YAKIMA, Washington — A late-inning rally fell short, lifting the Redmond Dudes to a 6-4 nonleague win over the Yakima Valley Pippins on Monday.

A Yakima County Stadium crowd of 1,751 was on hand for the Pippins’ first-ever morning game, billed as Kids Day in the final week of school for most districts around the Yakima Valley. Banner Bank, Yakima Pediatric Dentistry, The Larson Group, and Bi-Mart helped underwrite tickets, hot dogs and sodas for the game.

The Dudes scored three runs in the first inning off starter Blake Leaverton, who made his first appearance for the Pippins in 2023 after pitching for the club last summer. Leaverton scattered four hits and only two of the five runs with which he was charged were earned, but he also walked seven in 4.2 innings. Boe Hesse struck out four in 4.1 innings of relief for the Pippins.

Yakima Valley got on the board with a one-out, bases-loaded walk to Caleb Millikan in the fifth. But Dudes reliever Ryan Wike got a strikeout and a grounder too short to halt the rally.

With one out in the seventh, Millikan rapped a two-run double and Kyle Williamson followed with an RBI double. Ikuhiro Tokiwa relieved Wike and, after a walk, got a strikeout and a popup to end the Pippins’ scoring.

Millikan finished 2-for-3 for YV.

The Pippins head to Nanaimo, British Columbia, for a three-game series that starts Tuesday. On Friday, the road trip will continue with three games in Victoria, starting that night.

Yakima Valley returns to The Orchard on Tuesday, June 20, hosting the Ridgefield Raptors.