schedule, the Yakima Valley Pippins are serving up a new season ticket option for fans: the ‘Best Available’ ticket.

This new season ticket provides entry into all 32 Pippins home games in 2019, but doesn’t come with a specific seat. Instead, fans will be able to choose their seat from what is available a week before the game date.

It will give the fan the most flexibility for the price, general manager Jeff Garretson said.

“The upside is that a fan can pick the best seats — from the Dugout Bar at field level right next to first base, to reserved seats behind home plate, to any other section, based on preference,” Garretson said. “And you can’t beat the price for that wide range of seat flexibility.”

The “Best Available” season ticket costs $312, which averages to just $9.75 per game, well below the average $12 price for a Stadium Select reserved seat.

But there is a catch: To get the best seat available, fans must be proactive and reserve that seat no earlier than seven days ahead of time. Fans can also select their seats at the box office on game night, but choice is limited to what’s available at that time.

Like all season tickets, the “Best Available” ticket comes with Ticket Exchange, which allows the buyer to exchange the ticket for a missed game for a new ticket for another game, Garretson said. Ticket Exchange is a perk for season ticket holders only.

The “Best Available” season ticket, and all other season ticket and mini-plan options, are on sale now at the Pippins downtown office, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building, by calling 509-575-4487, or at the team’s holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall in Union Gap starting Nov. 17.

YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakima Valley Pippins will open their 2019 West Coast League campaign against the newest addition to the league, the Ridgefield Raptors, with a three-game series that begins Tuesday, June 4.

The Pippins, starting their sixth year in the wood-bat collegiate summer league, will open their 32-game home schedule at Yakima County Stadium on Friday, June 7, against the Wenatchee AppleSox. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m.

Ridgefield was announced as the 12^th team in the WCL this summer. The Raptors, owned by the same group that owns and operates the Cowlitz Black Bears, will join the WCL South, which will give both divisions six teams each.

The North Division includes Yakima Valley, Wenatchee, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Kelowna and Victoria. Joining Cowlitz and Ridgefield in the South are Walla Walla, Portland, Bend and Corvallis.

The Pippins will have 27 home league games and five nonleague opponents. The nonleague dates and opponents will be announced later.

The Pippins schedule can be viewed here.

The league’s regular season concludes on Sunday, Aug. 11, with playoffs starting two days later. The Pippins will host their sister team, the Walla Walla Sweets, on the final home weekend of the season.

Per league scheduling guidelines, the Pippins will not travel to Walla Walla or Bend this season. Likewise, Yakima Valley will not host Portland or Cowlitz this summer.

Pippins home games will begin at 6:35 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, except for special event nights such as fireworks nights. Sunday games will begin at 6:05 p.m. The Pippins promotional schedule will be announced early next year.

Season tickets for the 2019 season are available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St., in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487, or online at PippinsTickets.com. The Pippins’ holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall in Union Gap will open Nov. 17.

Tickets for Opening Night, presented by Legends Casino and Hotel, will go on sale in December, with special pricing available only that month.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Yakima Valley Pippins outfielder Kyle Dean and starting pitcher Cullen Kafka have been named to the West Coast League’s first team, the league announced today.

Earning second-team honors are catcher Victor Cerny and starting pitcher Chase Farrell. Infielder/catcher Tyler Lasch, infielders Cody Jefferis, Nick DiCarlo and Jake Moberg, outfielder Sam Mitchell and pitchers Hunter French and Mason Wells each picked up honorable mentions.

Dean, who will be a junior at Cal State Monterey Bay this fall, led the WCL with a .374 batting average in 37 games with the Pippins after joining the squad in mid-June. He finished with 52 hits, including eight doubles, four triples and two home runs. He also had 24 RBI, 19 walks and was hit by a pitch four times.

Kafka, a 6-foot-4 right-hander from the University of Oregon, had a 2.37 ERA in nine WCL appearances this year, and compiled the third-best ERA in the league. He struck out 50 and walked 10 in 45.2 innnings en route to a 3-3 record.

Farrell, a 6-foot-2 right-hander from UCLA, compiled a 3.46 ERA in 52 innings that spread across 10 apperances, including eight starts. He finished with a 2-2 record, striking out 57 and walking 11 while giving up 41 hits.

Cerny, a sophomore at Cal St. Northridge, hit .254 with a home run and 13 RBI for the Pippins in 37 games, and saw considerable time behind the plate due to injuries to other members of the team’s catching corps.

The Pippins’ sixth West Coast League season will begin in early June 2019.

The complete All-WCL teams:

2018 WCL MVP
Trent Tinglestad (Louisiana-Monroe) of Kelowna

2018 WCL Pitchers of the Year
Curtis Bafus (VCU) of Wenatchee; Landen Bourassa (San Francisco) of Corvallis

2018 WCL Top Prospect
Matt McClain (UCLA) of Bellingham

All-WCL First Team

C – Cole Hamilton (Linn Benton CC, soph), Corvallis Knights
1B – Connor McCord (Western Oregon, junior), Wenatchee AppleSox
2B – Gio Diaz (St. Mary’s, soph), Portland Pickles
3B – Taylor Wright (Maryland, senior), Kelowna Falcons
SS – Ernie Yake (Gonzaga, soph), Bellingham Bells
OF – Trent Tinglestad (Louisiana-Monroe, junior), Kelowna Falcons
OF – Kyle Dean (Cal State Monterey Bay, junior), Yakima Valley Pippins
OF – Cody Hawken (Portland, senior), Corvallis Knights
UTL – Collin Runge (Portland, senior), Bend Elks
SP – Landen Bourassa (San Francisco, senior), Corvallis Knights
SP – Curtis Bafus (VCU, senior), Wenatchee AppleSox
SP – Bryce Moyle (Washington State, soph), Walla Walla Sweets
SP – Nick Nastrini (UCLA, frosh), Bellingham Bells
SP – Cullen Kafka (Oregon, soph), Yakima Valley Pippins
RP – Cal Hehnke (Nebraska-Omaha, senior), Kelowna Falcons
RP – Theron Kay (Cal State Northridge, senior), Bellingham Bells

All-WCL Second Team

C – Noah Cardenas (UCLA, frosh), Portland Pickles
C – Victor Cerny (Cal State Northridge, soph), Yakima Valley Pippins
1B – Nick Nyquist (Gonzaga, senior), Walla Walla Sweets
1B – Dan Pruitt (Seminole State College, soph), Kelowna Falcons
2B – Jason Dicochea (Santa Clara, junior), Port Angeles Lefties
3B – Zach Needham (Lewis-Clark State College, junior), Bellingham Bells
SS – Beau Philip (Oregon State, junior), Corvallis Knights
OF – Chandler Anderson (Utah, senior), Corvallis Knights
OF – Johnny Sage (Purdue, junior), Wenatchee AppleSox
OF – Ryan Kim (Portland, junior), Cowlitz Black Bears
UTL – Carson Breshears (Gonzaga, senior), Portland Pickles
SP – Zach Heaton (Dallas Baptist, frosh), Cowlitz Black Bears
SP – Brad McVay (Portland, soph), Portland Pickles
SP – Trevor Brigden (Okanagan College, senior), Kelowna Falcons
SP – Chase Farrell (UCLA, soph), Yakima Valley Pippins
SP – Hunter Boyd (College of Idaho, senior), Wenatchee AppleSox
RP – Justin Armbruester (Pacific Lutheran, soph), Bellingham Bells
RP – Taylor Davis (Gonzaga, senior), Bellingham Bells

All-WCL Honorable Mention
Bellingham: Matt McLain (UCLA), Connor Mack (Cal), Guthrie Morrison (Gonzaga), Jordan Stoner (Tennessee-Martin), Matt James (Yakima Valley College), Grant Holman (Cal), Nick Hull (Grand Canyon), Wesley Moore (Cal State Northridge), Davis Baillie (Washington State), Ben Leeper (Oklahoma State), Carson Olson (Cal).

Bend: Tristan Alvarez (Fresno Pacific), Alex Pallios (Chico State), Ty Holmstrom (Union College), Sam Muskat (Montana State Billings), Ace Embree (NW Nazarene).

Corvallis: Trace Tammaro (Portland), Chad Stevens (Portland), Austin Feist (St. Martin’s), Zak Taylor (Oregon State), Connor Knutson (Portland), Connor Redmond (Cal Poly), Cameron Haskell (Arizona), Eli Morse (Portland).

Cowlitz: Andres Sosa (Dallas Baptist), Dutton Elske (Portland), Austin Bell (Dallas Baptist), Ryan Kaser (Lower Columbia College), Mitch Lines (Lower Columbia College), Seth Rayburn (Tennessee-Martin), Marty Maves (Benedictine), Isaac Mullins (Washington State). Christian Peters (Portland).

Kelowna: Matt Voelzke (George Fox), Jake Fischer (Okanagan College), Lucas Soper (Univ. of British Columbia), Jared Akin (Concordia), James Brooks (Central Washington).

Port Angeles: Trevor Rosenberg (San Diego), Evan Pace (Southeastern Louisiana), Dalton Harum (Virginia Tech), Tyler Oldenberg (Seattle), Tristan Busse (Western Texas).

Portland: Jace McKinney (Portland), Daniel Lopez (Portland), Mike Perez (UCLA), Joey Cooper (Cal State Northridge), Davis Delorefice (Orange Coast College), Jack Murphy (St. Mary’s), Zander Clarke (UC San Diego), Joel Casillas (Cal State Northridge), Michael Newstrom (Washington State), Connor Pellerin (Tulane), Brad Bonnenfant (Portland), Daniel Copeland (Gonzaga), Adam Davenport (UW), Michael Frias (UC Irvine), Alex Roth (Western Oregon), Leo Nierenberg (UW).

Victoria: Dustin Demeter (Hawaii), Jeddediah Fagg (Georgia Southern), Mike Malinchak (Pepperdine), Nick Plaia (Cal Baptist), Ryan Ober (Oregon State), Garret Goodall (Embry-Riddle), Landon Anderson (Cal State Fullerton), Lawson Humphries (Georgia Southern), Tyler Yoshihara (Pomona-Pitzer).

Walla Walla: Jordan Hovey (Creighton), Cesar Lopez (Cal Poly Pomona), Haydn King (UNLV), Zach Penrod (NW Nazarene), Darius Vines (Arizona State).

Wenatchee: Joey Magro (Biola), Jake Taylor (Seattle), Mason Marenco (Gonzaga), Cory Meyer (Boise State), Jacob Prater (Seattle), Michael Spellacy (Gonzaga), Jeremy Yelland (Hawaii).

Yakima Valley: Tyler Lasch (Cal State Fullerton), Cody Jefferis (San Diego), Sam Mitchell (Montana State Billings), Nick DiCarlo (Cal Poly), Jake Moberg (UCLA), Hunter French (Central Washington), Mason Wells (Gonzaga).

YAKIMA, Wash. — The Yakima Valley Pippins ranked 37th nationally in per-game attendance average, according to Baseball Digest.

This summer, the Pippins averaged 1,355 fans during their 27 West Coast League games at Yakima County Stadium, a 5 percent increase in league-game attendance compared with the 2017 season. Total attendance for all 32 home games, including five nonleague games, was 42,247.

The Pippins have ranked in Baseball Digest’s Top 50 each of their first five years. In 2017, the Pippins were tied for 40th on the list with the Walla Walla Sweets; in 2016, the Pippins ranked 38th.

“We’re in a great sports town, a great baseball town, and our fans enjoy summer nights at the ballpark watching collegiate players who are working hard to get to the next level,” general manager Jeff Garretson said.

Victoria, Portland, Bellingham, Port Angeles, Corvallis and Walla Walla join Yakima in the Top 50 listings this year.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Outfielder Kyle Dean has been crowned the West Coast League batting champion after leading all batters with a .374 average over the 54-game WCL season.

Dean, who joined the Pippins en route to their trip to Kelowna, B.C. on June 22, played in 37 games. He finished with 52 hits in 139 at-bats, including eight doubles, four triples and two home runs. Dean, who attended Brigham Young University this past spring and is transferring to Cal State Monterey Bay this fall, also had 24 RBI, 19 walks and four hit-by-pitches.

Dean’s best plate appearance was a 4-for-5 effort against Corvallis on July 10 in Yakima, in which he doubled and drove in a run. Two days earlier, Dean had an individual-best 3 RBI game at Port Angeles, and drove in multiple runs in six league games.

In nonleague play, Dean had a 4-for-5, 7-RBI game against the Gresham GreyWolves on July 26 that included a grand slam.

Powered by a three run rally in the eighth inning, the Pippins ended their 2018 season on a high note with a 5-3 win over the Corvallis Knights on Wednesday.

Jack Gonzales got the start for the Pippins and Corvallis jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second. With the bases loaded and just one out, Ben McKay hit a sacrifice fly. Gonzales escaped the inning, allowing just the one run.

In the third, a two run single off the bat of Austin Feist extended the lead to 3-0. That was all that the Knights would be able to get off of Gonzales.

Coming off of getting shutout on Tuesday, the Pippins offense struggled early. Their first scoring opportunity came in the fourth when they stranded runners at the corners.

The offense broke through in the fifth with just one hit. Two of the first three batters reached on walks and with one out Cody Jefferis drove in a run with a groundout. Another run would come in on a wild pitch to pull the Pippins within a run.

While the Pippins clawed their way back, Gonzales was lights out as he only allowed one baserunner to reach second after the third. Gonzales would go seven innings, allowing just three runs, two earned on seven hits.

In the eighth, the Pippins took their first lead of the series. An error and two singles set up a bases loaded no out opportunity. After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, the Pippins were about to squander a golden opportunity. Bryce Wooldridge stepped up to the plate and hit a low line drive to short. Chad Stevens dove to try and catch it before the bounce but the second base umpire ruled that the ball hit the ground. Everyone was safe and a run came to score, tying the game. Cole Jones followed with a two run single back up the middle to put the Pippins out in front 5-3.

Connor White took the mound in the ninth, looking for his fifth save. With two outs, the Knights put runners on the corners. After a lengthy battle with Chandler Anderson, White was able to get a ball on the ground back up the middle. Jefferis ranged over and threw out Anderson by a step to seal the win in the final game of the season for the Pippins.

With the win, the Pippins finish the season with a 27-27 record, missing the playoffs by one game.

Despite a sparkling start from Chase Farrell, the Pippins offense couldn’t back him up as the Pippins saw their postseason hopes dashed in a 2-0 loss to the Knights on Tuesday.

Farrell and Knights starter Connor Redmond were dueling early, matching zeros in the first and second innings.

With two outs in the third, Corvallis went to Aaron Shoup out of the bullpen. Victor Cerny and Elijah Greene hit back to back singles before Shoup got out of the inning.

Farrell continued to dominate early and with some help from a caught stealing and a double play, faced the minimum through the first four innings. In the fifth, Cody Hawken hit a two out double but was stranded at second.

The Pippins offense continued to struggle against the Corvallis bullpen. In the fourth, Jake Moberg and Nick DiCarlo reached base with two outs but on a wild pitch, DiCarlo was caught trying to take second.

In the sixth, the Pippins had runners at first and second with two outs but Kyle Dean was picked off at first by catcher Zak Taylor after taking too big of a secondary lead.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when Austin Feist didn’t miss a rare mistake from Farrell and launched a solo home run over the left field wall.

Farrell came back out for the bottom of the eighth but was pulled after a leadoff single. Connor White came in and two batters later Cole Hamilton drove in a big insurance run with a single.

The Pippins put together one final rally in the top of the ninth, putting runners at first and second with two outs but Cam Campbell lined out to second to end the game.

With the loss, the Pippins postseason hopes were ended. They have one final game to end the 2018 season on Wednesday against the Knights. First pitch at 7:05.

The Pippins fell behind early and couldn’t rally back, falling 9-5 to the Corvallis Knights on Monday.

Kaleb Strawn made the start for the Pippins, his first start of the season in the last series of the season. He walked two of the first four batters he faced before Cody Hawken got the Knights on the board with an RBI single. After another walk, Trace Tammaro doubled in two more runs to extend the lead to 3-0. Strawn would strand runners at the corners to end the inning.

In the third, the Pippins got some help from the Corvallis defense. Cody Jefferis lead off with a groundball to third that went under the glove of Zak Taylor. After a Nick DiCarlo double, Jake Moberg delivered a two run single to pull the Pippins within a run.

Corvallis would get one of the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. After back to back strikeouts to open up the inning, Strawn allowed a single and a hit by pitch to set up an RBI double from Brendan Beck.

The Pippins continued to fight back in the fourth. With two on and one out, Bryce Wooldridge drove in a run with a single to bring the Pippins back to within a run. Corvallis starter Jacob Frike would be pulled with two outs in the fourth, giving way to Jordan McDaniel.

Strawn would be knocked out of the game in the bottom of the fourth after an error and an infield single began the inning. Tanner Inouye was summoned out of the bullpen and allowed just one run on an RBI groundout before escaping the inning to keep the Pippins within two runs at 5-3.

McDaniel cruised through three and a third innings of scoreless ball in relief to hold the 5-3 lead with some help from two double plays.

In the seventh, Corvallis began to pull away. With Inouye still on the mound, the Knights put together three straight base hits to bring in two runs. Another run would score later in the inning on an RBI double from Tammaro to bring the lead to 8-3.

Cole Pofek supplied the last Pippins rally, going deep to right field for a two run home run in the eighth to cut the deficit to 8-5.

With Moberg on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, Taylor crushed a 2-2 pitch over the wall in left field. A 1-2-3 top of the ninth sealed a 9-5 Pippins loss in the opener of the series.

The last two games against the Knights are crucial for the Pippins. They need to win both games to make the playoffs. Game two of the series is on Tuesday. First pitch at 6:30.

Hunter French threw seven strong innings and the offense backed him with four home runs as the Pippins ended their four game losing streak with a 9-3 win over the Sweets.

In the top of the first inning, Nick DiCarlo would set the tone for the offense by cranking a solo home run over the scoreboard in left to put the Pippins on the board.

The Pippins continued to jump on Sweets starter Brayde Hirai in the second. With two runners on and one out, Cam Campbell launched a three run home run to left field. Later in the inning, another run scored on a wild pitch to give French an early 5-0 lead.

Over the first three innings, French steamrolled through the Sweets lineup. He faced just one over the minimum while recording nine outs on 27 pitches.

In the top of the fifth, the Pippins continued to add on when Bryce Wooldridge knocked in Elijah Greene from second who had lead off the inning with a double.

The Sweets would push across their first run against French in the fifth inning. After a leadoff walk, Quentin LaFontaine drove him in with a double. French would retire the next three batters and limit the damage to just one run.

In the sixth, the Pippins continued to flex their muscles and busted the game open. With one on and one out, Tyler Lasch launched a two run home run over the right field wall. Two batters later, Chris Arpan destroyed an 0-1 pitch to left field that may still be in the air. After the sixth, the Pippins lead 9-1.

Walla Walla would grab another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly before the Pippins went to the bullpen in the eighth. French would go seven innings, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out six.

The Sweets pushed across their last run off of Connor White in the eighth on an RBI single from Jordan Hovey. Jake Moberg would take the mound for the ninth and retired the side in order with some help from a double play to seal a 9-3 Pippins win.

With the victory, the Pippins ended their four game skid and grabbed some momentum heading into Corvallis. Game one of the final series of the season is on Monday. First pitch at 6:30.

The Pippins couldn’t dig themselves out of an early hole as they dropped their fourth straight game in a 7-3 loss to the Sweets on Saturday.

Mason Wells was coming off one of his best starts of the season, going seven plus innings of three run ball against the Black Bears, but the Sweets were able to get to him early.

With two outs and a runner at second in the first inning, Jordan Hovey checked in with an RBI single to put the Sweets on the board.

In the second, the Sweets sent eight men to the plate, driving in three runs. With two outs, Patrick Caulfield, Cesar Lopez and Nick Nyquist hit back to back to back RBI singles to extend the lead to 4-0.

Offensively, the Pippins had a couple two out opportunities early. With two outs and the bases empty in the first, Kyle Dean ripped a triple off the center field wall but he would be stranded. In the second inning, Chris Arpan worked his way to third after a one out single but would also be stranded.

The Pippins got on the board in the third inning on an RBI groundout off the bat of Cody Jefferis. Runners would be stranded on the corners to end the inning.

After a scoreless third by Wells the Pippins would go to the bullpen, marking just the second time that Wells has gone less than four innings in a regular start all season.

The Sweets would push another run across in the fourth off Jack Gonzales and Tanner Inouye would allow two more runs in the fifth on a two run double from Josh Prazina.

Drew Hurst came out of the bullpen in the sixth for the Pippins and kept the Sweets scoreless over three frames, not allowing a hit.

Hurst’s performance was not enough as the Pippins offense was stymied by starter Tyson Quolas and a combination of four relievers. Quolas struck out seven over five frames and the Sweets combined to strike out twelve Pippins batters.

In the seventh, the Pippins mounted their last rally, scoring two runs on a Jake Moberg RBI single and a wild pitch. That was all the Pippins could muster the rest of the way as they were shut out in the final two innings.

The Pippins have dropped the first two games of this series and have now lost four straight games. They will look to avoid the sweep and get back in the win column in the final game of the series on Sunday. First pitch at 7:05.

Despite another strong start from Cullen Kafka, the Pippins lost their third straight heartbreaker on Friday, this time a 4-3 walkoff loss to the Walla Walla Sweets.

Both starting pitchers began the day with an ERA hovering around 2 and the game lived up to its pitcher’s duel billing.

The Sweets struck first in the second. On the first pitch he saw leading off the bottom of the second, Ben Fariss hit a line drive solo home run over the left field wall. Kafka would recover to retire the next three batters.

In the top of the third, the Pippins offense answered. After a leadoff double by Nick DiCarlo, Cody Jefferis drove him in with a single to knot up the score. That would be the only run that the Pippins would get off of Bryce Moyle who would go five innings before the Sweets turned to their bullpen.

The long ball would strike again in the bottom of the fourth when leadoff hitter Nick Nyquist cranked a 2-0 pitch over the center field wall, giving the Sweets a 2-1 lead.

The score would hold until the sixth when the Pippins got to reliever Luke Short. After Jake Moberg lead off the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch, Cole Jones drove him in with a single.

In the seventh, the Sweets would get their last run off of Kafka. Ryan Johnston hit a leadoff double and a batter later, Matt Elser knocked him in with a single. The Pippins went to the bullpen in the eighth, with Kafka going seven innings of three run ball with seven strikeouts.

The Pippins continued to rally in the eighth, loading the bases with no outs. DiCarlo then ripped a single to right field, driving in a run to once again tie the score. That would be all the Pippins could get as Ben Farris would come in and shut the door.

With the score still tied at three in the bottom of the ninth, the Sweets loaded the bases with two outs against Bryce Wooldridge. On a 0-1 pitch, Patrick Caulfield lined a single into right field for the game ending knock, sending the Pippins to their third straight loss.

The Pippins will look to end their three game skid in the second game of the series on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

In a back and forth game, the HarbourCats put together another ninth inning rally to sink the Pippins in the final game of the series on Thursday.

In the second inning, the Pippins took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single off the bat of Cody Jefferis but it could have been more as Cam Campbell was caught in between second and third on the single and would be tagged out to end the inning.

Chase Farrell got the start for the Pippins and worked in and out of trouble early on. He stranded a runner on in each of the first three innings, two of which were in scoring position.

The HarbourCats got on the board in the fourth. After a walk and a single to lead off the inning, Caleb Ricketts grounded into a double play, bringing in a run and pulling Victoria even.

The Pippins answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Campbell dropped down a squeeze bunt to bring in the run from third. In the fifth inning, Campbell brought in another run with a bases loaded walk to extend the lead to 3-1. While picking up the lead, the Pippins couldn’t get the big hit to break the game open. Over the first five innings, the Pippins left nine men on base including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth.

Despite not having his normal pinpoint control, Farrell worked into the sixth inning before the HarbourCats were able to put up a rally. A walk and two singles loaded the bases with no outs and set up an RBI single from Jaxxon Fagg. An RBI groundout later in the inning would tie the game at three. Farrell would be relieved by Tanner Inouye who allowed the final run of the inning on a wild pitch.

The score would stay 4-3 until the eighth when the Pippins were able to get to the Victoria bullpen. With one out, two walks and a single loaded the bases with just one out. Still searching for the big hit, Kyle Dean delivered with a two run single back up the middle to give the Pippins a 5-4 lead. Two runners would be stranded in the inning and missing an opportunity to tack on to the lead would prove costly in the ninth.

Drew Hurst came out of the bullpen for the ninth inning and had trouble throwing strikes. Hurst walked two of the first three batters with another reaching on an error to load the bases with no outs. Jed Fagg followed with a two run double to put the HarbourCats back out in front. Hurst would get out of the inning but the damage was done.

The Pippins offense put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t push across a run, dropping the final game of the series to Victoria.

The Pippins will look to right the ship when they open up a three game road series against the Sweets on Friday. First pitch at 6:35.

One night after rallying from seven down, the Pippins blew a two run lead in the ninth to drop the middle game of the series to the HarbourCats 8-4.

Victoria jumped to an early lead in the first when Dustin Miller doubled in Nick Plaia for a 1-0 advantage.

Jack Gonzales got the start for the Pippins and had learned through Instagram earlier in the day that he would be starting. He hadn’t made a start since early July. After struggling with his control early, Gonzales settled down by getting a double play to end the top of the first. From there he was lights out, posting zeros in the second, third and fourth innings.

In the fifth, the HarbourCats were able to scratch across another run as Miller came up in the clutch with a two out RBI single to extend the lead to 2-0.

After being held scoreless through the first four innings by Gunner Friend, the Pippins offense broke through in the fifth with Tyler Lasch knocking in two runs with a single to tie the score.

After a scoreless sixth, the Pippins would take their first lead of the night in the seventh. After Gonzales put the finishing touches on seven innings of two run ball in the top half of the inning, having not thrown more than 4.2 innings in any appearance this season, the Pippins put runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom half. After a groundout and a shallow flyout, it was Kyle Dean who came up big with a two run single back up the middle to stake the Pippins to a 4-2 lead.

Connor White came in to throw a scoreless eighth but a missed opportunity for the offense in the bottom half of the inning turned the tide. The Pippins put runners at the corners with no outs and were poised to add an insurance run or two. Robert Ball would then ground out to third with a drawn in infield but Elijah Greene would be caught off the third base bag trying to gauge if he could score on the throw. The double play halted the Pippins rally and gave the HarbourCats momentum heading to the ninth.

White came back out for the save and immediately ran into trouble. The first three men reached on two singles and a hit by pitch when Harrison Spohn tried to set down a bunt. After a strikeout and a sacrifice fly brought the HarbourCats within one, White got to 1-2 on Miller and was a strike away from ending the game. On the next pitch, Miller doubled into the right field gap which scored two and put the HarbourCats out in front 5-4. Victoria would score three more runs to build an 8-4 cushion.

Tyler Yoshihara threw a scoreless ninth for the HarbourCats to send the Pippins to an 8-4 loss, snapping their two game winning streak.

The Pippins still have a chance to take the series in the finale Thursday on Fan Appreciation Night. First pitch at 7:05.

Trailing by seven runs after the third inning, the Pippins came all the way back to beat the HarbourCats 10-9 on a ninth inning walkoff.

With two outs and two on in the top of the first inning, Dustin Demeter hit a hotshot groundball that Cam Campbell couldn’t handle at first base. The play would bring in two runs as Victoria took the lead.

The Pippins answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with Kyle Dean and Jake Moberg checking in with two out RBI knocks to tie the score at two.

Everything unraveled in the second inning for Pippins starter Hunter French who didn’t get much help from his defense. With one out, Hayden Jaco doubled and Tanner Haney followed with a groundball to third. Moberg’s throw was on target, but Campbell lost the ball in the sun which allowed Jaco to score from second. Six of the next seven batters reached with a double, triple and three singles adding up to six runs for the HarbourCats as they took an 8-2 lead.

In the third, Victoria played add on with more help from the Pippins defense. Nick Plaia reached on an error, then stole second and third and came home on a throwing error from catcher Tyler Lasch.

French would be removed after the third inning and the Pippins looked dead in the water, down 9-2 by the end of the third.

In the fourth, the Pippins began to claw their way back when Cole Jones hit his first homer of the season, a two run shot right field to bring the Pippins within five.

In the fifth, the Pippins pushed across four more runs with RBI’s from Jones, Cody Jefferis and Tyler Hollow to bring the Pippins within a run.

While the offense continued to chip away, Kaleb Strawn was dominant in relief of French. Picking up in the fourth inning, Strawn threw 4.1 innings of scoreless ball, striking out a season high 8 batters while allowing just two hits.

Cole Pofek pulled the Pippins even with a two out, two run double to knot the score at nine.

After a scoreless top of the ninth thrown by Tanner Inouye, the Pippins offense had one more big inning up their sleeve. Jones and Jefferis lead off the inning with singles and were moved over on a sacrifice bunt by Hollow. That set up Lasch who drove the first pitch he saw up the middle and past the drawn in infield for the game winning single. It was the Pippins second walkoff win of the season.

The Pippins can take the series on Wednesday in game two of the series. First pitch at 6:35.

After blowing a four run lead in the 8th inning, Nick DiCarlo picked the Pippins up with a go ahead two run triple in the eleventh inning to beat the Cowlitz Black Bears 7-5 on Sunday.

The Pippins grabbed an early lead in the first inning when Jake Moberg drove in Cody Jefferis from second with a two out single. Moberg would later be stranded at second. Cowlitz starter Jordan Martinson would settle down and start to rack up strikeouts. Over his five innings, Martinson picked up 8 K’s.

Mason Wells got the start for the Pippins and rolled through the first three innings, allowing just one baserunner on a hit by pitch while striking out four. In the fourth inning, Cowlitz got their first hit and run on one swing of the bat when Blake Burton launched an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for a solo home run.

In the fifth, the Pippins answered right back, loading the bases with no outs. Jefferis followed with a sacrifice fly. The inning could have been bigger but on another fly out by Kyle Dean, DiCarlo was caught off at first before the runner could score from third, ending the inning.

In the sixth and seventh innings, the Pippins played add on, grabbing three more runs on a Elijah Greene double, a Jefferis triple and a Dean single.

Heading to the bottom of the eighth, the Pippins had built a comfortable 5-1 lead. Wells came back out for the eighth, having not allowed a run since the fourth inning homer. The first two batters reached, scoring a run and prompting a the Pippins to bring in Drew Hurst out of the bullpen. Hurst would allow a single and an RBI double before being removed for Jack Gonzales. After a walk, Gonzales retired the next two batters before spiking a pitch in the dirt. Victor Cerny had trouble finding the ball which had careened over to the Pippins dugout. The wild pitch scored two runs and tied the game at 5. Connor White would be summoned to record the final out of the inning.

Both teams would be held scoreless in the ninth and tenth innings before the Pippins were finally able to break through in the eleventh. With two outs and the bases clear, Cerny and Cole Jones both walked to extend the inning. DiCarlo then stepped up to the plate to play the hero. On an 0-1 pitch, DiCarlo ripped a ball to the centerfield wall for a two run triple.

Bryce Wooldridge came on to pitch the bottom of the eleventh, and shut down the Black Bears to finish off a 7-5 Pippins win.

The Pippins will have a day off on Monday before starting their final home series of the season against the Victoria HarbourCats. First pitch on Tuesday at 6:35.

LONGVIEW, Wash. – A ninth-inning rally with the tying run at third fell short, and the Yakima Valley Pippins stranded 14 baserunners as the Cowlitz Black Bears held on for a 3-2 West Coast League win Saturday at Story Field.

The loss dropped the first-place Pippins to 12-5 in the second half in the WCL’s North Division, but didn’t hurt YV’s 1 ½-game lead over Bellingham, which fell 6-4 to Portland. Kelowna, currently third in the North and three games behind the Pippins, dropped its fourth straight game, 6-1 to Corvallis.

In the ninth, Nick DiCarlo led off with a double, and later advanced to third on a wild pitch. Tyler Lasch followed with an infield pop up that dropped between three Black Bears for an infield single. After a strikeout, Cody Jefferis’ fielder’s choice grounder back to the pitcher plated DiCarlo to pull the Pippins within one. Pinch-hitter Chris Arpan’s high hopper to short was booted, but Cowlitz closer Issac Mullins got a groundout to end the game for his sixth save in seven opportunities.

The Pippins, who finished with eight hits, had ample opportunities to score but didn’t get on the scoreboard until Bryce Wooldridge scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch with no outs in the sixth.

Wooldridge, who led the Pippins with a 3-for-4 effort, singled to start the inning, and Cole Pofek (2-for-3) followed with a walk. A walk to Robert Ball preceded Wooldridge’s score, but the Pippins couldn’t get the tying run across the plate as a line-out to shortstop, a strikeout and an infield fly out ended the inning.

Cowlitz got all the runs it needed in the first on a two-out, three-run home run by Andrew Walling – his first hit as a Black Bear. The Pippins would have been out of the inning without any damage, but a one-out error started the rally, and a two-out double set up Walling’s blast.

Walling finished 3-for-3, and Tanner Parker was 3-for-4.

YV’s Cullen Kafka fell to 3-3 with the loss. The right-hander struck out six and walked three in 5 1/3 innings, while scattering eight hits. All three runs charged to Kafka were unearned.

Tanner Inouye struck out three and walked one in 2 2/3 innings of relief.

Yakima Valley left the bases loaded in the second inning, and stranded two runners in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth inning, as well as the ninth.

The Pippins offense came out hot early and the bullpen was able to quiet a late Cowlitz rally to send the Pippins to a 7-5 win over the Black Bears on Friday.

After a scoreless first, the Pippins broke out with four runs in the second. A walk, hit by pitch and a bunt base hit loaded the bases with no outs. Chris Arpan stepped up to the plate and ripped a double to left field, driving in two runs. Two batters later, Cole Jones drove in another run with a groundout. With two outs and Arpan still on base, Nick DiCarlo kept a ball just fair down the right field line for a double to score another run and extend the lead to 4-0.

The Pippins continued to play add on off of Black Bears starter Matt Gannon in the third with Cody Jefferis driving in two runs on a double. In the fourth, Cowlitz went to Joe Solomon and the Pippins grabbed another run on an RBI single from Kyle Dean.

The Pippins offense was shut down after the fourth inning run by a combination of Solomon and Cody Turner. Through the final five innings, the Pippins only had three base runners.

Chase Farrell got the start for the Pippins and rolled through the first four innings, allowing just four base runners.

Cowlitz started to chip away at the lead in the fifth. With two outs, Austin Bell launched a three run home run over the center field wall to pull the Black Bears within four. After a scoreless sixth, Cowlitz mounted another rally against Farrell in the seventh.

Dalton Mitchell lead off the inning with a single and Jonathan Hodo was hit by a pitch. After a fielder’s choice, a run would come in to score when Ryan Kim stole second to draw a throw from Victor Cerny. Mitchell was able to score from third when Cerny threw to second. Later in the inning, Blake Burton drove in a run to cut the deficit to just two runs.

Jack Gonzales came out of the bullpen in the eighth and immediately ran into trouble. Three of the first four batters reached base to load the bases with just one out. A deep fly ball to left off the bat of Kim would be the turning point in the game. Elijah Greene made the catch in left field for what should have been a sacrifice fly. Dalton Mitchell tried to go from second to third and was thrown out before Tanner Parker could score from third, resulting in a double play without a run, keeping the score 7-5.

In the ninth, Connor White reprised his closer role after some time in the rotation and worked around a bunt base hit and a walk to throw a scoreless ninth and seal a 7-5 Pippins win.

The victory snapped the Pippins two game WCL losing streak dating back to their series with the Wenatchee AppleSox.

The Pippins will look to win the series in game two on Saturday against the Black Bears. First pitch at 6:35.

The Pippins offense exploded on Thursday for the most runs they had scored in any game this season, beating the Gresham GreyWolves 21-5.

For the second straight night, the GreyWolves grabbed an early 2-0 lead, with Todd Jackson and Austin Hamilton driving in runs.

The Pippins answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. After three straight singles loaded the bases, Kyle Dean crushed an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for a grand slam. It was the second straight night that the Pippins had a grand slam with Tyler Lasch hitting one in the opener of the series.

With Hunter French on the mound in the third inning, Gresham retook the lead 5-4 with help from the Pippins defense. With two on and two out, an error on Cody Jefferis allowed a run to come in to score and extend the inning. Hunter Holmanson knocked in two with a single to take the lead.

In the fourth, the Pippins offense exploded for eight runs with RBI’s from Lasch, Bryce Wooldridge, Jefferis and Cole Pofek.

The Pippins continued to build their lead against the Gresham bullpen, scoring four runs in the sixth and five more runs in the seventh and batting around in both innings. Dean would drive in three runs in those two innings with two of his three doubles.

After the top of the eighth, the game was called as Gresham forfeited. The 21 runs scored by the Pippins is the most they have scored in any game this season.

Dean would go 4-5 with the grand slam and seven RBI, while Wooldridge and Tyler Hollow each had three hit days.

The Pippins head back out on the road to Cowlitz to begin the final stretch of the season. The first game of the series is on Friday with first pitch at 6:35.

After struggling in their last series against the AppleSox, the Pippins offense came alive on Wednesday to beat the Gresham GreyWolves 13-8 in a non-league matchup.

The GreyWolves struck first against starter Jake Moberg. Gresham loaded the bases and with two outs, Jason Dumont delivered a two run single.

In the bottom of the second, the Pippins offense came alive to back Moberg. The first four batters of the inning singled with Cole Jones knocking in a run with the fourth straight single. Elijah Greene followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the score at two. Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Tyler Lasch ripped the first pitch he saw off of Matt Lester for a grand slam to put the Pippins out in front 6-2. The home run was his first of the season.

Moberg settled down after the first inning, holding Gresham scoreless through the fourth inning.

The GreyWolves pulled within a run in the fifth without a base hit. Kaleb Strawn came in out of the pen and had trouble finding the zone. He walked three of the first five batters he faced, loading the bases. A wild pitch, walk and hit by pitch brought in three runs. Strawn would escape the inning with the Pippins still in the lead 6-5.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Pippins answered back with two runs. Jones drove in a run with a single and a balk scored another run.

With some help from the Pippins defense, Gresham grabbed a run in the sixth. Trevor Nannini got aboard on a groundball back to the mound when Drew Hurst overthrew to first base. He would come around to score later in the inning when Dequahn Dennis-Lee hit a groundball that ate up Cody Jefferis at shortstop.

The Pippins continued to answer the Gresham blows with more offense. In the sixth, Cam Campbell hit a two run blast that just stayed fair down the left field line. Nick DiCarlo drove in a run with a single in the seventh and a two run double in the eighth by Jones extended the lead to 13-8 after Gresham put up two runs in the top half of the eighth. Out of the ninth spot in the lineup, Jones went 4-4 with 4 RBI and a walk.

In the ninth, the Pippins sent out Bryce Wooldridge to make his first appearance on the mound. With some help from a double play, Wooldridge threw a scoreless ninth and faced the minimum.

With the win, the Pippins move to 4-0 in non-league games this season and have a chance to go a perfect 5-0 in the final game of the two game series against the GreyWolves. First pitch on Thursday at 6:35.

The Pippins couldn’t dig out of an early hole as the Wenatchee AppleSox took the final game of the series 8-3.

Wenatchee grabbed the lead right away in the first inning off of starter Connor White. With two outs and a runner on, Connor McCord blasted a two run home run to left. It was his second home run of the series and it staked the AppleSox to a 2-0 lead.

In the second inning, the AppleSox continued to build their lead with Joey Magro and Johnny Sage driving in runs to extend the lead to 4-0.

With some help from the AppleSox defense, the Pippins mounted a rally in the bottom of the second. On a hit, walk and error, the Pippins loaded the bases with two outs. Cole Jones followed by rocketing a 2-0 pitch back up the middle for a two run single. Elijah Greene then hit a groundball off of the shortstop Jacob Prater, his second error of the inning, driving in another run and cutting the deficit to 4-3.

The AppleSox answered the Pippins rally in the third, scoring three more runs, powered by a two run homer to left by Nick Seamons. White was knocked out after the third inning, giving up seven runs on seven hits.

In the fourth, the AppleSox grabbed another run off of Kaleb Strawn to extent the lead to 8-3.

After the second inning, the Pippins were held scoreless. In the fourth, fifth and seventh innings they got runners in scoring position but couldn’t find the clutch knock to put a dent in the AppleSox lead.

The Pippins used six arms out of the bullpen, holding the AppleSox scoreless after the fourth but couldn’t get any run support.

In the ninth, the Pippins went down 1-2-3, dropping their second straight to the AppleSox.

The Pippins have a day off on Tuesday before returning to action Wednesday, starting a two game series with the non-league Gresham GreyWolves. First pitch on Wednesday at 6:35.

The Pippins offense struggled to score and the AppleSox pulled away late, snapping the Pippins nine game winning streak.

It was the Pippins who got on the board first off of starter Sam Wong. After two quick outs, Tyler Lasch kept the inning alive with a walk. After a Kyle Dean single moved Lasch to third, Cole Pofek hit a groundball deep in the hole at shortstop and was able to beat out the throw for an RBI infield single. That would be the last time that a Pippin would cross home plate in the game.

After getting out of a first and third jam in the first inning, Pippins starter Hunter French cruised as he retired seven straight batters by the end of the third inning.

In the fourth, the AppleSox got to French. Johnny Sage lead off with a double but French retired the next two batters. With Sage still at second, French fell behind 2-0 to JT Schwartz and threw him a pitch over the plate. Schwartz didn’t miss it and doubled to drive in Sage. Michael Spellacy followed with an RBI single to give the AppleSox a 2-1 lead.

French set down the side in order in the fifth but two familiar faces got to him again in the sixth. Schwartz hit another RBI double and Spellacy drove in another run with a single to extend the lead to 4-1. French would finish off the sixth before the Pippins went to the bullpen.

On offense after the first, the big hit eluded the Pippins as they put runners on base in every inning against Wong but couldn’t score. Having not pitched in over a month for the AppleSox, Wong was removed after five strong innings.

The Pippins had a couple more opportunities to get back into the game, but hit into double plays in both the sixth and seventh innings.

In the eighth, the AppleSox began to pull away. Leading off, Evan Williams rocketed the first pitch he saw from Jack Gonzales off the scoreboard in left for a solo home run. It was his first homer of the season.

The AppleSox grabbed three more runs in the ninth with Conor McCord and Schwartz checking in with RBI’s. Schwartz finished the day going 3-5 with two doubles, a triple and four RBI.

The combination of Dawson Day and McCord out of the bullpen shut down the Pippins the rest of the way. McCord stranded runners at first and second in the ninth to end the Pippins chances to extend their streak. With the loss, the nine game winning streak was snapped.

The Pippins still have a chance to win the series in the finale against the AppleSox on Monday. First pitch at 6:35.

It took another eighth inning rally, but the Pippins were able to pull out a 5-4 win over the AppleSox for their ninth straight victory.

Mason Wells took the ball for the Pippins and was coming off of two starts where he struggled. The AppleSox got on the board right away on a two out RBI single off the bat of Mason Marenco. Wells stranded runners at first and second in the inning which would be a theme throughout his start.

Curtis Bafus got the start for the AppleSox and was nearly unhittable. Through the first four innings the Pippins had only one baserunner, a leadoff single by Tyler Lasch in the second inning. He would be stranded at first base.

Wells matched zeros with Bafus after the first inning. Through his 6.2 innings, Wells pitched with runners aboard in six innings and stranded runners in scoring position in four of them.

In the fifth inning, the Pippins had their first opportunity to score. After back to back walks with two outs, Robert Ball hit a hard groundball that ate up Jacob Prater at second base. Sam Mitchell was able to score from second to tie the score at one.

The game would remain 1-1 until the eighth. Wells was relieved by Drew Hurst who finished off the seventh and came in for the eighth. An error by Lasch put the leadoff man aboard and three batters later, with runners at first and second, Dawson Day knocked a single to right to put the AppleSox back in front 2-1. Kaleb Strawn would finish off the eighth and strand runners at second and third.

Bafus continued to dominate the Pippins offense and would end up throwing seven innings of one run ball. The run was unearned.

With a 2-1 lead, the AppleSox turned to Jeremy Yelland out of the bullpen and for the second straight night, the Pippins needed a rally.

With two outs and a runner at first, it looked like the Pippins would end up needing a walkoff in the ninth. Jake Moberg was able to extend the inning with a walk and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Lasch followed with a groundball to shortstop that could have ended the inning. Marenco buried the throw to first and it got beyond Connor McCord which allowed both runs to score. For the first time in the game, the Pippins had a lead. After back to back walks loaded the bases, pinch hitter Chris Arpan got some insurance runs with a two run single.

Tanner Inouye came out of the bullpen to protect the 5-2 lead. The Pippins would end up needing those insurance runs as McCord cranked a two run shot over the right field wall with one out to bring the AppleSox within a run. Inouye regrouped and got the final two outs of the inning to seal a 5-4 win, the Pippins ninth straight.

The Pippins can take the series and extend their winning streak to double digits tomorrow in game two against the AppleSox. First pitch at 6:05.

Cole Jones and Kyle Dean provided the big blows in a three run eighth inning to help lead the Pippins to their eighth straight win and a sweep of the Lefties in front of a packed Yakima County Stadium on Friday.

Cullen Kafka got the start for the Pippins and Port Angeles jumped on him early. Drew Minter lead off the inning with a single on an 0-2 pitch. With two outs and Minter at second, Trey Morgan drove him in with a single on another 0-2 pitch to give the Lefties the lead.

The Pippins evened the score in the second with some help from the Port Angeles defense. After a Jake Moberg leadoff double, Cam Campbell hit a hard groundball to first that Baxter Halligan couldn’t handle, allowing Moberg to score.

In the third, the Lefties retook the lead on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Morgan. In the fourth, starter Rhyse Frey would be pulled due to injury concerns and the Lefties were forced to go to the bullpen early.

Victor Cerny and the Pippins pulled even in the fourth. With a first and second situation and two outs, Cerny drove a ball to center for an RBI single. The Pippins would later strand the bases loaded.

Kafka settled down after the third, pitching scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth before the Pippins went to the bullpen with two outs in the sixth.

Neither team would score again until the eighth. In the top half of the inning, with Jack Gonzales on the mound, the Lefties would put runners at the corners with one out. Gonzales induced a groundball to third, but Moberg’s throw was wide of second base and went into right field. One run would score to give the Lefties a 3-2 lead. Matt Driver would come in and hold the Lefties to just the one run.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Pippins mounted a comeback to take their first lead of the night. After a leadoff walk to Cody Jefferis, Dean ripped a ball off the right field wall for a game tying triple. After two straight strikeouts, it looked like the Pippins would miss a golden opportunity to take the lead. After a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases, Cole Jones made sure the Pippins wouldn’t need a walk off by knocking a two run single to center to give the Pippins a 5-3 lead.

Cole Fossat worked around a first and third jam in the ninth to seal the 5-3 Pippins win, their eighth straight.

The Pippins will welcome the Wenatchee AppleSox into town for a three game series starting on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

Chase Farrell turned in another strong start and the Pippins offense continued their torrid stretch, beating the Lefties 9-2 for their seventh straight win.

The Pippins got Farrell some run support early on. After two quick outs in the second, Sam Mitchell kept the inning alive with a single off of Ron Brown. Bryce Wooldridge followed with an RBI triple into the right field corner to give the Pippins a 1-0 lead. In the third, the Pippins pushed two more runs across the plate and Elijah Greene also extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single. With runners at second and third with two outs, Kyle Dean hit a slow grounder to third base. Tristan Hanoian overthrew to first, allowing Dean to get into second and the runner from second to score. He would be credited with an RBI infield single and reached second on the error.

In the fourth, the Pippins grabbed another run with Wooldridge driving in Mitchell with a single to increase the lead.

Farrell made his second start against the Lefties within the last two weeks, facing them back on July 6 and setting a Pippins record with 12 strikeouts over seven innings of one run ball. Farrell turned in another strong start on Thursday.

Through the first three innings, he allowed just one baserunner while striking out 2. He ran into trouble in the third when the Lefties strung together three straight singles with one out to get on the board. Farrell would limit the damage to just the one run and shut the door on the Lefties. He retired the last seven batters he faced before the Pippins went to the bullpen in the seventh. Farrell gave up just the one run on three hits through six innings with three strikeouts.

“I knew that I would have to do something a little different especially since they’d already seen me for seven innings before and at the All-Star Game,” Farrell said. “I was just really trying to hit my spots this time and not really worry too much about getting strikeouts. I tried mixing in a little off-speed and that didn’t work out too well but the fastball was pretty dominant today.”

In the sixth, the Pippins gave Farrell and the bullpen even more run support by pushing four  runs across the plate. Greene, Cody Jefferis and Dean each checked in with RBI’s in the inning, pushing the lead to 8-1.

The bullpen combination of Kaleb Strawn, Drew Hurst and Cole Fossat shut the door in the final three innings. Strawn ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up a run and leaving with the bases loaded and two outs but Hurst would get the Pippins out of the inning.

The Pippins added one more run in the bottom of the eighth on a Tyler Lasch double. Lasch extended his hitting streak to 8 games and with a single in the sixth and the double in the eighth, now has five straight multi-hit games.

In the ninth, Fossat worked around a leadoff single to finish off the Lefties and get the Pippins to their seventh straight win and fourth straight series win.

The Pippins have a chance to sweep the series against the Lefties and extend their winning streak to eight games on Friday. Rhyse Frey will get the start for the Lefties while the Pippins will send Cullen Kafka to the mound. First pitch at 7:05.

While the Pippins offense cooled down after a torrid stretch, the winning ways continued as the Pippins got past the Port Angeles Lefties 4-3 on Wednesday for their sixth straight win.

Lefties starter Riley Beneditti was working in and out of trouble early on. The Pippins hit into double plays in each of the first four innings including two rundowns at third base for a double play after a single in the third and a pop out double play with Cody Jefferis doubled off at second while trying to steal third in the fourth.

Connor White made his fourth start for the Pippins and held the Lefties scoreless through the first three innings, getting out of a two on two out situation in the second. In the fourth, Port Angeles was able to get on the board on an RBI single from Rykker Tom, scoring Austin Earl from second.

The Pippins answered in the bottom half of the inning despite the double play pop out. With two outs and the bases cleared, Tyler Lasch got aboard with a single and Cam Campbell followed with a walk. All-Star Cole Pofek stepped up to the plate and smashed an 0-2 pitch off the center field wall for a two run triple. The Pippins grabbed another run in the inning to extend the lead to 3-1.

In the fifth, the Lefties pulled within a run. Trevor Rosenberg lead off with single. After a groundout moved him to second, Justin Van De Brake drove him in with a single.

After a leadoff walk in the sixth, White would be relieved by Jack Gonzales who got out of the inning and held the 3-2 lead.

The Pippins scored again in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to the center field warning track by Pofek to put the Pippins back out in front by two.

The Lefties battled back again in the seventh, loading the bases with some help from two errors by the Pippins. A sacrifice fly by Earl once again brought the Lefties within a run but Gonzales was able to limit the damage.

Matt Driver came out of the pen in the eighth and fired a 1-2-3 inning. After the Pippins were set down quickly in the bottom half, Driver came back out for the ninth. A leadoff walk and a popout set up Ron Brown who skied a ball to center field. Cole Jones came sprinting in to make the catch and doubled off the runner at first and on a day when the Pippins hit into five double plays, a double play sealed the win for the Pippins, their sixth straight victory.

With the win, the Pippins go to 8-2 in the second half and continue to build a lead in the north division. Elijah Greene picked up two hits and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. The Pippins have a chance to win their fourth straight series in game two against the Lefties on Thursday. First pitch at 6:35.

Another high octane offensive performance backed a strong start by Hunter French to lead the Pippins to their fifth straight win.

In the first inning, the Elks took their first lead of the series. After two quick outs, the next three men reached base, including a two run double off the bat of Brandon Leitgeb to put the Elks in front 2-0.

The Pippins offense answered in the second. After back to back singles leading off the inning, Cody Jefferis kept a line drive fair down the left field line to put the Pippins on the board. After an error allowed Cole Pofek to get aboard, Victor Cerny hit a deep drive to the center field wall for a sacrifice fly and pulling the Pippins even at two. Elijah Greene and Nick DiCarlo also checked in with run scoring singles to put the Pippins ahead 4-2.

French would give up a run in the second but settled down and cruised through the middle innings, allowing just one base runner from the third through the fifth inning.

In the fourth, the Pippins grabbed another run to extend the lead to 5-2 and chased Elks starter AJ Atherton.

The Pippins blew the game open in the sixth. Pofek lead off the inning with a double and Cerny immediately drove him in with a single. Later in the inning, Tyler Lasch drove in two more runs with a double, extending the lead to 8-2.

French rolled into the seventh before running into trouble. The Elks put runners at the corners with one out before the Pippins brought in Jack Gonzales out of the bullpen. Gonzales quelled the threat with back to back strikeouts.

The offense stayed hot in the seventh and eighth innings with two more runs in each inning with Cerny, Pofek and Greene checking in with run scoring knocks.

In the bottom of the eighth, players noticed thunder and lightning in the distance which put the game in a 30 minute delay. After the delay and with the storm continuing to roll in, the game was called, giving the Pippins a 12-3 win. The win is their fifth straight overall, sweeping the series against the Elks. The Pippins swept the season series with the Elks and head into the All Star Break a game and a half up in the WCL north division.

The Pippins next play on Wednesday at Yakima County Stadium against the Lefties. First pitch at 6:35.

After building an 8-0 lead, the Pippins were able to hold off a late Elks rally to win their fourth straight game.

After setting a season high in runs on Friday in a 15-1 win, the Pippins continued to score right away on Saturday. Elijah Greene lead off the game with a single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Two batters later, Tyler Lasch drove in Greene to give the Pippins a 1-0 lead.

The Pippins continued to jump on Dan Noughton in the second. With two on and two out, Greene would deliver again with a run scoring single. Kyle Dean would also check in with a two run single to extend the lead to 4-0. The Elks would bring in Ryan Mets in the third.

After tacking on another run in the fourth, the Pippins would blow the game open with three more runs, powered by RBI singles from Nick DiCarlo and Greene, to give starter Mason Wells an 8-0 lead.

Wells cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two base runners along the way. In the fifth, the Elks finally got to Wells with a two run single by Tristen Alvarez. An error by the Pippins would bring in another run.

The Elks would continue to claw their way back, scoring a run in the sixth to knock Wells out of the game, and grabbing two more runs in the eighth to pull within two runs. The Pippins would turn to Cole Fossat out of the bullpen to get out of the eighth. With the tying run at second base, Fossat struck out Nick Roberts to end the threat.

Fossat came back out in the ninth to shut the door and immediately ran into trouble. A leadoff single by Kaiser Weiss and a double by Alex Pallios put runners at second and third and  brought the winning run to the plate with no outs. Fossat was able to buckle down and shut the door, getting a weak groundout, a strikeout and a lineout to silence the Elks threat and seal an 8-6 Pippins win.

With the win, the Pippins improve to 17-18 and have won four straight. With the win and a Kelowna loss, the Pippins have also moved into first place in the second half North Division standings.

The Pippins have an opportunity to sweep the season series against the Elks on Sunday. First pitch at 5:05.

A potent offense backed six shutout innings by Cullen Kafka as the Pippins routed the Bend Elks on Friday, 15-1.

After a scoreless first, the Pippins got on the board in the second. Cam Campbell got aboard on a one out single and Sam Mitchell followed by cranking a two run homer to right field for his fourth home run of the season, staking Kafka to a 2-0 lead.

Kafka would roll through the first three innings, allowing just one base runner and picking up four strikeouts along the way.

In the fourth inning, the Pippins would blow the game open. With runners on first and second and no outs, Campbell went over the center field wall for a three run shot, his first of the season. Two batters later, Victor Cerny launched a ball over the left field wall for a solo home run. It was also his first homer of the season. The Pippins would chase starter Mikey Hooper who would allow seven runs in three and two thirds innings. The bullpen wouldn’t fare much better.

The next five batters would reach with RBI’s from Cody Jefferis, Tyler Lasch and Cole Pofek to extend the lead to 9-0. By the end of the fourth, the Pippins had scored seven runs and sent twelve men to the plate.

“It’s fun when the bats are clicking,” Campbell said. “Doesn’t matter who it is, it seems like everyone is finding barrel.”

With a big lead, Kafka would cruise. He allowed back to back two out singles in the fourth but got a groundout to end the inning. He would face the minimum in the fifth and sixth innings before the Pippins would go to the bullpen.

Kyle Dean got in on the long ball action in the sixth, going the opposite way for a solo home run and pushing the lead to double digits. Two more runs came in to score in the sixth on RBI’s from Cerny and Bryce Wooldridge.

In the eighth, the Pippins offense grabbed three more runs on a two run double by Wooldridge and a wild pitch to extend the lead to 15-0. The fifteen runs are the most that the Pippins have scored in a game this season. Their previous high came against the Kelowna Falcons on June 20 in a 14-6 win.

Matt Driver and Kaleb Strawn would throw the final three innings. Driver pitched two scoreless innings and Strawn came in in the ninth, trying to complete the shutout. On a 1-2 pitch with two outs and a runner at first, Tristen Alvarez hit a double to right to end the shutout. Strawn would strike out the next batter and finish off a 15-1 Pippins win, their third win in a row.

The Pippins look to take the series in game two on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

After a back and forth game all night, Victor Cerny played the hero with a walkoff double in the bottom of the ninth, sending the Pippins to their second straight series win.

For the second straight game, the Pippins got off to a hot start in the first inning, jumping on Corvallis starter Cameron Haskell. Elijah Greene and Cody Jefferis lead off the inning with back to back base hits. With the base hit, Greene extended his hitting streak to 10 games. After a groundout, Kyle Dean gave the Pippins the lead with a single. Cole Pofek and Cam Campbell also checked in with RBI singles later in the inning to stake Chase Farrell to a 3-0 lead.

Farrell would cruise through the first two innings, retiring the side in order and racking up three strikeouts. He ran into some trouble in the third with a bases loaded two out situation but was able to induce a fly ball to get out of the jam.

Haskell settled down after the first, allowing just four base runners from the second through the fifth.

In the sixth, the Knights would get to Farrell. After a single and two errors on a pickoff attempt, Chandler Anderson was able to put the Knights on the board with a base hit, scoring Chad Stevens from third. Two batters later, Austin Feist would unload on a 0-1 pitch, lining it over the left center field wall for a two run home run and knotting the score at three. Two of the next three batters would reach, forcing Farrell out of the game. Jack Gonzales came in with two outs and yielded an RBI double from Sam Olsson which put the Knights ahead for the first time.

In the bottom half, the Pippins answered right back with two runs of their own to retake the lead. In the seventh, Cerny would add an insurance run with an RBI single.

With Tanner Inouye out of the pen, the Knights would rally for the second time with Olsson providing the big blow with a two run single to pull Corvallis even, 6-6.

The Pippins had a bases loaded, one out opportunity in the bottom of the eighth, but couldn’t capitalize. A 1-2-3 top of the ninth from Inouye set up the ninth inning heroics.

Chris Arpan lead off with a walk and Bryce Wooldridge would come in to pinch run. Wooldridge would be bunted to second base to bring Cerny to the plate who already had two hits and an RBI. On a 1-0 pitch, Cerny hit a line drive over the center fielder’s head, prompting the Pippins to explode out of the dugout in jubilation and meet him at second base.

“I was just looking for a fastball over the plate, something that I could drive,” Cerny said. “He gave it to me.”

With the win, the Pippins take their second straight series and move to 4-2 in the second half. The Pippins will travel to Bend to take on the Elks in a three game weekend series before rolling into the All-Star Break. First pitch on Friday at 6:35.

Connor White was able to hold down the Knights on the mound and the Pippins offense provided more than enough early run support to lead the Pippins to a 13-6 win over Corvallis.

After a scoreless top of the first, the Pippin jumped on Knights starter Connor Redmond. Elijah Greene lead off with a walk and Cody Jefferis followed with a double to left field, scoring Greene all the way from first. After moving to third on a flyout, Kyle Dean sent a ball to center for a sacrifice fly, scoring another run. Later in the inning, Tyler Hollow knocked in Sam Mitchell who had reached on a hit by pitch. After the first, the Pippins had built a 3-0 lead.

Corvallis got a run back in the second. With runners at the corners and no outs, Beau Philip grounded into a double play which allowed Zak Taylor to score from third. The Pippins answered right back in the bottom half. Greene lead off with a double and was later knocked in on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Lasch.

In the third, the Knights had their first and only opportunity to take the lead. A walk and two singles loaded the bases for with two outs for Taylor who was able to draw a walk, scoring a run. With the bases still loaded, Austin Feist ripped a ball to third that was snagged by Lasch to keep the Pippins lead at 4-2.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Pippins offense exploded. After a leadoff single by Cam Campbell, Hollow knocked a double into left. Five of the next six batters would reach, pushing three more runs across, knocking out Redmond and setting up an opportunity for pinch hitter Chris Arpan to blow the game open. On a 1-2 pitch with the bases loaded, Arpan ripped a breaking ball off the top of the scoreboard in left field for a grand slam. It was Arpan’s second pinch hit homerun in the last week and it extended the lead to 12-2.

“I got an off-speed pitch and I was looking through the previous at bats of the guys and with two strikes he was throwing off speed,” Arpan said. “So I kind of just looked for that once I got to the 1-2 count and I tried to hit the ball hard.”

The Pippins would pick up their final run in the fourth on an RBI single by Lasch.

White settled down after the third, pitching scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, marking his longest outing of the season.

The bullpen took over in the sixth and ran into a little trouble. Corvallis pushed across three runs in the sixth off of Drew Hurst and grabbed another run in the seventh off of Kaleb Strawn. Strawn was able to strand the bases loaded and keep a seven run lead intact for the Pippins. Matt Driver shut down Corvallis over the final two innings to seal a 13-6 win over the Knights. The 13 runs scored by the Pippins is their second most runs scored in a game this season.

The Pippins have a chance to win their second straight series Thursday night against the Knights in the final game of the series. First pitch at 6:35.

Jake Moberg, Cole Pofek and Chase Farrell will be representing the Pippins in Port Angeles for the 2018 West Coast League All-Star Game on July 17th.

Moberg has been a consistent bat near the top of the lineup for the Pippins this season. He is hitting .339 (1st on the team) with a home run and 11 RBI. In the Pippins last series in Port Angeles, Moberg went 5-12 (.417) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI. Moberg will be attending UCLA in the fall as a freshman.

Pofek has provided power in the middle of the lineup for the Pippins. He leads the team with 4 home runs and is second on the team with 18 RBI. In his first 4 games of the season, Pofek went 8-16 (.500) with 7 runs scored, 2 home runs and 9 RBI. Pofek will be entering his sophomore year at UC Riverside in the fall.

Farrell has been a dynamic arm that has anchored the top of the Pippins starting rotation. Farrell is 0-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 4 games (3 starts). In his 19.2 innings pitched, Farrell has racked up 29 strikeouts while walking just 2 batters. He turned in his best start of the season on July 6 against Port Angeles where he went 7 innings of one run ball with no walks and 12 strikeouts. The 12 K’s broke a Pippins single game strikeout record held by Eli Morgan who struck out 11 batters on two separate occasions in 2014. Farrell will be in his sophomore year at UCLA in the fall.

Down to their final strike three times, the Pippins overcame a two run ninth inning deficit and defeated the Port Angeles Lefties 11-9, picking up their first road series win of the season.

Both teams came out swinging early on. The Pippins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a Jake Moberg two run single. The Lefties answered back with two runs of their own from a run scoring double play and an RBI single by Trey Morgan.

The Pippins retook the lead in the second. After a leadoff single by Cameron Campbell, Sam Mitchell launched a deep drive over the right field wall for a two run home run. In the bottom half of the inning, the Lefties came back with two runs on an RBI single from Trevor Rosenberg and a sacrifice fly from Drew Minter to tie the score at four.

Lefties starter Tyler Tan settled down after the second, facing one over the minimum in the third and fourth innings.

After struggling through the first two innings, Pippins starter Mason Wells found himself in another jam in the third with the bases loaded and no one out. He found his way out of the inning without giving up the lead thanks to a 1-2-3 double play and a strikeout. The Pippins went to the bullpen after the third with the game still tied at four.

In the fifth, the Pippins retook the lead on Kyle Dean’s first home run of the season, well over the left field wall.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Lefties one upped the Pippins with Jason Dicochea and Matt Christian hitting back to back homers off of Tanner Inouye to lead off the inning.

The Lefties added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI double from Dicochea to extend their lead to 7-5.

After the Dean home run, the Pippins offense went cold, with just three base runners over the next three innings, with only one advancing past first base. After the early struggles, Tan was able to make quick work of the Pippins and go eight innings.

In the ninth, Triston Busse made quick work of the first two batters. With one out remaining, it looked like the Pippins were destined to lose their third straight series.

Down to their last strike, Cody Jefferis was able to work a walk to keep the inning alive. Moberg followed with a base hit and Cole Jones drew a walk to load the bases. Dean then stepped up to the plate and after fouling off a number of pitches and nearly keeping a ball fair down the left field line, he was able to rip a base hit into left field to score two and tie the game at seven. In the three game series, Dean went 6-11 (.545) with a home run, three runs scored and four RBI.

Nick DiCarlo followed with a base knock scoring two with a bobble from Cameron Allie in center field allowing Dean to score all the way from first. Campbell followed with a groundball that Dicochea couldn’t handle at second, keeping the inning going. Mitchell then stepped up to the plate and already with one home run on the day nearly got a second as he hammered a ball off the very top of the wall in right field, scoring two more runs, extending the lead to 11-7 and capping off a six run ninth inning.

The Lefties made it close in the bottom of the ninth with a two out two run home run by Allie off of Cole Fossat to bring the Lefties within two. Fossat regrouped and retired Ronnie Rust to seal a 11-9 win for the Pippins. With the win, the Pippins won their first road series of the season.

The Pippins will have a day off on Monday before returning to action at Yakima County Stadium on Tuesday as they open up a three game series with the Corvallis Knights. First pitch on Tuesday at 6:35.

An explosive offense helped Cullen Kafka pick up his first win of the season as the Pippins beat the Port Angeles Lefties 10-3.

Kafka struggled in the first inning allowing five straight base runners after recording the first out. After a one out double, Dalton Harum drove a single to center field. Cole Pofek came up firing from center and was able to cut down the runner at the plate. The Lefties would later grab their first run of the inning on an RBI single from Kyle Schimpf. Kafka escaped more damage by stranding the bases loaded, getting Cameron Allie to ground to second for the final out.

After stranding the bases loaded in the second inning, the Pippins finally found the big hit they had been looking for in the series. With two on and one out, Pofek drove a Garrett Westburg pitch over the center field wall to give the Pippins a 3-1 lead. It was Pofek’s fourth home run and brought him to 18 RBI on the season, both team highs.

The Pippins played add on in the fourth. With one on and one out, Robert Ball hit a line drive base hit down the right field line, scoring Tyler Hollow. Cody Jefferis and Jake Moberg followed later in the inning with run scoring singles, extending the lead to 6-1.

In the fifth, the Pippins offense stayed hot. With two outs and a runner at first, Chris Arpan pinch hit for Hollow and on the first pitch he saw, lined a ball over the center field wall for his second home run of the season. The Pippins tacked on another run in the inning on an RBI single by Jefferis to take a 9-1 lead. Jefferis had four hits and two RBI on the night.

Kafka settled down after the first inning giving up just an unearned run through his final five frames before the Pippins went to the bullpen in the seventh.

The Pippins grabbed their final run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Cameron Campbell who was playing in his first game for the Pippins.

Drew Hurst and Kaleb Strawn pitched the final three innings allowing just one run. The Lefties put together a rally in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs. Strawn was able to buckle down and strike out the side to preserve the Pippins 10-3 win.

The Pippins have a chance to pick up their first road series win in the final game against the Lefties on Sunday. First pitch at 1:05.

Despite Chase Farrell’s record setting 12 strikeouts, the Pippins offense couldn’t give him much support in a 3-1 loss to the Port Angeles Lefties on Friday.

The Pippins entered the second half of their schedule looking to move pass a last place finish in the North Division of the West Coast League. The Pippins ended the first half with a record of 11-16.

The Pippins got to Tyler Oldenberg early. After Nick DiCarlo flew out to deep left field, Elijah Greene and Kyle Dean hit back to back doubles to give the Pippins a 1-0 lead. After a walk to Jake Moberg, Cole Pofek hit a single over the first baseman Ron Brown’s head. Dean tried to score from second but right fielder Drew Minter threw a strike right to the plate, getting Dean by a few steps. The Pippins would end up stranding runners at second and third.

Farrell took the mound for his second start of the season, coming off of a start where he went six innings of one run ball while striking out ten and not walking a batter. Farrell was strong early. After a leadoff single, Farrell retired the next three batters with two strikeouts.

Through the first three innings, Farrell had allowed three baserunners, none made it past first, and racked up six strikeouts.

The Lefties got to Farrell in the fourth. With two outs in the inning, Dalton Harum launched a ball over the center field wall, tying the game at one. Farrell would recover and post zeroes the rest of the way. Through Farrell’s seven innings, he struck out twelve without walking a batter. He gave up just the one run on four hits. His twelve strikeouts broke a Pippins record for most strikeouts in a game, held by Eli Morgan. Morgan struck out 11 batters on two occasions in 2014.

Unfortunately for Farrell, the Pippins offense couldn’t score after the first inning. The Pippins stranded two runners in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Four of the six baserunners were in scoring position.

In the eighth, the Pippins turned to Lucas Juarez. With two outs and a runner at first base, Jason Dicochea hit a ball just over the center field wall, giving the Lefties a 3-1 lead.

In the ninth, the Pippins had an opportunity to make it close but they stranded a runner at second base to end the game.

The Pippins have a chance to even up the series on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

After picking up their first road win since early June on Tuesday, the Pippins offense couldn’t stay hot as they dropped the final game of the series to the Wenatchee AppleSox, 5-2.

For the second time in three games, the AppleSox got out to an early lead. The first three batters in the bottom of the first reached off of Connor White, including an RBI single by Johnny Sage. Connor McCord followed with a pop up in foul ground down the third base line. Jake Moberg made the catch but the runner at third broke for home when no one was covering home plate. Jacob Prater would score on what is one of the shortest sacrifice flies you will see.

The Pippins would answer in the second with some help from the AppleSox defense. Cole Pofek lead off the inning with a groundball to second that Prater couldn’t handle. Pofek would then steal second and reach third on a wild pitch. With one out and Pofek at third, Moberg hit a groundball to short, scoring Pofek and pulling the Pippins within one.

In the third, the Pippins would pull even. AppleSox starter Hunter Boyd started the inning with back to back walks. With Elijah Greene up, Tyler Hollow would get picked off at second. Two pitches later, Greene would line a triple to the right field wall, scoring Robert Ball from first base. The Pippins would strand Greene at third base.

The game would remain tied until the fifth. With two outs, the AppleSox would put runners at the corners, chasing White after four and two thirds innings. With Hunter French pitching to his first batter, the runner from first broke for second, drawing a throw from Ball and creating a rundown. The third base runner then broke for home and scored to give the AppleSox a 3-2 lead. Sage would escape the rundown when no one covered the first base bag. French would limit the damage to just the one run.

The Pippins and AppleSox traded zeros until the bottom of the eighth when Wenatchee pulled away. With runners at second and third with one out, Jake Taylor dropped down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring the runner from third. Another run would come in to score on an errant throw to second from Ball.

AppleSox reliever Dawson Day threw the final three frames and struck out the side in the ninth, sending the Pippins to a 5-2 loss.

The Pippins will get a day off on Thursday before heading to Port Angeles on Friday to take on the Lefties. First pitch of game one at 6:35.

After blowing a six run lead late in the game, the Pippins took eleven innings to defeat the Wenatchee AppleSox on Tuesday.

Cullen Kafka got the start for the Pippins and would go three hitless innings, striking out five along the way. In the fourth, the Pippins went to Mason Wells and the AppleSox got on the board. Connor McCord hit a one out single and Jacob Prater followed with a double. With one out and runners at second and third, Cory Meyer drove in McCord with a sacrifice fly.

The Pippins would rally in the top of the fifth. Bryce Wooldridge and Jake Moberg lead off the inning with back to back singles and Elijah Greene dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move them up to second and third. Nick DiCarlo followed with a double to left, scoring both runs and ending the Pippins 19 inning scoreless streak.

Wenatchee came right back in the bottom of the fifth, with Mason Morenco knocking in JT Schwarz to knot the score at two.

In the sixth, the Pippins would pull back ahead. After a walk and a single, Victor Cerny dropped down a bunt to move the runners up, but it was bunted right back to the mound. Grady Miller fielded the ball and threw to third, but Tyler Hollow slid in just ahead of the throw. Wooldridge followed with a run scoring single and two batters later, Greene drew a bases loaded walk to drive in another run.

The Pippins continued to build their lead in the seventh. Cole Pofek lead off the inning with a walk and scored on Hollow’s double to left. After a walk and a strikeout, Wooldridge delivered again with a run scoring single and Moberg also checked in with an RBI single. After the seventh, the Pippins had an 8-2 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, everything fell apart. Tanner Inouye was pitching in his third inning of relief and gave up a leadoff base hit to McCord. After a flyout, Inouye walked back to back batters to load the bases. He then struck out JT Schwarz for the second out. Then the wheels came off. The AppleSox rattled off four straight singles, scoring six runs in the process, knocking out Inouye and tying the game at 8. Lucas Juarez was able to get the final out of the inning, stranding a runner in scoring position.

After a scoreless ninth, the Pippins headed into the tenth inning for the first time this season. Greene drew a one out walk and two batters later with two outs, Kyle Dean hit a rocket off of Prater’s glove at third and into left field, scoring Greene all the way from first.

The AppleSox answered right back in the bottom half of the inning, hitting back to back one out singles off of Juarez. Cole Fossat would relieve Juarez and recorded the second out. One out away from a win, Johnny Sage kept the game alive for Wenatchee with an RBI single. Fossat later picked off Sage at first to send the game to the eleventh.

In the eleventh, the Pippins offense had one more rally left. Fossat hit a one out triple and ater a strikeout of Cerny, Wooldridge hit a hotshot groundball to second that Kody Darcy couldn’t handle, giving the Pippins a 10-9 lead.

In the bottom half, Fossat stranded the tying and winning runs on base and sealed a 10-9 eleven inning win for the Pippins. With the win, the Pippins end their four game losing streak and their seven game road losing streak.

The series finale is on Wednesday. First pitch at 7:05.

After scoring just three runs over the weekend, the Pippins offense continued to struggle, getting shutout by the Wenatchee AppleSox on Monday, 4-0.

The Pippins had a chance to take an early lead in the first. After two quick outs, Kyle Dean hit a deep triple off the wall in right field, but he would be stranded at third base.

Jack Gonzales was making his first league start of the season and the AppleSox offense would get off to a quick start in the first inning. After a strikeout of the leadoff batter, Gonzales walked Mason Marenco. John Sage and Connor McCord followed with back to back singles to score the first run of the inning. Gonzales would then hit Jacob Prater which loaded the bases. Corey Meyer then shot a ball into left field, driving in two runs. Later in the inning, a pass ball with two outs would score Prater from third and stake the AppleSox to a 4-0 lead. That was all they would need.

Gonzales would settle down after the first inning, retiring nine of the next eleven batters that he faced. With two outs in the fifth, Marenco hit a triple to knock Gonzales out of the game. Chase Farrell would come out of the bullpen and get out of the inning.

The Pippins had opportunities to mount a comeback but the big hit proved elusive. After the first inning, the Pippins left a runner in scoring position in five of the eight innings. In the fourth, Jake Moberg hit a two out triple to left field but was stranded at third base. AppleSox starter Curtis Bafus threw six scoreless innings, picking up eight strikeouts along the way.

Pippins pitching was able to hold down Wenatchee to give the offense a chance to score. After the first inning, Gonzales, Farrell and Matt Driver threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits.

In the ninth, the Pippins had one more chance to make a comeback, the first two batters of the inning reached. Moberg hit a leadoff single and pinch hitter Bryce Wooldridge followed with a walk. After a wild pitch moved them into second and third, Troy Stainbrook struck out the next three batters to end the game.

The Pippins have lost four in a row overall and have lost seven straight road games. The second game of the series is on Tuesday. First pitch at 7:05.

The Pippins offense struggled for the third straight night and a late offensive outburst by the Bells sent the Pippins to their third straight loss in a sweep by the Bells.

Hunter French got the start for the Pippins and looked strong early on, posting zeros through the first two innings.

The Bells would get on the board first in the third inning. Guthrie Morrison lead off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Jack Machtolf hit a bloop base hit to right that Sam Mitchell couldn’t catch with a slide. Mitchell quickly recovered the ball and threw in to second base as Morrison had to wait to make sure it dropped before going to second. The throw got beyond Tyler Hollow and all the way behind the first baseman Andrew Schleusner. A throw back to second to try and get Machtolf was thrown into left field, allowing Morrison to score all the way from first. French would escape the inning without allowing another run.

The Pippins would get the run back in the fourth inning against Bells starter Ben Leeper. Nick DiCarlo lead off the inning with a double. After a strikeout, Cole Pofek delivered with an RBI single to tie the game at two. This would be all that the Pippins offense would be able to muster with just two hits the rest of the way.

Bellingham took back the lead for good in the fifth on an RBI single from Zach Needham. In the sixth, the Bells would add on. Dusty Stroup lead off the inning with a double and was moved to third. Landen Kimbro followed with a base hit to extend the lead to 3-1. French was chased and the Pippins brought in Cole Fossat for his first pitching appearance of the season. With two outs and runners at the corners, Fossat got what could have been the third out of the inning on a strikeout but the ball got away, allowing Kimbro to score from third base.

The Bells continued to play add on in the seventh with an RBI single from Kimbro to extend the lead to 5-1.

In the ninth, the Bells would put the game out of reach with three more runs, helped by a Pippins error to prolong the inning. Theron Kay shut the door for the Bells in the ninth, retiring the Pippins in order and securing a series sweep for Bellingham.

The Pippins will head out on the road on Monday to take on the Wenatchee AppleSox in a three game series. First pitch at 7:05.

On a day where Pippins closer Connor White got the start and went three innings of hitless ball, a bloop base hit in the ninth sent the Pippins to their second straight loss.

Over the last two seasons with the Pippins, White had appeared in 29 games, all out of the bullpen and picking up 14 saves along the way. On Saturday, he wouldn’t end the game, but start it.

White was strong right away, retiring the Bells in order in the first inning. White wouldn’t allow a baserunner until the third inning.

In the second, the Pippins would get on the board without a hit. With starter Grant Holman on the mound, Kyle Dean lead off the inning with a walk and stole second. A deep fly ball by Andrew Schleusner would allow Dean to tag and get into third. Sam Mitchell followed with a groundball to second, scoring Dean and giving the Pippins a 1-0 lead.

In the third, White would allow his first baserunner, a one out walk to Cody Pasic. He would not move beyond first and White posted another zero in the third before the Pippins went to the bullpen.

Lucas Juarez relieved White in the fourth and posted another zero with two strikeouts. In the bottom half of the inning, the Pippins grabbed another run courtesy of a solo home run by Cole Pofek leading off the inning. The home run was the first hit of the game.

The Pippins and Bells would trade zeros until the seventh inning. With Juarez still on the mound, the first two batters of the inning reached on walks. Cole Joy dropped down a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. After a walk to Landen Kimbro, Cody Pasic hit a line drive off of Bryce Wooldridge’s glove at first allowing a run to score. Jack Machtolf followed with an RBI single to tie the game at two. The Pippins were able to get out of the inning with a double play to keep the score tied.

The game would stay tied until the ninth inning. With Jake Moberg on the mound, Cole Joy lead off the inning with a single. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second and a fly ball to the wall in right field put Joy at third. With two outs and on a 1-2 pitch, Jordan Stoner hit a bloop fly ball down the right field line just staying fair. The single gave the Bells a 3-2 lead.

The Pippins tried to fight back in the bottom of the ninth with Cody Jefferis leading of the inning with a walk, then stole second. With two outs and Jefferis still and second, Schleusner hit a groundball up the middle but second baseman Kimbro was able to range over and make the throw to first for the final out.

With the loss the Pippins dropped 10-13 while the Bells moved to 17-6. The series finale is on Sunday with first pitch at 6:05.

Cullen Kafka pitched six strong innings allowing just three runs, but it wasn’t enough as the Pippins were shut out for the second time in three days by the Bells, 4-0.

After a quick first inning, Kafka ran into trouble in the second. After a groundout to start the inning, Connor Mack got aboard on an infield single. With two outs and Mack still at first base, Dusty Stroup hit a double to left field setting up second and third with two outs. On a 3-2 pitch, Michael Petrie lined a ball up the middle, scoring both runs and giving the Bells a 2-0 lead. Kafka would strike out Guthrie Morrison to get out of the inning.

Kafka rebounded after the second, holding the Bells scoreless in the third and fourth innings.

In the fifth, Michael Petrie lead off the inning with a groundball to third. Nick DiCarlo couldn’t handle the throw from Jake Moberg, which allowed Petrie to get all the way to second. A sacrifice bunt moved Petrie to third and Jordan Stoner followed with a groundball that scored the run. Kafka would strike out the side in the sixth before the Pippins turned to the bullpen in the seventh.

Nick Nastrini got the start for the Bells and coming into the game, had only allowed one run in his first seventeen innings this season. That success continued against the Pippins.

The Pippins had multiple opportunities to score against Nastrini. In the third, fourth and fifth innings, the Pippins had a runner at third and in the fifth, the Pippins had the bases loaded but couldn’t score. Nastrini would shut out the Pippins through six innings, allowing just four hits.

The Bells would grab another run in the eighth on a balk with runners at the corners and two outs.

In the ninth, Justin Armbruester struck out the side to seal a 4-0 Bells win, their eleventh win in their last twelve games.

The series continues on Saturday with Connor White tabbed for his first start of the season. First pitch at 6:35.

Mason Wells pitched six strong innings and the Pippins offense was able to get him the lead in a 6-3 win over the Cowlitz Black Bears on Thursday.

Through the first three innings, Wells faced one over the minimum with three strikeouts. The only batter to reach was Jonathan Hodo who drew a one out walk in the first inning.

In the second, the Pippins offense would get Wells the lead. Chris Arpan and Andrew Schleusner lead off the inning with back to back singles. Victor Cerny would follow with a sacrifice bunt to put runners at first and third with one out. Jake Moberg then stepped to the plate and with an 0-2 count, lined a ball past Andres Sosa at third base and into left field, scoring both Arpan and Schleusner and giving the Pippins a 2-0 lead.

“I was looking for another curveball because I got two curveballs right off the bat and he got me to swing and miss on the second one so I knew it was coming,” Moberg said. “I put a good swing on it and found a hole.”

In the fourth, Cowlitz was finally able to get to Wells. Jonathan Hodo lead off the inning with a single and stole second base. Austin Bell knocked him in with a base hit to right field but was thrown out by Kyle Dean trying to stretch it into a double. The next two batters would reach with Sosa knocking a single and later would be thrown out trying to steal. Kyle Sandstrom would walk and get into second on a wild pitch but Wells was able to shut the door with a strikeout of Isaac Deveaux.

A weird situation would unfold in the fifth inning when Arpan hit a leadoff single, later making his way to second. With two outs, Moberg knocked a base hit to left which should have scored Arpan. Unfortunately for the Pippins, Arpan wasn’t able to cross the plate before Moberg was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double, keeping the score 2-1.

Wells would be removed after the sixth, holding the Black Bears to just one run on three hits over six innings while striking out five.

The score would stay 2-1 until the seventh inning when the Pippins would play add on. Cerny would drive a one out double into right field. A wild pitch would move him to third, setting up Moberg to drive him in with a sacrifice fly for Moberg’s third RBI of the night.

The Pippins offense would continue to score off the Black Bears bullpen in the eighth. The first three batters of the inning would reach and with one out, Sam Mitchell pinch hit for Schleusner. A wild pitch brought in the first run of the inning and later in the at bat, Mitchell lined a ball into the right field corner driving in two more runs, extending the lead to 6-1. The Black Bears used three pitchers to get out of the inning.

In the ninth, with Tanner Inouye pitching in his second inning out of the bullpen, Cowlitz would rally. With a runner at first and two outs, Tony Boetto hit a triple into the right-center field gap, driving in a run. Boetto would later score on a balk to bring the Black Bears within three. Inouye was able to buckle down and strike out Liam Ballance to end the game, sending the Pippins to a 6-3 win and a series win over Cowlitz.

The Pippins will take on the first place Bellingham Bells in a weekend series starting on Friday. First pitch at 7:05.

Despite six innings of one run ball from Chase Farrell, the Pippins dropped the second game of the three game series to the Cowlitz Black Bears 2-0.

In his second start of the season, Farrell put everything together. He set the tone in the top of the first inning by setting down the side with strikeouts of Ryan Kim and Austin Bell. Over the next four innings, Farrell would allow just one hit while striking out seven.

Farrell would only run into a little trouble in the third and fourth innings. In the third, a hit by pitch and an error would put runners on first and second with one out. French would then get Kim to hit into a 4-6-3 double play, ending the threat. In the fourth, the Black Bears would put runners on second and third with another hit by pitch and an error but Farrell would get Isaac Deveaux to ground out to end the inning.

On the other side, Seth Rayburn would match Farrell. Coming into the game, Rayburn had an ERA over six and hadn’t made it through five innings in any start this season.

The Pippins offense had a number of opportunities to score with base runners on in each of the first five innings and runners in scoring position in four of the five innings however, Rayburn was able to pitch himself out of the jams with help from double play balls in the third and fourth inning. After the fifth, the Black Bears went to the bullpen.

The game remained scoreless until the sixth when Cowlitz was finally able to get to Farrell. Kim lead off the inning with a single and later in the inning with two outs and Kim at second, Andres Sosa broke the tie with a base hit. Farrell got out of the inning with a groundball and over his six innings on the mound, picked up a Pippins season high ten strikeouts while giving up just the one run.

“Everything was working,” Farrell said. “The fastball was pretty firm tonight, the changeup was real good, following the fastball real well. The slider was a good strikeout pitch.”

In the seventh, the Black Bears would get to reliever Connor White with some help from the Pippins defense. Deveaux lead off the inning with a walk. He then stole second base and got into third when Victor Cerny overthrew to second. After a groundout, Liam Ballance skied a ball to centerfield allowing Deveaux to tag up and score just ahead of the throw from centerfielder Elijah Greene, and extending the Cowlitz lead to 2-0.

The Pippins offense continued to struggle against the Black Bears bullpen. Isaac Mullins, Zack Denney and JT Penick would hold the Pippins hitless through the final four innings. The Pippins made a comeback attempt in the ninth with two walks resulted in a first and third situation with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. With Cerny representing the tying run, he grounded out, sealing a 2-0 Pippins loss.

With the loss the Pippins drop to two games under .500 and the Black Bears ended their seven game losing streak.

The Pippins will take on the Black Bears in the final game of the series on Thursday. First pitch at 6:35.

Behind Cole Pofek’s four RBI’s and Nick DiCarlo’s three hits, the Pippins offense exploded for 11 runs in their 11-3 win over the Cowlitz Black Bears, snapping the team’s three game losing streak.

After Pippins starter Hunter French set down the Black Bears in order in the top of the first inning, the offense got him the lead right away. Dicarlo lead off with a walk and two batters later, Kyle Dean smashed an RBI triple to the right center field wall, giving the Pippins a 1-0 lead. Pofek followed with an RBI groundout to extend the lead.

The Pippins added on in the second. Cole Jones reached on an error by shortstop Tanner Parker and after moving to second with two outs, DiCarlo rips a double, scoring Jones and widened the lead to 3-0. Black Bears starter Matt Gannon would be removed with one out in the fourth.

French was cruising through the first three innings but ran into trouble in the fourth. After a one out walk to Dutton Elske who was moved to second on a groundout, Tanner Parker found some outfield grass with a single, scoring Elske. An error on the throw home would allow Parker to motor into second. Liam Ballance followed with another single and bringing the Black Bears within a run. French was able to induce a groundball to get out of the inning.

The Pippins and Black Bears would trade zeros until the sixth when the Pippins finally got to the Black Bears bullpen. The Pippins opened up the inning with five straight singles including back to back bunt base hits from Bryce Wooldridge and DiCarlo to grab two more runs. An RBI groundout by Dean and a sacrifice fly by Pofek staked the Pippins to a 7-2 lead.

French came out in the top of the seventh, trying to go seven innings for the first time this season. After two quick outs. Mason De La Cruz would get a base hit. Ryan Kim followed with a single that was bobbled by Jones in center field and overthrown back into the infield, allowing De La Cruz to score all the way from first. French would get Andres Sosa to fly out, notching his first seven inning start of the season allowing just three runs (one earned).

The Pippins offense wasn’t done, scoring another run in the seventh and busting out for another big inning in the eighth. DiCarlo would lead off the inning with a single and Cody Jefferis would follow with a walk. After a strikeout of Dean, Pofek ripped a two run double. Jake Moberg followed with a single, scoring Pofek. After eight, the Pippins lead 11-3.

Cole Fossat came out of the bullpen in the ninth, making his first appearance of the season and was dominate. He struck out the side to seal the Pippins 11-3 win at home, snapping their three game losing streak. In their last three home games, the Pippins have scored 38 runs. With the loss, the Black Bears have dropped seven straight.

The Pippins will look to get back to .500 tomorrow in game two of the three game series. First pitch at 6:35.

Trying to avoid a three game sweep, the Pippins blew a five run lead and a walkoff single in the ninth by Ryan Fish sent the Pippins to their third straight loss.

The Pippins offense got off to a hot start in the first inning. On the first pitch of the game from Jered Akin, Cody Jefferis ripped a double to the left center field wall. Four pitches later, Nick DiCarlo smacked an RBI double down the right field line, scoring Jefferis. Akin recorded three straight outs to escape the inning.

In the bottom of the first, the Falcons answered off of Pippins starter Jake Moberg. Matt Voelzke hit a sharp groundball to third base. Dicarlo picked the ball cleanly, but a low throw to first base got beyond Shawn Grandmont, allowing Voelzke to roll into second. Williams followed with a single, scoring Voelzke. Moberg settled down and with the help of a double play, allowed just one run in the inning.

After scoring just one run over the past two games, the Pippins offense exploded in the third inning. With one out and one on, DiCarlo ripped a single, scoring Tyler Hollow. The Pippins offense followed with four straight baserunners including a two run double by Elijah Greene and an RBI double by Sam Mitchell. With one out and runners at first and second, Victor Cerny skied a ball to centerfield, driving in Greene from third. The sacrifice fly extended the lead to 6-1. Akin would be relieved after the third inning.

The Falcons answered in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and nobody on, Cody Crowder started a rally with a single. Dan Pruitt followed with an RBI double and Taylor Wright drove in Pruitt with a single, cutting the lead to 6-3.

In the fourth, the Falcons continued to rally off of Moberg. Two walks put runners at first and second with one out. Back to back base hits from Voelzke and Williams brought in three runs, knotting the score at six. After Moberg recorded the second out, Tanner Inouye came in from the bullpen and got out of the inning.

Isaac Olson came out of the bullpen in the fourth for the Falcons and shut down the Pippins through two and a third scoreless innings. The Pippins wouldn’t score again until the seventh inning.

Leading off the seventh inning, DiCarlo smacked a ball over the left field fence for his first home run of the season, giving the Pippins a 7-6 lead.

In the eighth, the Falcons drew even again off of Inouye. With two outs and runners at first and second, Williams hit a ground ball just beyond a diving Hollow and into right field, scoring Tylor Nixon and tying the game up at seven.

After a scoreless top of the ninth, Inouye came back out for the bottom half of the inning. A one out single by Wright and a walk to Trent Tinglestad set up a Ryan Fish single down the right field line, scoring Wright and completing the three game sweep. With the loss, the Pippins dropped their third straight game and suffered their first walk off loss of the season.

The Pippins have a day off of Monday before returning to action in Yakima on Tuesday, opening up a three game series with the Cowlitz Black Bears. First pitch on Tuesday at 6:35.

The Pippins offense struggled for the second night in Kelowna, dropping game two to the Falcons 9-0.

Cullen Kafka got the start for the Pippins and ran into trouble in the first inning. After a leadoff single and a walk, Taylor Wright grounded into a double play leaving a runner at third with two outs. The Falcons then rattled off three straight hits with two outs including RBI singles from Trent Tinglestad and Dylan Orick. Kafka got Garrett Kelly to ground out, limiting the damage to two runs.

The Falcons added another run in the second inning. After two quick outs, Kafka yielded a walk and a base hit, leading to an RBI single from Wright. In the fifth inning with two outs and runners at the corners, Kelly smacked an RBI single, extending the lead to 4-0.

Falcons starter Trevor Brigden was able to weave in and out of trouble and had the Pippins number all evening. Through his six scoreless innings, the Pippins left a runner on base every inning and left a total of nine men on, including leaving the bases loaded in the sixth.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Falcons knocked Kafka out of the game. After two quick outs, Drew Williams kept the inning alive with a single. Kaleb Strawn would relieve Kafka and yield four straight base runners including an RBI ground-rule double from Tinglestad and a hit by pitch to Dylan Orick with the bases loaded. Strawn struck out Kelly for the final out of the inning.

The Falcons bullpen took over for Brigden in the seventh and three relievers would combine to throw three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit along the way.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, with a runner on and one out, Tinglestad launched a two run home run over the right field wall off of Matt Driver, extending the lead to 8-0. The Falcons grabbed another run in the inning when Kelly hit a single with runners on the corners. Driver would later strand the bases loaded.

Cal Hehnke threw a scoreless ninth, sealing a 9-0 loss for the Pippins. The Pippins will try to salvage the final game in the series on Sunday. First pitch at 6:05.

The Pippins could not overcome a four run fourth inning from the Falcons as they fell 7-1 in the first game of the three game series.

After a 1-2-3 first inning from Pippins starter Mason Wells, he ran into trouble in the second inning. After a walk and a single, Matt Voelzke doubled to drive in the first run of the game. Jake Fischer followed with a double down the right field line, scoring two more runs. Later in the inning, a ground ball fielder’s choice hit by Tylor Nixon drove in the final run of the inning, staking the Falcons to a 4-0 lead.

After the second inning, Wells was able to hunker down and proceeded to throw three scoreless innings, stranding runners in two of those innings.

On the offensive side, the Pippins struggled to get anything going against Falcons starter James Brooks. In the first and third innings, the Pippins stranded runners in scoring position. They wouldn’t get another real scoring opportunity until the sixth. Brooks went five scoreless innings, giving up just four hits while striking out five.

In the sixth, the Pippins were able to get on the board. A leadoff walk followed by a base hit set up an RBI single from Kyle Dean. It was Dean’s first base hit and RBI as a Pippin. That run was all that the Pippins would be able to muster.

The Falcons played add on in the seventh while recording just one base hit. Cole Jones came in in relief and struggled to find the zone. Jones loaded the bases with two walks and a single by Grant Suponchick. Trent Tinglestad would follow with a bases loaded walk, driving in a run. Ryan Fish followed and was hit by a pitch, driving in another run. A fielder’s choice ground ball hit by Nixon would bring in the final run of the game.

With a sizeable lead, Bradley Stookey threw two scoreless innings to shut the door on the Pippins. With the loss, the Pippins fell back to .500 on the season at 8-8.

Game two of the series is on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

The Pippins offense exploded for the second straight night as they beat the Falcons 13-5 in the rubber game of the series and the last game for Pippins outfielder Jonathan Imperial.

Chase Farrell got his first start for the Pippins and ran into some early trouble. With one out in the first inning, the Falcons put four straight runners on base with a walk and three singles, including an RBI single from Cody Crowder. A sacrifice fly by Ryan Fish drove in the second run of the inning. Farrell was able to escape further damage, striking out Garrett Kelly for the final out, as his pitch count rose over thirty.

Farrell settled down after the first inning, giving up just one more run in the third.

After holding the Pippins scoreless through the first two innings, Falcons starter Travis Martizia ran into trouble in the bottom of the third. With two outs and runners at first and second, Chris Arpan drove a ball to the right-center field wall, plating both runs. Playing in his last game of the season before returning to the US Air Force Academy, Imperial followed with a single, putting runners at first and third. Sam Mitchell then drove a ball off the third base bag and into left field, driving in two more runs and giving the Pippins their first lead of the game 4-3.

The Pippins would add another run in the sixth to extend the lead.

After recovering from the first inning, Farrell pitched into the sixth being pulled with one out in the inning and no one on. Jack Gonzales would relieve Farrell and finish off the inning.

In the seventh, the Falcons mounted a comeback against Gonzales. Mike Pineiro hit a one out double and Tyler Nixon would drive him in with a single and bring the Falcons within a run. With two outs, Crowder and Taylor Wright hit back to back singles, scoring Pineiro. Gonzales was able to strand runners at the corners and keep the game tied at five.

Unfazed at just giving up the lead, the Pippins came right back with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning with Arpan hitting another double and driving in a run. Imperial also had a sacrifice fly, giving the Pippins a 7-5 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Pippins made sure they would have a comfortable ninth inning.  Isaac Olson started the inning and after a single, two wild pitches and a walk, was removed for Owen Leonard. Four straight base hits later, including a three run blast by the hot hitting Cole Pofek, the Pippins extended their lead to 13-5. Kellan Richards, the third pitcher of the inning for the Falcons would record the final three outs.

Kaleb Strawn threw a scoreless ninth and sealed the Pippins second straight win and a series win over the Falcons.

The Pippins will head up to Kelowna on Friday to take on the Falcons for three more games. First pitch on Friday at 6:35.

Cole Pofek went 4-4 and drove in six runs in the Pippins 14-6 win over the Kelowna Falcons on Wednesday, snapping a four game losing streak.

During their four game skid, the Pippins never had a lead. Of the thirty runs given up during the streak, ten came in the first two innings. Hunter French made sure that he would give the Pippins offense a chance to give him the lead.

French would set down twelve straight batters to start the game, going into the fifth inning with a perfect game.

The Pippins offense got going in the third when Pofek crushed a ball over the right field wall for his first home run of the year, giving the Pippins a 1-0 lead.

The Pippins played add on in the third with Elijah Greene and Pofek checking in with RBI singles to give the Pippins a 3-0 lead.

Leading off the top of the fifth, Dan Pruitt smoked a ball to the left center field wall, getting a double and the first Falcons base hit and base runner of the game. French was able to hold him at second inducing three straight fly outs to post a zero in the fifth.

The offense exploded in the bottom half of the inning and for the third time, Pofek was right in the middle of it. With runners on second and third with one out, Pofek lined a ball into right field, driving in both runners. Falcons starter Stone Churby would be chased but the bullpen didn’t fare much better. Cody Jefferis followed with a 13 pitch at bat, drawing a walk. Later in the inning with two outs, Bryce Wooldridge knocked in a run with a single. A wild pitch would later score Jefferis from third. By the end of the fifth inning, the Pippins had a 7-0 lead.

The Falcons slowly started mounting a comeback in the sixth, finally getting to French. With two on and two out, Taylor Wright sent a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right field for a three run home run, cutting the lead to 7-3.

The Pippins answered in the bottom half of the inning as Pofek added to his day with another two run single.

In the seventh, the Falcons were able to knock French out of the game with back to back doubles by Trent Tinglestad and Lucas Soper, followed by an RBI single from Thomas Rudinsky. Cole Jones came in from the bullpen and gave up two singles and hit batter and two wild pitches, recording just one out. Tanner Inouye was able to put out the fire, recording the final two outs of the inning. The Falcons had the lead cut to 9-6.

The Pippins offense continued to score, trading blows with the Falcons. In the seventh, a wild pitch with runners at second and third brought in a run and a sacrifice fly by Conor Allard brought in another run. In the eighth inning, a wild pitch and sacrifice fly would once again score two runs.

Inouye would hold down the Falcons offense the rest of the way and the Pippins snapped their four game losing streak with a resounding 14-6 win over the Falcons.

The Pippins go for the series win on Thursday. First pitch at 6:35.

The Kelowna Falcons scored early and often, pounding out 15 hits in their 9-2 win over the Pippins on Tuesday.

Matt Driver started for the Pippins and immediately ran into trouble. After a one out walk to Ryan Fish followed by a single by Cody Crowder, Taylor Wright hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Fish. Dan Pruitt followed and crushed a two run home run off of the scoreboard in left field. The home run gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead before the Pippins were able to swing a bat.

The Falcons played add on in the third without recording a hit in the inning. Cody Crowder lead off the inning with a groundball that was booted by Jake Moberg at shortstop. Taylor Wright would follow with a walk, putting runners at first and second with no one out. After a fly out, Trent Tinglestad would hit a ground ball to third that Nick DiCarlo would dive and catch on a bounce. DiCarlo threw to second for the second out of the inning, but Tyler Hollow’s throw to first for a double play sailed over Bryce Wooldridge’s head and into the Falcons dugout. Crowder would come in to score and Tinglestad would end up at second base. Jake Fischer followed with a groundball to third that went under the glove of DiCarlo and into left field, scoring another run and extending the Falcons’ lead to 5-0. Driver would be pulled after recording the final out of the third inning.

The Pippins got on the board in the fourth inning. Cole Pofek lead off with a single followed by a walk to Chris Arpan. After a strikeout and another base hit to load the bases, Victor Cerny hit a ground ball to first base driving in Pofek from third.

In the fifth, the Falcons answered with three more runs off of reliever Nick Flesher with a two run double by Tyler Nixon and an RBI single from Ryan Fish.

The Pippins offense would only be able to muster one more run in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly by pinch hitter Jonathan Imperial scoring Cole Pofek. Falcons starter Jered Akin shut down the Pippins giving up just the two runs over six innings.

The game would be scoreless the rest of the way, with Pippins pitching escaping multiple scoring threats from the Falcons. In the ninth inning, the Pippins would strand runners at first and second in the ninth inning as they dropped the first game to the Falcons 9-2. The Pippins committed four errors, their second most all year and they also stranded twelve men on base. With the loss, the Pippins have dropped four straight WCL games.

Game two of the series is on Wednesday. First pitch at 6:35.

Pippins pitching stymied the Honkers and the offense provided enough runs in the Pippins 4-1 win over the Honkers.

The Pippins got out to an early lead in the first inning with doubles from Cody Jefferis and Elijah Greene, staking the Pippins to a 1-0 lead.

The lead was extended in the second. Sam Mitchell lead off the inning with a single. After a stolen base and another single, Tyler Hollow hit a fly ball to left, scoring Mitchell from third base.

In the fifth inning, the Honkers would get a run back. Evan Gilliam would get on base with a one out single. Paul Bryniarski would follow with a ground ball that got beyond Bryce Wooldridge at first and went into the right field corner. Gilliam would score to make it a one run game.

After the fifth, the Pippins pitching staff would hold the Honkers scoreless. Tanner Inouye went three innings of scoreless ball and Michael Bovee Jr would follow with five innings out of the bullpen, giving up just one unearned run.

Up by just one run, the Pippins grabbed two much needed insurance runs in the eighth. Cole Pofek hit a one out triple and scored on a wild pitch. After two singles and a hit batter, Tyler Hollow picked up his second sacrifice fly of the day, scoring Jonathan Imperial and gave the Pippins a 4-1 lead.

Jack Gonzales threw a scoreless ninth to seal the Pippins second straight non-league win. After an off day on Monday, the Pippins open up  a three game series with the Kelowna Falcons. First pitch on Tuesday is at 6:35.

After a tough series in Portland, the Pippins rebounded and defeated the River City Athletics in a non-league matchup 8-2.

The Pippins got out to an early lead in the second. After a two out double by Jonathan Imperial, Shawn Grandmont followed with an RBI single, giving the Pippins a 1-0 lead.

The Athletics answered in the third. With the bases loaded in the third, a catcher’s interference call with Chase Oldham at the plate tied the game.

In the fourth inning, the Pippins offense would get hot and take the lead for good. A leadoff single and a stolen base got Conor Allard to second and Bryce Wooldridge would drive him in with a single. The inning would continue with a single from Grandmont a wild pitch and a double from Victor Cerny would bring two more runs home. Elijah Greene drove in the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. The Pippins added another run in the fifth to take a 6-1 lead.

On the mound, Mason Wells was strong through three innings, giving up just one unearned run while striking out five. Two newcomers, Cullen Kafka and Chase Farrell would pitch the next five innings giving up just one run on four hits while striking out seven combined.

Athletics starter Blake Collier went  six innings giving up six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.

The Pippins played add-on in the eighth with a two run double by Elijah Greene staking the Pippins to an 8-2 lead. Kaleb Strawn pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the win.

Before getting back to WCL play, the Pippins have one more non-league game against the Northwest Honkers on Sunday at 6:05.

The Pickles jumped out to an early lead on Thursday and held on in the ninth as they beat the Pippins 6-4 in the final game of the three game series, sweeping the series.

Hunter French got the start for the Pippins and the Pickles got on the board in the first inning. After a one out walk, Mike Perez would come to the plate and in his first appearance with the Pickles, lined a ball over the left field fence for a two run home run.

French would settle down, holding the Pickles scoreless the next two innings. The Pippins would get their first run in the top of the fourth when Chris Arpan lead off the inning and went over the right center field wall for his first home run of the season.

The Pickles answered in the bottom half. A single and a double would put runners on second and third with one out. Brody Barnum ripped an RBI single scoring a run and a fielders choice groundball from Noah Cardenas would put the Pickles up 4-1.

The Pippins scored their second run in the fifth, with singles by Cody Jefferis and Allard, put runners at the corners for Sam Mitchell, who grounded out, scoring Jefferis from third.

The Pickles would continue to answer every punch the Pippins threw. They scored a run in the bottom half of the fifth as well as in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead. French would leave after five and the Pippins bullpen would give up just one run over the final four innings to keep the team close.

For the second straight night, the Pippins mounted a ninth inning comeback with the Pickles giving them an opportunity. Nick Paciorek was tasked with shutting the door, but he could not record an out. He walked the first two batters and pinch hitter Bryce Wooldridge singled in a run. Pickles closer Brad Bonnefant would be summoned from the bullpen and stifled the Pippins rally. After a strikeout of Cole Jones, Jefferis was able to bring the Pippins within two runs with an RBI groundout. Allard would follow with another groundout to end the game as the Pippins fell 6-4. With the loss, the Pippins drop back to .500 and out of first place in the North Division. The Pickles, on a five game winning streak, extended their lead in the South Division.

The Pippins will have an off day on Friday before two non league games over the weekend. First pitch against the River City Athletics on Saturday at 7:05.

The Pickles offense continued to roll and the Pippins struggled to score, leading to an 8-3 loss in game two of the three game series in Portland.

The Pickles would get on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. A leadoff walk by Joey Cooper and a single by Davis Delorefice set up a sacrifice fly by Brody Barnum. Pippins starter Matt Driver would escape the inning with no further damage.

Driver pitched four solid innings but ran into more trouble in the fifth. Driver walked the leadoff man, for the fourth time in five innings, and after a strikeout, the Pickles would string together three straight base hits, scoring two runs. Driver would be pulled with two outs in the fifth, giving way to Tanner Lewis. Later in the inning, Joey Cooper would send a ball way over the right field fence for a three run home run, his third homer of the year.

Staked to a 6-0 lead, the Pickles pitching staff dominated the Pippins for a second straight night. Starter Joel Casillas went four shutout innings allowing just three hits, no walks and five strikeouts. Augie Sylk would come in out of the bullpen and throw 2.2 innings scoreless.

The Pippins had a chance to score in the seventh, with the bases loaded and two outs. Cody Jefferis would strike out to end the threat. In the bottom half of the inning, the Picles would tack on two more runs with a two run triple by Brody Barnum.

The Pippins would finally get on the board and end a 13 inning scoreless drought when pinch hitter Jonathan Imperial crushed a ball deep over the left field fence for a two run home run.

In the ninth inning, the Pippins attempted a comeback, thanks in part to a Pickles defense that committed two errors in the ninth. The Pippins grabbed one more run in the ninth, stranding the bases loaded to end the game. With the loss the Pippins dropped to 6-5 and moved into a tie for first place in the north division.

The series finale is on Thursday. First pitch at 7:05.

Despite a two run home run by Sam Mitchell, the Pippins five game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday as they lost to the Portland Pickles 7-4.

Sean Mullen got the start for the Pippins and it was his first appearance on the mound this season. After the Pippins stranded runners at first and third in the first inning, Mullen came out in the bottom half of the inning and plunked Gio Diaz. A single by Carson Breshears would move Diaz to second. Sam Novitske would follow with fly ball to deep left field that glanced off of Mitchell’s glove, scoring two runs. Later in the inning, Brody Barnum would double in another run, increasing the Pickles lead to 3-0. Mullen would get out of the inning by getting Davis Delorefice to fly out.

The Pippins would answer in the second inning. Two walks would put runners on first and second with one out. Bryce Wooldridge would then hit a bloop single to right that shattered his bat and scored two runs.  The Pickles would grab another run in the bottom half of the inning, with a Diaz double that scored a run. Luckily for the Pippins, Diaz was thrown out trying to get to third. Mullen would be pulled later in the inning and Tanner Inouye would record the final out of the inning.

In the third inning, the Pippins would even the score. After a leadoff single by Elijah Greene, Sam Mitchell smashed a ball over the right field fence and into the Pippins bullpen, knotting the score at four. After the home run, the Pippins offense would go silent, only having one base runner the rest of the game.

Inouye would cruise until the sixth where two walks and a run scoring single put the Pickles back in front 5-4. Jack Gonzales came in and recorded the final two outs of the inning.

Michael Bovee Jr. would come in in the seventh inning after Gonzales gave up a leadoff walk. Bovee Jr. would get some help from a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into a 2-6-3 double play. With two outs and no one on, Bovee Jr. ran into control problems, walking two batters and hitting another, setting up a bases loaded opportunity for the Pickles. A Delorefice single would put two more runs up, pushing the score to 7-4.

On offense, the Pippins were completely outmatched by Michael Newstrom. Over four innings, Newstrom struck out 10 batters and did not allow a base runner. Only two balls were put in play.

Brad Bonnefant would finish off the Pippins with a 1-2-3 ninth, sending the Pippins to their first loss in nearly a week.

The Pippins will look to get even in the series in game 2 on Wednesday. First pitch at 7:05.

Fresh off of a seven run eighth inning in a win over the Bend Elks on Sunday, the Pippins offense continued to roll against the Northwest Honkers.

The Pippins got off to a quick start in the first inning. After a 1-2-3 first inning for Pippins starter Jack Gonzales, Sam Mitchell and Cody Jefferis hit back to back doubles in the bottom of the first inning. Elijah Greene would follow with a run scoring single and Bryce Woolridge, just added to the roster on Monday, would hit an RBI single. Honkers starter Josh Snider would get some help with a line drive double play before striking out Victor Cerny to end the inning.

The Honkers would score their first run in the second inning, with the Pippins answering in the bottom half. The Honkers would mount a comeback with a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to tie the game at 4 and chase starter Jack Gonzales. He went 3.2 innings giving up four runs on nine hits. Michael Bovee Jr. would take over and get out of the fourth inning.

The Pippins would rally in the fifth and one-up the previous night’s seven run eighth inning. Greene lead off the inning with a base hit and Chris Arpan would fly out for the first out. The Honkers wouldn’t record the second out for the next ten batters.

Jonathan Imperial and Wollridge would single, scoring another run. Snider would be replaced by Stuart Maes who couldn’t stop the bleeding. Mitch Dean would follow with a groundball that should have been the second out of the inning but an errant throw by third baseman Jordan Padilla would get beyond first base, scoring two runs and putting Dean at third. Cerny would then double in another run. After a hit batter, Mitchell would walk in what would become four straight walks, three with the bases loaded. Garrett Gagnon would take over for Maes, who couldn’t record an out. Imperial, batting for the second time in the inning, would drive in the final run with a fielders choice. After the final out was recorded, the Pippins scored eight runs and took a 12-4 lead.

The Honkers put two runs on the board in the top of the sixth and the Pippins answered with another run in the seventh. An RBI single by Paul Bryniarski would be the final score for the Honkers. Lucas Juarez and Nick Flesher would throw the final two innings allowing just one run and sealed the Pippins 13-7 win over the Honkers.

The Pippins will travel to Portland on Tuesday to take on the south leading Pickles in a three game series. First pitch of game one is at 6:35.

Pippins pitcher Hunter French was awarded the West Coast League’s Moss Adams Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Over the past week, French pitched in two games, one start against the Bend Elks and one relief appearance against the Harbourcats. He threw a combined nine innings allowing just one unearned run on six hits while striking out ten and walking one.

He picked up a win on June 8 in the Pippins 10-2 win over the Elks. French went six innings allowing one unearned run and striking out six.

“He has just continued to get better and better in his two years with us,” said Pippins Manager Marcus McKimmy after French’s start against the Elks. “He’s obviously older and more experienced now but just with his work ethic and mentality, even facing a little difficulty there in the early innings he didn’t flinch and really settled in nicely and gave us a quality start when we needed it.”

French pitched in one game for the Pippins in 2017 throwing 6 innings of two run ball against the Bellingham Bells.

French will be a junior at Central Washington University in the fall. With Columbia Basin College this spring, French went 4-3 with a 4.34 ERA in 76.2 innings pitched.

Powered by a huge eighth inning, the Pippins beat the Bend Elks 9-2 on Sunday, extending their winning streak to four games and sweeping the three game series with the Elks.

It was a pitchers duel early between the Elk’s Sam Muskat and the Pippins Davonte Butler. The Elks got on the board first in the top of the second inning. After a leadoff double by John Arndorfer and a wild pitch to move him to third, Tucker Rhode would follow with a one out sacrifice fly that would score Arndorfer. That was the only run that the Elks would score off of Butler.

Butler would go five innings allowing just one run on three hits with two walks and a strikeout.

The Pippins would answer in the third as the rain started to pour at Yakima County Stadium. Chris Arpan lead off the inning with a triple and scored when Tyler Hollow grounded a ball to shortstop that Collin Runge couldn’t handle. After a groundout moved Hollow to second, Cody Jefferis followed with an RBI single. Jefferis went 2-3 in the game, raising his average to .391.

Pippins pitching would keep the Elks off the board till the seventh inning when Tristan Alvarez got aboard on a two out error from third baseman Sean Mullen. Runge would follow with a single to center field, knotting the score at 2.

Muskat stymied the Pippins the rest of the way, going seven plus innings, throwing nearly 120 pitches. The Pippins were able to chase Muskat in the eighth inning after a leadoff single from Jonathan Imperial. Ace Embree would replace Muskat and after stolen base, walk and a sacrifice bunt runners were at second and third with one out. Sam Boone would be the third pitcher of the inning for the Elks, but he couldn’t stop the Pippins momentum. A walk to Mullen would load the bases for Victor Cerny who lined a ball to left field for an RBI single, giving the Pippins a three to two lead. They were just getting started.

Arpan would follow with a two run double knocking Boone out of the game. Grant Crosby would come in and walk Tyler Hollow to load the bases again. A wild pitch would score another run. Elijah Greene followed with an RBI double and Jefferis would hit a sacrifice fly to left field. One more run would come in to score on the second wild pitch of the inning. After coming into the eighth in a tie game, the Pippins went to the ninth with a 9-2 lead.

Tanner Lewis, who threw four innings of one run ball in relief, would finish off the Elks in the ninth to get the Pippins their fourth straight win and a series sweep of the Elks. With the loss, the Elks dropped their sixth in a row.

The Pippins will play one non-league game against the Northwest Honkers on Monday at Yakima County Stadium before heading back on the road to Portland to take on the Pickles on Tuesday.

Behind another strong start from Mason Wells and just enough offense, the Pippins were able to extend their winning streak to three games by beating the Bend Elks 4-2 on Saturday.

For the second straight night, the Elks got on the board first. In the third inning, Tristen Alvarez hit a one out double. It was immediately followed by another double by Collin Runge, scoring Alvarez from second. Runge would later steal third and score on a groundout from Alex Pallios.

The Pippins would get one run back in the bottom half of the inning. After two quick outs, Cody Jefferis lined a single into left field. Elijah Greene would quickly follow with a double to that one hopped the wall in right-center field, scoring Jefferis from first.

The Pippins would grab the lead back in the Sean Mullen and Chris Arpan lead off the inning with a single and double. With runners on second and third with no one out Tyler Hollow and Victor Cerny would each hit groundballs to second driving in two runs to give the Pippins a 3-2 lead. They would not relinquish that lead.

Mason Wells was tabbed for the start for the Pippins and he was dominant. Wells went seven innings allowing just two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and no walks. On the other side of the diamond, RJ Robles pitched nearly as good for the Elks. Robles pitched seven innings giving up three runs on five hits.

Still holding a 3-2 lead in the eighth, the Pippins would play add on with an RBI single from Sean Mullen, scoring Greene from second. That extra run would prove important in the ninth inning.

Pippins closer Connor White came in in the ninth inning to try and shut the door. After a single and a walk, it was runners at first and second with no one out. Gunnar Togia would follow and try to move the runners to second and third. After two foul bunts, Togia lined a ball to right field that was destined for the grass, newly inserted Jonathan Imperial sprinted over to make a diving catch that saved at least one run and resulted in a double play as Tucker Rhode was off the bag at second. White would strike out Michael Warkentin for the final out of the game and sealing the Pippins third straight win.

With the win, the Pippins moved to 5-3 on the season while the Elks dropped to 2-6. The final game of the series is on Sunday with first pitch at 6:05.

On a windy and rainy evening at Yakima County Stadium, the Pippins offense caught fire against the struggling Bend Elks.

Mason Wells was scheduled to start against the Elks, but had to be pushed to tomorrow in order to attend his high school graduation. Hunter French got the spot start and ran into some trouble early. A leadoff walk and a single put runners on first and third with no one out. After French got a strikeout of Ty Holmstrom, Alex Pallios hit a ground ball that Grant DeLappe couldn’t handle at shortstop, scoring a run. French would escape the inning with help from catcher Andrew Schleusner who picked off Collin Runge at third base with two outs. The Elk’s 1-0 lead would not last long.

In the last two home games for the Pippins, they have scored a total of seven runs in the first inning. The Pippins continued their first inning prowess. Khalil Rivera got the start for the Elks and struggled early. Cody Jefferis and Elijah Greene got on base with walks and with one out, Sam Mitchell demolished a pitch over the right field wall for his first home run of the season and a 3-1 Pippins lead. The home run extended Mitchell’s hitting streak to seven games. Mitchell has a hit in each of the Pippins first seven games.

The Pippins would add another run with an Andrew Schleusner RBI single to take a 4-1 lead and they would not look back.

Jonathan Imperial and the Pippins would play add on in the third inning with an RBI single driving in Mitchell and extending the lead to 5-1.

Another big blow came in the fourth inning. After a leadoff walk and a fielders choice, Conor Allard hit a line drive over the centerfield fence for a two run homer and opened up a 7-1 lead. It was Allard’s first home run and the Pippins’ third of the season. Mitchell would hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to extend the lead. Rivera would leave after the fourth inning, giving up eight runs on five hits with seven walks.

The Pippins would continue to score in the sixth, with Elijah Greene who just joined the team earlier in the day, driving in a run with a single and a balk by Ethan Jones would drive in the tenth run for the Pippins.

Not to be lost in the offense was Hunter French who after escaping jams in the first and second innings, settled down and cruised through six innings, allowing just one run on four hits with six strikeouts.

With the rain beginning to fall more heavily, Kaleb Strawn and Jack Gonzales would pitch the final three innings giving up just one more run to finish off the Pippins 10-2 win over the Elks. The Pippins move to 4-3 on the season while the Elks drop their fourth straight and fall to 2-5. The second game of the series is on Saturday. First pitch at 6:35.

The Pippins were able to avoid the sweep and take the final game of the three game series against the Victoria HarbourCats.

The Pippins got on the board quickly in the top of the first inning. Conor Allard (U of Nevada, Reno) lead off the game with a single and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. Sam Mitchell (MSU Billings) followed with a double, scoring Allard from third and giving the Pippins a 1-0 lead.

After a scoreless bottom of the first inning the Pippins would add another run in the second with an RBI single from Victor Cerny (Cal St Northridge) scoring Chris Arpan (U of Portland) from second base. The HarbourCats would get a run back in the bottom half of the inning with a two out double from Adam Imwalle (State College of Florida) and an RBI single by Ryan Green would pull the Harbourcats within a run, For Pippins starter Matt Driver (Lewis-Clark St), that was the only run he would allow.

In the first two games of this series, Pippins starters had a tough time going deep into the game throwing strikes. The story was different on Thursday as Driver threw six innings of one run ball without walking a batter. He struck out seven along the way.

The Pippins would continue to add on with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth with Mitch Dean (Spokane Falls CC) playing a part in both innings, doubling and scoring in the fourth and knocking an RBI single to score Grant DeLappe (WSU).

The five runs would be more than enough for the Pippins. Lucas Juarez (Cal Poly SLO) would take over for Driver in the seventh and went two innings giving up just a lone run on a blooping fly ball hit by Nick Plaia (California Baptist) that Jonathan Imperial (US Air Force Academy) couldn’t get to with a dive. On the throw to third as Plaia tried to take the extra base, the throw got away from Dean and Plaia came all the way around to score to make it 5-2.

That was where the score would stay as 2017 WCL All-Star Connor White (U of Portland) came in to close out the ninth and with the help of a double play, set down the HarbourCats to seal the Pippins 5-2 win. With the win, the Pippins go to 3-3 on the season and the Harbourcats fell to 3-3. The Pippins will return home to face the Bend Elks on Friday, first pitch at 6:35.

A four run ninth was not enough for the Pippins as they fell to the HarbourCats for the second straight night.

The Pippins got on the board first with some help from the HarbourCats in the second inning. After a lead-off double by Sam Mitchell (MSU Billings) and a groundout by Conor Allard (U of Nevada), Jonathan Imperial (US Air Force Academy) grounded a ball to shortstop that should have been the second out of the inning. Instead, it went through the legs of Adam Imwalle (State College of Florida) and Mitchell scored from second. The lead would not last long.

In the bottom half of the inning Tanner Inouye (St Martin’s) had a hard time finding the plate. He loaded the bases with three walks and with two outs Imwalle would make up for his error with a bases clearing double. The HarbourCats would not trail again in the game.

Inouye started for the Pippins and looked very different from the pitcher who struck out seven of the nine batters that he faced in the Pippins Opening Day loss. Inouye went four and a third innings giving up four runs and walking seven.

Victoria would play add on with a run in the fourth and two more in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead into the ninth inning. With some more help from the HarbourCats, the Pippins would make it close.

Cody Jefferis (U of San Diego) lead off the inning with a single. Grant DeLappe (WSU) would follow by being hit by a pitch and Mitchell would load the bases with another single. Allard would follow with a groundball to second which should have been a double play but Jack Smith (WSU) bobbled the ball and couldn’t record an out. A run would score on the play. A wild pitch would score another run. After two outs, one of which resulted in an out, Andrew Schleusner (MSU Billings) single to bring the Pippins within a run. After a pitching change, the Pippins rally would come to an end with Cole Jones (MSU Billings) popping out to second base to end the game.

With the loss, the Pippins fall to 2-3 on the season. The Pippins have one more game against the HarbourCats on Thursday in a weekday matinee before returning to Yakima to face the Bend Elks.

The Pippins picked up right where they left off on Saturday with a strong offense and great pitching performances to take the season opening series against the Sweets and winning on Sunday 8-1.

In a near repeat of the first inning on Saturday, the Pippins put three runs on the board in the first. Chris Arpan (U of Portland) drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single scoring Tyler Hollow (Dixie State) from second base. Two batters later, Grant DeLappe (WSU) found outfield grass with a base hit scoring Conor Allard (U of Nevada). The final run of the frame would score on a bases loaded walk to Jonathan Imperial (US Air Force Academy). The Pippins wouldn’t look back after the first.

Davonte Butler (Cal State Bakersfield) got the start and the win for the Pippins on the same day that he flew into Yakima. Butler shut down the Sweets with five scoreless innings allowing just three hits and a walk. He didn’t strike out a batter but he was effective pitching to contact.

The Pippins would put their fourth run on the board in the fourth inning. Imperial lead off and hammered the first pitch he saw from starter Michael Peterson (Walla Walla CC) over the wall in right center field for the Pippins first home run of the season. Peterson took the loss as he went six innings for the Sweets allowing six runs, all earned, on ten hits.

The Pippins would continue to add on late in the ballgame, scoring two runs in the sixth and two more runs in the seventh to take a 8-1 lead into the ninth inning. Kaleb Strawn (Columbia Basin CC) pitched a scoreless ninth as the Pippins picked up their second win of the season and a series victory over the Walla Walla Sweets.

After an off day on Monday, the Pippins will look to stretch their winning streak to three when they take on the Victoria Harbourcats on Tuesday. First pitch at 6:35.

The Pippins rebounded from an Opening Day loss and beat the Walla Walla Sweets 8-5 on Saturday.

After struggling offensively on Friday, the Pippins came out swinging early. After two quick outs in the bottom of the first, the Pippins put together a rally. Five straight batters got on base with four hits and a walk. The big blows were a two run single by Grant DeLappe (WSU) and a two run double by Jonathan Imperial (US Air Force Academy). The Pippins would tack on another run in the third to take a 5-0 lead.

The Pippins got a solid performance from starter Mason Wells (Gonzaga). Wells threw five innings allowing just one run on four hits.

After being in a 5-0 hole, the Sweets clawed their way back. A run in the fourth and a run in the sixth made it 5-2. In the seventh inning, a costly error gave the Sweets a spark.

Jack Filby (UCLA) lead off the inning with a double. Danny Sinatro (WSU) followed by skying a ball to left field that Imperial lost in the lights and dropped, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Jordan Hovey (Creighton) immediately followed with a two-run double and Zach Penrod (Northwest Nazarene) grounded out to drive in another run and tie the game at five.

A defensive miscue let the Sweets back into the game, but it was another defensive miscue that helped a Pippins rally. In the bottom of the seventh, Sam Mitchell (MSU) lead off with a fly ball to right field that was lost in the lights leading to a two base error. The Pippins were able to cash in with an RBI double by Cole Jones (MSU) to retake the lead and an RBI single by Imperial to tack on an insurance run.

The Pippins would add another run in the eighth to take an 8-5 lead into the ninth where Connor White (University of Portland), a 2017 WCL All-Star for the Pippins, struck out the side to seal the Pippins first win of the season.

The Pippins will look to win the series against the Sweets on Sunday. First pitch at 6:05.

Despite solid performances on the mound from Tom Scheffler (Wenatchee Valley College) and Tanner Inouye (St. Martin’s College), the Pippins fell on Opening Day to the Walla Walla Sweets by a score of 3-2 in front of a crowd of 2,386.

Scheffler had a hard time finding his control in the first inning as he walked three of the first four batters to load the bases with one out. Sweets catcher Josh Prizina (University of Nevada, Reno) followed with a shallow base hit to left field that scored a run but also got the final two outs for the Pippins in the process. Zach Penrod (Northwest Nazerene University) was on second and decided to stop at third. Matt Elser (Los Angeles Mission College) was at first base and he blew past second and made his way to third, only to realize that Penrod was at the bag. Elser was tagged out and Penrod broke for home and was also tagged out. Scheffler was able to escape the inning with a bizarre double play and he settled down from there, posting zeros from the second through the fifth inning.

Bryce Moyle (WSU) toed the rubber for the Sweets and was efficient, tossing six innings on just 76 pitches. The only blemish came in the third inning when Sam Mitchell (MSU Billings) hit a two- out two-run single to score Andrew Schleusner (MSU Billings) and Tyler Hollow (Dixie State), both of whom got aboard on singles.

The Pippins held a 2-1 lead until the sixth, when the Sweets were able to get to Scheffler again. The first three batters of the inning reached, followed by a sacrifice fly from Elser and a RBI fielders choice from Prizina to take a 3-2 lead which would be all the Sweets would need.

Inouye would relieve Scheffler in the seventh and put together a dominant three innings. While usually pitching to contact, Inouye struck out seven and gave up just two hits and gave the Pippins a chance to make a comeback.

The offense would have a few more chances to tie the game or take the lead with a runner stranded at third in the seventh and runners stranded on the corners in the eighth.

Carson Woolery (MSU Billings) came in to close out the ninth and retired the Pippins in order to preserve the 3-2 Sweets win.

The Pippins will look to get their first win of the season in the second game of the series. First pitch at 6:35.

With the 2018 Pippins season about to get underway, fans will have the option to video stream all 32 Pippins home games for the first time.

A single-game pass can be purchased as well as a full-season, All-Access Pass. A single-game stream will cost $8.99, while the full season will cost $189. The video stream will combine with the simulcast audio from the Pippins’ English-radio broadcast on 1460 ESPN Yakima.

The Pippins will utilize Boxcast, a cloud-based video streaming service with a full production suite for a comfortable and enjoyable video streaming experience.

“We’re excited to take these first steps in video streaming this year. Boxcast is a great streaming company to work with, and we’ve had some amazing test results so far,” said Pippins general manager Jeff Garretson.

The video stream will also include pregame and postgame analysis on top of in-game coverage.

“I’m really happy about the team we’re putting together behind the camera. In addition to our broadcaster, Kevin Vallene, who has radio and video experience, we’re fortunate to have four enthusiastic and talented students from around the Yakima Valley who have taken video production classes at YV Tech. They will be able to put their knowledge to use and develop skills in live broadcasting that not only will benefit us, but will help them as well,” Garretson said.

The Pippins will start with a one camera setup this season with plans to expand to a multi-camera setup in 2019.

Adding a pay-per-view and season subscription options for all home games in Yakima is part of a larger, West Coast League initiative to have all games live-streamed for fans. Both the Pippins and Walla Walla Sweets started Periscope broadcasts for home and away games in 2014. In 2016, the Victoria HarbourCats launched a multi-camera broadcast. Earlier this year, the WCL board of directors approved an initiative to help each ballclub capitalize a video-streaming service in each park. The league anticipates that all clubs will have a live-video solution available for all games.

You can purchase the stream for the Opening Night game here.

Tyler Hollow just wrapped up his first season playing college baseball and despite finding success, he experienced the challenge of moving from high school baseball to the college level.

“Lots of people say it’s the same game and don’t get too overwhelmed but it’s really hard. The pitching is that much better, the hitters are that much better, the game speed was a lot faster than it was at high school,” he said. “I really like the challenge.”

Hollow played consistently for Dixie State in his first season. In 46 games for the Bisons he hit .350 with 15 RBI. He also showed fantastic plate discipline as he walked 14 times and struck out only 14 times.

“It was a good experience. It was very different from high school,” Hollow said. “The pace of the game is a lot faster but overall I liked it a lot. Our season didn’t go as great as we would have hoped it went, but I feel like I did alright. I’m looking forward to next fall to get back down there.”

Despite attending Dixie State in southern Utah, Hollow calls Boise home. Playing summer baseball a little closer to home was part of the reason why he made the decision to play for the Pippins.

“It’s also in the West Coast League which is a pretty known league around the colleges so I know that when I go [to the Pippins], I will be taken care of. The overall competition of the other teams, I’m excited to see how I fare against those guys,” he said.

Hollow also saw the support for the Pippins as another draw to the team.

“When my coach at Dixie State talked about how [the Pippins] have a consistent fanbase that comes out every day, that really got me excited because down at Dixie it’s a small tight community kind of like Yakima and there was a lot of alumni and other fans that came out every day, which I thought helped us play a lot better. Having a community that cares about how we play and how we look, I’m really excited for that.”

Hollow sees a lot that he can improve on during his time with the Pippins before returning to Dixie State in the fall.

“On the defensive side, I need to become better. I want to improve my speed and footwork,” he said. “We play a lot of games in a little amount of days, so I want to see if I can condition my body to take that wear and tear of playing every day. To see if I can stand that and to try and get better every day and through the summer.”

Andrew Schleusner is one of many new faces featured on the 2018 Pippins roster and after a strong season behind the plate at Montana State University, he is excited to join the Pippins and help the team to another postseason berth.

As he continues to work on his craft, Schleusner said that the coaching staff was a big reason why he decided to come play for the Pippins.

“Coach McKimmy seems like a really good guy and I’ve heard a lot of great things about the program and the WCL,” Schleusner said. “I think it sounds like a great fit for me.”

After hitting .208 in 26 games as a freshman last season, Schleusner came into his own playing in his second season with MSU this spring. In 48 games, hit .325 with 4 home runs, 38 RBI and showed great plate discipline as he walked nearly as many times as he struck out.

“I got together with my coaches and we worked on a lot of things and talked over things that I needed to work on,” he said. “I became a lot more comfortable with the team and my position.”

His strong season helped MSU take the top seed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships this season.

“It’s been great. I was blessed with a great team, lots of tremendous teammates and a lot of competitive baseball. It was a good experience,” he said.

Despite his strong showing last season, Schleusner still sees many ways he can improve throughout the summer.

“Getting better defensively overall and continuing to stay strong with my offensive approach,” he said.

Schleusner is also excited to play for a large home crowd in Yakima throughout the summer.

“It’ll be great to have a bunch of fans standing behind you and supporting you. I’ve never played in front of that many people before so it will be a new experience and I’m excited,” he said.

PORTLAND — Rob Neyer, a former ESPN and Fox Sports journalist, has been named the West Coast League’s new commissioner as the league revamps its leadership structure heading into the 2018 season.

Neyer is the league’s first commissioner since ABCA Hall of Fame head coach Jim Dietz of San Diego State presided over the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League, during the circuit’s formative years.

“We are thrilled to have Rob Neyer represent the West Coast League and act as our league’s commissioner,” said WCL president Tony Bonacci. “His knowledge of the game and passion for what we are doing, not to mention his contacts in baseball, should help us elevate the league to new heights.”

“We can’t be more pleased that Rob has joined us as our commissioner.”

Neyer lives in Portland.

A baseball writer known for his pioneering use of statistical analysis and sabermetrics, Rob began his career working for Bill James and STATS, Inc. He’s also worked for 15 years as a columnist and blogger for ESPN, and was National Baseball Editor at Vox Media’s SB Nation from 2011 to 2013, then Senior Baseball Editor for Fox Sports through 2015. His recent work has been featured in The New York Times, Vice Sports, Complex Sports, and Yahoo, among others.

This October, HarperCollins will publish POWER BALL: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game, Neyer’s seventh book.

“I’m a passionate, longtime fan of baseball history generally, and Pacific Northwest baseball specifically,” Neyer said. “So it’s difficult for me to imagine a more exciting opportunity, and I’m honored to be associated with such a fine organization. This summer, as I connect with the owners and visit all the beautiful ballparks, I’ll do everything I can to help this great league become even greater.”

WCL members will look to the league’s new commissioner to arbitrate and regulate during the season; to further connect the league and its teams with the baseball community, its markets and those that follow the game; and to act as a league ambassador.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Pippins fans will have a new way to catch Yakima Valley’s 32 home games this summer through a new live-video option available at Yakima County Stadium.

Adding a pay-per-view and season subscription options for all home games in Yakima is part of a larger, West Coast League initiative to have all games live-streamed for fans. Both the Pippins and Walla Walla Sweets started a rudimentary Periscope broadcast for home and away games in 2014. In 2016, the Victoria HarbourCats launched a multi-camera broadcast. Earlier this year, the WCL board of directors approved an initiative to help each ballclub capitalize a video-streaming service in each park. The league anticipates that all clubs will have a live-video solution available for all games.

“We’re excited to be able to extend our reach even further with live video for our local fans, and fans outside the area who can’t come to Yakima,” Pippins general manager Jeff Garretson said. “Broadcaster Kevin Vallene has experience both with radio and video broadcasts, and he’s a great asset to have on board as we launch this new medium.

The single-camera operation this year is expected to become a multi-camera setup for 2019, Garretson said. The video stream will include simulcast audio from the Pippins’ English-radio broadcasts on 1460 ESPN Yakima. Advertising options just for streaming video are available, or can be packaged with other advertising mediums, Garretson said.

Single-game and full-season passes will go on sale in May. Some games, or parts of games, may be available for free on certain platforms, such as Facebook Live. Garretson said those details are still being finalized.

The Pippins will use Boxcast, a comprehensive cloud-based solution that includes a full production suite to allow for a great viewing experience. This platform will also allow the Pippins to grow working relationships with local education facilities, as this new initiative creates paying jobs for developing multimedia and video production students.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Yakima Valley Pippins fans looking for special deals, giveaways and fireworks have plenty of reasons to head to Yakima County Stadium this summer.

Beginning on Friday, June 1 — Opening Night presented by Legends Casino and Hotel – the Pippins again will have five fireworks nights at The Orchard scattered throughout their 32-game home schedule. That night, the first 1,000 fans will receive a collectible baseball cinch-bag. Other fireworks nights are June 16, June 29, July 20 and Aug. 2.

Single-game tickets for all 32 home games go on sale Monday at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop at 12 S. Second St. in the Larson Building in downtown Yakima. Tickets also can be purchased by calling 509-575-4487 or online at www.PippinsBaseball.com.

Each of the fireworks nights also have premium giveaways associated with them. On June 16, presented by Toyota, the first 1,000 fans will receive one of two Pippins souvenir collectible fountain drink cups. The eight-cup series, which continues on various nights throughout the season, will feature first-team All-West Coast League picks from the Pippins’ first four seasons.

Banner Bank Night is June 29 and features Pippins- and Banner Bank-branded piggy banks for the first 1,000 fans. On July 20, Zirkle Fruit presents Johnny and Sparkle dual bobblehead night for the first 1,000 fans.

On Aug. 2, Fan Appreciation Night, Perry Technical Institute will give away 1,000 Pippins Jersey Lunch bags showcasing the Pippins’ new alternate neon green jerseys.

“We’ve had great giveaways during our first four seasons, and this year’s full promotional schedule really takes things to another level,” general manager Jeff Garretson said. “We have something lined up for 31 of our 32 nights so far, and we’re still working on putting together exciting options for our fans. I think this will be our strongest promotional schedule yet.”

The Pippins are again partnering with other organizations in the Yakima Valley to honor several outstanding groups of people. Military Appreciation Night, presented by Caliber Home Loans, is slated for Sunday, June 10. First Responders Night, sponsored by Astria Health, is set for Wednesday, July 11, and Foster Care Awareness Night, sponsored by Community Resource Group, returns on Saturday, July 21.

Also returning this year is Dollar Kids Sundays, courtesy of Ron’s Coin & Collectibles. Youth 12 and younger can purchase a general admission ticket at the box office for $1 on any Sunday game, and can run around the bases after the game. Ron’s will also have free tickets for youth who visit the business on a first-come, first-served basis prior to each Sunday game.

$2 Tuesdays, with $2 advance tickets sponsored by Gesa Credit Union, will be held on four Tuesdays. In addition to ticket specials, fans can purchase hot dogs, regular sodas, nachos, and small popcorn for $2 each.

Thirsty Thursdays, sponsored by Yakima Craft Brewing Co. and Radio Yakima, start on June 21 and take place on each Thursday game after that, featuring discounted drink specials all game long. The Pippins also are introducing Batting Practice Happy Hours on 10 weeknights, featuring advance entry and Happy Hour adult beverages for fans 21 and older.

Scott T. Pippin will host the Mariner Moose and Rebound, the Yakima SunKings mascot, on Mascot Night on Wednesday, June 27.

Another new addition this summer is Wiffle Ball Wednesdays, sponsored by Dickey’s Barbecue, Graf Investments and Ron’s Coin. Youth ages 13 and younger can play wiffle ball with Pippins players on select Wednesday mornings on the Dickey’s Barbecue or Graf Investments Wiffle Ball Fields, and receive a free general admission ticket to that night’s game courtesy of Ron’s Coin.

Other promotional nights include Fiesta Family Night presented by Cuevas & Villa Inc. on Sunday, July 22; Rambling Route Cider Night presented by Tieton Cider Works on Friday, June 8; Little League/GYGSA Night is Monday, June 11; and Team Poster Night, courtesy of Washington Fruit, is Saturday, June 30.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Pippins fans will be getting more fun and games at The Orchard this summer — and the chance to win prizes every night. But they don’t have to wait until June 1 to get in on the action.

The Yakima Valley Pippins have partnered with Micro Fantasy LLC to provide its Micro Fantasy Baseball play-by-play prediction contests for all 32 Pippins home games at Yakima County Stadium.

All spectators at Pippins home games with the Micro Fantasy app installed on their iPhones or Android phones can participate in the prediction contests while watching the games live or listening to the radio broadcasts on 1460 ESPN. There is no charge for fans to install the Micro Fantasy app, and there is no charge to participate in the contests.

Contest participants predict the results of each at-bat in real-time. Points are awarded for correct predictions. The participant with the highest point total after every 3 innings will be announced as a contest winner with prizes to be awarded to each 3-inning winner.

“We’re excited to be offering Micro Fantasy contests at The Orchard this year,” Pippins general manager Jeff Garretson said. “We’ve partnered with three great Yakima Valley businesses that will supply prizes, and it will engage fans in a new way while watching the Pippins. It’s easy, it’s fun and it’s great for fans of all ages.”

Garretson is encouraging fans to download the app and register for an account before the Pippins’ opening night on June 1.

To jump-start the fun and provide an opportunity for fans to download and experience the contests, Micro Fantasy has set up contests during three upcoming Seattle Mariners home games for participants to become familiar with how the game works.

The sample games are on April 13 (Oakland at Seattle), April 14 (Oakland at Seattle) and April 16 (Houston at Seattle). Fans can play while watching on ROOT Sports Northwest or listening on the radio.

The Pippins will provide a prize to the winner of each 3-inning Micro Fantasy game during the trial. Only participants with registered Micro Fantasy accounts are eligible to win prizes.

During Pippins games, the winner of each 3-inning Micro Fantasy contest will win a gift card from the Valley Mall, Second Street Grill or Legends Casino, Garretson said. A grand prize will be awarded to the overall points champion at the end of the season.

The Micro Fantasy app is available for download through the Apple AppStore and Google Play. An online version is available on microfantasy.com.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Yakima Valley’s Pippins are adding another familiar face to the 2018 roster.

Pitcher Matt Driver, a 6-foot-2 sophomore right-hander, was on the 2017 squad to start and end the season with a pair of 10-day contracts. This year, the Kennewick native has been signed to a full-season contract.

Also joining the Pippins is YVC teammate Easton Henke, a 6-3 sophomore right-hander from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, and Bellevue College sophomore infielder Grant DeLappe from Tahoma High School in Maple Valley, Wash.

“The NWAC (Northwest Athletic Conference) consistently produces and develops quality players who move on to Division 1, NAIA, and professional baseball year in and year out,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said.

Driver, pitched 8.2 innings in six appearances for the Pippins last summer, finishing 0-2 with a 7.27 ERA. But he’s been impressive for the Yaks so far this spring: He’s 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA in 11 innings. In his past two appearances, Driver has struck out 18 batters in 9 innings, picking up a victory against Centralia CC on March 11, his most recent appearance.

“I’ve seen Matt’s fastball up to 90-91 this year, but what impresses me most is that he’s learning how to take full control of games from the rubber,” McKimmy said. “He is in great shape and mentally ready for the rigors of the WCL schedule.”

Henke has struck out seven and walked five in 8.1 innings so far this season, coming out of the bullpen in two of the three games in which he’s seen action. He’s 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.

“I’ve had my eye on Easton for some time. He will pitch out of the bullpen for us, and will have a valuable role in the middle to late innings when the game is on the line,” McKimmy said. “Easton is a quality YVC pitcher, with experience, who has earned the opportunity to put on the Pippin green. I am pumped to have him.”

DeLappe, who will attend Washington State University in the fall, is a 6-foot-1, 170-pound middle infielder for the Bulldogs and is hitting .194 in 13 games so far this spring. In 2017, DeLappe batted .300 with 12 doubles, six triples and seven home runs for Bellevue.

“He can really hit and play defense – though he’s gotten off to a slow start at the plate this year,” McKimmy said. “I like the energy he plays the game with, which for a shortstop on our team is essential. He can be a field general and solidify our defense in the middle of the diamond. WSU got a real good player here.”

The Pippins host Walla Walla on June 1 in both teams’ season opener. Tickets for opening night, presented by Legends Hotel and Casino, are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or at pippinsbaseball.com.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Two freshmen infielders and a freshman right-handed pitcher are the newest additions to the Yakima Valley Pippins roster for 2018.

Nick DiCarlo, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder at Cal Poly SLO, is currently batting .300 (6 for 20) for the Mustangs in the 11 games he’s played as a true freshman. DiCarlo attended Arcadia High School in Phoenix, where he hit .372 with 12 doubles, two home runs and 19 during his senior season in 2017.

“Nick is a very talented freshman who will be an infielder who stands out immediately when he puts on the Pippin green,” Yakima Valley manager Marcus McKimmy said. “He’s very dynamic in his offensive skill set and will probably play a lot of third base for us, but can play the other two infield spots as well.

“Since he’s already seeing early action this spring for the Mustangs, he will hit the ground running when he gets to Yakima,” McKimmy continued. “Nick’s a winner, and we expect that to infect his teammates and Yakima County Stadium. He played for the Utah Marshalls out of high school, which is on the short list of best summer programs in the western United States.”

McKimmy is also looking forward to the versatility of Brendan Brooks, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound freshman infielder at Cal Irvine.

“We really like the versatility that Brendan will give us offensively and defensively,” he said. “He is just a really good, skilled baseball player. I’m confident that he can play all three infield spots in the summer, but his first college start was in the outfield.”

Brooks, from Corona, Calif., attended Norco High School in Norco, Calif., where he hit .370 with nine doubles and 12 RBI in 28 games his senior year. At Irvine, he’s hitting .297 in nine starts with the Anteaters.

Teammate Jake Lachemann, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound right-hander, also is expected to have an impact with the Pippins.

“Jake will be an important piece of our bullpen,” McKimmy said. “He is an 88- to 90-mph arm from an incredibly valuable angle, given his height.”

Lachemann was 3-1 with three saves in 20 innings pitched for San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., in 2017. He’s also the grandson of former Major League Baseball player and manager Marcel Lachemann.

“One thing I’ve learned is to trust the value of baseball families,” McKimmy said.

The Pippins open their fifth anniversary season on June 1, hosting the Walla Walla Sweets at Yakima County Stadium. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or at pippinsbaseball.com.

“Every Christmas and birthday, I am met with sweet messages from our former Pippins players,” says Kristi Foster (second from right), whose family has hosted players since 2014. “These messages will never get old, and it is just a small part of the joy the Pippins Host Family program has brought to my family.”

YAKIMA, Wash. – As the Yakima Valley Pippins gear up for their fifth season at Yakima County Stadium, the team is also seeking additional host families to house players while in Yakima.

“One of the questions we’re often asked is where do players stay during the summer,” Pippins general manager Jeff Garretson said. “With players coming from all around the country, we also get that question a lot from parents.”

Host families have been a critical part of the organization’s success from Day 1, Garretson said. “Without our great hosts, we wouldn’t be able to operate. It’s as simple as that.”

Families interested in hosting a player can apply online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PippinsHostFamily

Garretson estimates about 30 beds will be needed for this summer.

Although host families “adopt” their players for less than three months, many of them keep active ties with players long after they’ve left Yakima.

“Our family has been expanded, thanks to the opportunity we have had to host several Pippins players,” said Kristi Foster, whose family has hosted players since the team’s inaugural 2014 season. “We have not only added the players to our extended family, but their families as well. The host family program has initiated lifelong relationships that have even taken us to California where our former Pippins families were able to host us as well.”

Host families provide free room and board during the West Coast League season, a family environment to help players adjust to a new community away from their own families, and, in some cases, transportation to and from the ballpark. Typically, players arrive in late May and stay through mid-August.

In return, host families receive a Stadium View season ticket for each member of the immediate household, a full-season parking pass, 20 percent off team merchandise during the season, on-field recognition during Fan Appreciation Night, and more.

“We expect our players to represent their colleges and their families well while in Yakima, and host families have contributed to their growth, too,” Garretson said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll see major leaguers in coming years who have played for the Pippins and have grown up with adopted brothers and sisters here in Yakima.”

Foster concurred.

“Our boys consider many of these former players almost like brothers,” Foster said. “Long after the players go back to their respective homes, I find my boys texting or Facebook messaging them. Whether it be a baseball-related question, something they saw in the news, or just a “Hey how’s that anatomy class going?” these guys truly become a part of your family.”

YAKIMA, Wash. – A catcher from Montana State University Billings and a pair of freshmen from Dixie State University are the latest additions to the Yakima Valley Pippins for this summer.

Catcher Andrew Schleusner, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore from Kalispell, Mont., started his 2018 collegiate season with a bang – earning Player of the Week honors in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference after batting .462 over three games this past weekend, including seven RBI and three walks. That included a 4-for-5 effort in MSUB’s 15-7 Friday victory over 15th-ranked Dixie State.

“Andrew is a player I’ve had my eye on for almost a year now,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “I saw him last spring for the first time, but it was too late in the process to get him in a Pippins uniform. He can really catch and throws well from behind the plate, and now he’s a year older. I’m pleased to see him come out of the gates fast this spring with the bat.”

MSUB went 3-1 on opening weekend, winning two of the three games against Dixie State in addition to beating Cal State San Bernardino.

Dixie State pitchers Tyler Hollow and Jack Gonzales also are heading to Yakima this summer.

Hollow, a 6-foot, 180-pound right-hander from Boise, Idaho, pitched an inning against MSUB on Saturday, allowing two runs and three hits. A two-way player, Hollow is hitting .267 (4 for 15) with three RBI in six games with the Trailblazers.

“As an infielder and right-handed pitcher, Tyler’s versatility will really allow our coaching staff to open up the playbook on how we use him in various roles game to game,” McKimmy said. “He comes from a fantastic baseball family in the Boise area and can play any spot in the infield for us this summer.”

Gonzales, a 6-foot-3, 225-pound left-hander from Oceanside, Calif., struck out four and walked two, allowing six hits and six runs, in his Friday debut.
“We anticipate Jack will come into the summer with quite a bit of college experience after his first year at DSU,” McKimmy said. “He will be used mostly out of the bullpen this spring, but can also extend into some long relief when needed. You can never have enough quality arms from the left side.

“We’re excited to welcome players from two quality Division II programs we have worked with in the past,” McKimmy continued. “Coach (Chris) Pfatenhauer (DSU) and coach (Aaron) Sutton (MSUB) are proven winners at every level they’ve been at, and have sent us very fine young men and athletes over the years.”

The Pippins open their fifth anniversary season on June 1, hosting the Walla Walla Sweets at Yakima County Stadium. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. Discounted opening night tickets are also on sale through the end of February.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Chase Farrell, who originally signed with the Pippins prior to the 2017 season, and Sean Mullen, a pair of right-handers attending or headed to UCLA, are the newest additions to Yakima Valley’s pitching staff this summer.

Farrell, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound hurler from Valencia, Calif., was selected by the Houston Astros in the 40th round of th 2017 Major League Baseball draft. As a senior at Valencia High, he finished with an 8-2 record and a 1.43 ERA in 73.2 innings, with 83 strikeouts and one no-hitter.

“His arm really works,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “What most of our fans don’t remember is that Chase was signed to be a Pippin in 2017. He had a dominant senior year and didn’t play summer ball because of innings restrictions. He is even better this year, a year older, and could possibly throw some starter innings for UCLA as a true freshman. He will be in the 89-90 mph range with his fastball, and he has a really good changeup, and a slider.”

Mullen, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder from Bakersfield, Calif., is heading into his senior season at Stockdale High. As a junior, Mullen was 9-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 54.1 innings. He struck out 61 and walked 35. Mullen, who also plays infield, led the Mustangs with a .470 average, 47 hits and seven home runs, and was the second-leading batter with 11 doubles and 29 RBI.

“Up until this year (2017), I thought he was going to be a pitcher only in college,” Stockdale coach Brad Showers told the Bakersfield Californian newspaper last summer. “I didn’t know if he was good enough to be a two-way guy.”

After Mullen’s breakout junior season, Showers said he believes Mullen could be a two-way starter for the Bruins.
McKimmy is looking forward to having Mullen on the Pippins roster.

“I anticipate his role will be condensed to a vital bullpen arm for us, depending on how much he throws this spring, but having his versatility will be crucial for 59 games this summer,” McKimmy said. “Reports have had Mullen up to the 92-94 mph range, which will give him a great advantage in this wood-bat league if he’s a consistent strike-thrower.

“In talking with Sean recently, he’s really pumped to make Yakima Valley his home this summer.”

The Pippins open their fifth anniversary season on June 1, hosting the Walla Walla Sweets at Yakima County Stadium. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. Discounted opening night tickets are also on sale through the end of February.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Dylan Villalobos, who pitched briefly with Yakima Valley last summer, is the fifth announced pitcher who will return to the Pippins in 2018.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound freshman from La Habra, Calif., who attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, pitched only 3 2/3 innings in three games for Yakima Valley in 2017 because of an arm injury. He struck out four and walked five, allowing three hits and one earned run in that stretch.

But manager Marcus McKimmy believes Villalobos’ potential earned him a return trip to Yakima next season.

“We’re very excited to have Dylan come back,” McKimmy said. “His progression back from injury this fall has been really positive. Unfortunatley, our fans didn’t get to see him much last summer, but when he pitched he was really good, and he’s shown even greater glimpses of that this fall.”

Villalobos joins Cal Poly teammates Taylor Dollard and William Adair in a return to Yakima next June. In all, at least five pitchers are coming back from 2017 – the most ever.

“The pitchers we have coming back not only have a comfort level with our fans and stadium and the mound, but also with our pitching philosophy,” McKimmy said. “A couple of our returning pitchers really just scratched the surface of what we were trying to do with them developmentally. The fact that they’ve accepted a position back with the Pippins shows they’re motivated and they’re excited to put on the uniform again.”

Pitchers Cullen Kafka (Oregon) and WCL All-Star Connor White (Portland) also will return for Yakima. Returning position players include outfielder Michael Russo (2017) and catcher Chris Ceballos (2016).

The Pippins open their fifth anniversary season on June 1, hosting the Walla Walla Sweets at Yakima County Stadium. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, at the Pippins’ holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. Ticket vouchers, mini plans, group night outings and prepaid parking passes are also available for purchase. Opening night tickets go on sale Dec. 1.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Taylor Dollard, who led the West Coast League with a 6-0 record during the 2017 regular season and also earned the Pippins’ first-ever playoff victory, is returning to Yakima Valley next summer.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound right-hander from Sherman Oaks, Calif., was a breakout success for the Pippins this past summer. In eight appearances, including his playoff win, Dollard struck out 27 and walked only six in 38 1/3 innings. He compiled a 2.35 ERA, surrendering only 10 earned runs in his outings.

“Taylor’s presence and poise for such a young individual really jumped off the page last year,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “He’s a guy who you really need to sit and watch for multiple starts to realize why his value is as a starter. He’s got a three-pitch mix, with an incredible baseball IQ.”

Dollard’s performance earned him recognition as an All-West Coast League starting pitcher, despite not joining the team until late June.

2018 is the first season in which the Pippins are bringing back multiple pitchers. In previous years, most returners have been position players.

“Any time you can have a returner back is invaluable,” McKimmy said. “He’s familiar with our community, our fans and how we want to attack things from the pitching side.”

Dollard, a freshman at Cal Poly this year, reminds McKimmy of another stellar freshman Pippins pitcher – Gonzaga’s Eli Morgan in 2014.

“When I think of Taylor and Eli, who was also undefeated through the regular season in 2014, they just really have unshakeable confidence in what they do, in their plan and their process,” the manager said. “Taylor attacks the zone with multiple pitches and does things intangibly that winners do, and that translated into a first-team all-league selection.”

Dollard joins at least five other Pippins who are returning in 2018, including Connor White, Michael Russo, William Adair and Cullen Kafka from 2017 and Chris Ceballos from the 2016 squad.

The Pippins open their fifth anniversary season on June 1, hosting the Walla Walla Sweets at Yakima County Stadium. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, at the Pippins’ holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. Ticket vouchers, mini plans, group night outings and prepaid parking passes are also available for purchase. Opening night tickets go on sale Dec. 1.

YAKIMA, Wash. – The Yakima Valley Pippins will move to the West Coast League’s North Division in 2018, and will open their fifth season against their sister team, the Walla Walla Sweets, at home on Friday, June 1.

The Pippins’ 59-game schedule includes 32 home games at Yakima County Stadium, starting with the three-game series against the Sweets. Both the Pippins and Sweets are owned and operated by Pacific Baseball Ventures.

The June 1 opener is the fourth time in five years the Pippins have started their season at home.

“We really like the way our schedule is set up this year,” general manager Jeff Garretson said. “We open with weekend series that will be great for families with kids still in school during those weeks, and with our earlier start times most days, that also will be more family-friendly this year.”

Pippins home games will begin at 6:35 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, except for special event nights such as fireworks nights. Sunday games will begin at 6:05 p.m., an hour later than prior years, to help deflect the midafternoon heat.

Joining Yakima and Wenatchee in the North Division are Bellingham and Port Angeles, and Victoria and Kelowna in British Columbia. The Pippins replace Walla Walla in the North; the Sweets will move to the South Division.

Walla Walla is joined in the South by Cowlitz, Corvallis, Bend and the Portland Pickles, who are replacing the Gresham GreyWolves in the West Coast League this year. Portland has been in the Great West League the past two seasons. The Pippins will travel to Portland for a three-game series, but by scheduling rotation, the Pickles won’t play in Yakima this summer.

The Pippins’ home schedule includes five nonleague games. The league has extended its regular season by three days, and will conclude on Wednesday, Aug. 8, followed by the division and championship series.

Season tickets sales, mini plans and ticket vouchers are now on sale at the Pippins’ holiday kiosk at Center Court of the Valley Mall, the team offices at 12 S. Second St. in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487, or online at PippinsBaseball.com. The Pippins promotional schedule will be announced early next year.

The Pippins’ 2018 schedule:

June 1-3: Walla Walla; 5-7: at Victoria; 8-10: Bend; 11: TBA (nonleague); 12-14: at Portland; 16-17: TBA (nonleague); 19-21: Kelowna; 22-24: at Kelowna; 26-28: Cowlitz; 29-30: Bellingham.

July 1: Bellingham; 2-4: at Wenatchee; 6-8: at Port Angeles; 10-12: Corvallis; 13-15: at Bend; 18-20: Port Angeles; 21-24: Wenatchee; 25-26: TBA (nonleague); 27-29: at Cowlitz; 31: Victoria.

Aug. 1-2: Victoria; 3-5: at Walla Walla; 6-8: at Corvallis.

YAKIMA, Wash. – William Adair made a good first impression with the Yakima Valley Pippins in 2017.

On July 11, the Dallas, Texas, right-hander joined the team at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport en route to Victoria, British Columbia. He pitched three relief innings against the HarbourCats that night, striking out three and walking one, and earned the win.

Now a freshman at Cal Poly, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Adair will return to the Pippins next summer.

“His personality and toughness stand out,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “We called him Texas Tough, which was pretty apparent when he joined the team. Great spirit, great personality, outstanding teammate.”

Adair finished the 2017 campaign with a 2-2 record and 5.81 ERA in 21.2 innings. He struck out 21 and walked 14.

“We’re not a playoff team in 2017 without a handful of guys, and Adair was one of them,” McKimmy said. “He’s got a ‘plus’ change-up and a ‘plus’ curve, and a mid-80s fastball. He’s just scratching the surface with what he can do.”

Adair joins at least four other Pippins who are returning in 2018, including Connor White, Michael Russo and Cullen Kafka from 2017 and Chris Ceballos from the 2016 squad.

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, at the Pippins’ new holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced soon, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Kevin Vallene, a Washington native and soon-to-be graduate of Washington State University, will be the new voice of the Pippins for the 2018 season.

Vallene is currently finishing his senior year at WSU, majoring in communications and broadcasting. During his time with the Cougars, he has called a number of WSU sports for KUGR, the student-run radio station, including baseball, basketball, football, soccer and volleyball. He called the 2016 Holiday Bowl between the Cougars and the Minnesota Golden Gophers in San Diego, and has also hosted a sports radio show on the the station throughout his college career.

A Redmond, Wash., native, Vallene drove more than 3,000 miles over the course of five days to spend this past summer in Florida to broadcast Florida Collegiate Summer League games for the Winter Garden Squeeze. His favorite moment of the summer was calling the FCSL home run derby, where a Squeeze player hit a league-record 12 home runs in the first round and 14 overall in the contest.

For his work during the summer, Vallene was named Broadcast Intern of the Year by the FCSL. He found out he won the award during the league’s championship game at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Having my name called at Tropicana Field was a really cool experience for me,” he told the online news publication OrangeObserver.com. “Just to be at a Major League park and win the award was fun.”

Vallene is counting on his experience last summer to help him in his role with the Pippins in 2018.

“It was so fun being down there and experiencing the grind of broadcasting a full season of baseball,” Vallene said. “I’m really excited to join the Pippins this summer and bring the games and storylines to those who can’t make it to the ballpark.”

In addition to broadcasting all home and away games, Vallene will be the team’s media relations manager.

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, at the Pippins’ new holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced soon, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Pitcher Cullen Kafka, who experienced moderate success with the Pippins in 2017, is returning to Yakima Valley again next summer.

The 6-foot-4, 202-pound right-hander from Walnut Creek, Calif., pitched in five games and started three for the Pippins last summer before being shut down with shoulder soreness. The University of Oregon freshman had a 1-2 record with a 4.35 ERA in 20.2 innings, striking out 16 and walking nine. Only 10 of the 21 runs Kafka allowed last summer were earned.

“We were just scratching the surface of Cullen’s summer development when he got shut down,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “He had some good starts for us last summer – his last start was a win against Bend. His ERA was pretty good even though we lost some games for him, one earned run in a loss at Kelowna, one earned run at Gresham in a loss.”

McKimmy is pleased with Kafka’s 2017 effort and that earned him a return trip to Yakima.

“We love his character and personality, and we anticipate that he’ll turn a corner in his development next summer,” the manager said. “Coming from a big-time Pac-12 school, he’ll be more seasoned and more mature, and ready to go through the rigors of a West Coast League summer.”

What role Kafka fills next summer will depend on him, McKimmy said.

“It’s going to depend on his physical maturity,” McKimmy said. “He came in last year throwing a lot of innings where we wanted to use him more in a relief and long-relief role at times, and he was forced to start. He can do both. It’s going to depend on his physical conditioning and where his arm care is at come June.”

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, at the Pippins’ new holiday kiosk in the Valley Mall, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced soon, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Conner White, a right-handed pitcher who earned All-Star and All-West Coast League recognition in 2017, will return to the Yakima Valley Pippins in 2018.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound University of Portland junior pitcher from Woodinville, Wash., led the WCL with 11 saves during the regular season. In 22 appearances, White struck out 32 and walked 14 in 24 innings pitched, allowing just 14 hits and compiling a 1.13 ERA.

“His leadership and his ability to be a great teammate really stand out,” said Marcus McKimmy, who will return as Pippins field manager again next summer. “From Day 1 to the end of the season, his ability to throw strikes and to develop his breaking pitch allowed him to be the lock-down guy for us.

“Connor’s future is really undetermined as far as how good he can be, and that’s where the Pippins come in,” McKimmy continued. “Another year of development, another year of maturity will really benefit him.”

In addition to earning first-team All-WCL honors by league coaches after the 2017 season, White was selected as a league All-Star and was the starting pitcher for the South team in the 2017 All-Star Game hosted by the Pippins at Yakima County Stadium.

White allowed only six runs – including four earned – in his 22 regular-season appearances. He didn’t allow any runs in the regular season after a July 1 appearance in Kelowna, a stretch that spanned 12 appearances and 14 innings in which he gave up only six hits and struck out 19.

“Connor was someone we used in multiple roles, and that’s something that fans may forget,” McKimmy said. “We signed him as a two-way player, and he caught for us early. He was an everyday catcher at Columbia Basin and was their closer. We asked him to make pitching a priority, we felt that was going to help our ballclub the best given our roster dynamic.”

White is the first Pippins player to be announced for the 2018 season.

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced in late October, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Catcher Chris Ceballos, a 2016 All-Star selection whose season was cut short by injury, will return in 2018 to play for the Yakima Valley Pippins.

Ceballos, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore from Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Calif., hit .269, with 29 hits, nine doubles, a triple and 16 RBIs in 32 games for the Pippins during his stint in Yakima. But a lower-back injury just before that year’s All-Star Game cut Ceballos’ season short. Despite playing just over half a season, Ceballos still earned All-WCL honorable mention recognition.

“Bringing players back to Yakima is something that is very special to our team and our fans,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “In addition to quality baseball attributes, players are more physical, mature and must be great locker room guys. In Chris’ case, he is all of those things and can play multiple positions for us as well.”

In addition to catching, Ceballos will see time at first base next summer.

Ceballos started his collegiate career at Cal State Fullerton before transferring to OCC after a redshirt season. The Pirates were 36-12 overall and 16-5 in California Community College Athletic Association play in 2017.

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced soon, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Outfielder Michael Russo, who got off to a promising start in 2017 with the Yakima Valley Pippins before a season-ending arm injury, is coming back to Yakima to try again next year.

The left-handed-hitting Russo hit the first of the Pippins’ 32 home runs in the team’s 11-4 win over Victoria on June 3. But he was sidelined shortly thereafter by a bicep injury.

“He gave our fans a taste of what he’s capable of,” Pippins manager Marcus McKimmy said. “He’s a left-handed power bat with multiple years experience at the Division I level, a very seasoned offensive player and outfielder that we’re excited to have back.”

The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder from La Crescenta, Calif., who’s playing college ball at Cal St. Northridge, finished 2-for-4 in two games with the Pippins.

“He really enjoyed his short time in Yakima and jumped at the opportunity to put on a Pippins uniform again,” McKimmy said. “We’re really happy he’s a year older, a year more mature, and back at 100 percent.”

Russo and All-WCL reliever Connor White are the first two players named to the Pippins’ 2018 roster.

The Pippins’ fifth anniversary season in Yakima begins in June 2018. Season tickets for the team’s 32-game home schedule are currently available for purchase at Hunky Shaw’s Team Shop, 12 S. Second St. in the historic Larson Building in downtown Yakima, by calling 509-575-4487 or online at pippinsbaseball.com. The Pippins’ 2018 schedule will be announced in late October, with mini-plans and other ticketing options available at that time.