Pippins Preview: July 14 vs. Port Angeles (DH)

After snapping a 3-game WCL losing streak with a 7-1 win over Port Angeles on Saturday evening, the Pippins close out the series with the Lefties on Sunday with a doubleheader at Yakima County Stadium. Two 7-inning games will begin at 4:35 PM, with a 30-minute break between the games. The Pippins will start right-hander Trystan Vrieling will start in game one against Port Angeles left-hander Nathan Bonck, while the Pippins have not announced a starter for game two against Lefties right-hander Dwayne Angebrandt. Pregame coverage with Miles Klotz begins at 4:20 at pippinsbaseball.com/live.

Full Game Notes

STRONG PITCHING LEADS PIPPINS TO SERIES-EVENING WIN: Right-hander Joe Magrisi was fantastic in his start on Saturday, tossing 7 shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, and the Pippins rolled over Port Angeles to a 7-1 win to even up the series at Yakima County Stadium. Magrisi, who went just 4.2 innings in his last start, had 3 different 1-2-3 frames and allowed just four hits on 99 pitches in his longest outing of the season. The Pippins got plenty of offense, too, starting with an RBI double from Nick Israel in the first inning that gave the Pippins an early lead. In the fifth inning, Nick DiCarlo added a sacrifice fly, and the Pippins broke things open with a 4-run sixth inning against Lefties starter Tyler Tan. A.J. Wood finished the game off in relief for the Pippins, allowing one run in 2 innings of work.

FOR THE PIPPINS: Right-hander Trystan Vrieling is set to start Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader for Yakima Valley, while a game 2 starter has not been decided. Vrieling, a 6-foot-3, 180 pound native of Kennewick, Wash., will be making his first start of the summer after 2 relief appearances to the start his Pippins career. The incoming freshman at Gonzaga has an 0-1 record and 3.37 ERA on the season, striking out 6 batters and walking 3 over 5.1 innings of work. He has allowed opponents to hit .200 and has one save.

FOR THE LEFTIES: Left-hander Nathan Bonck will start Game 1 for the Lefties, followed by right-hander Dwayne Angebrandt in the second game. Bonck, a 6-foot-5, 228 pound southpaw from Alaska, will be making his second start of the summer, and is coming off of a quality start (6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4 K) last Sunday at Cowlitz. Angebrandt, a 6-foot-1, 160-pound right-hander from Cal State Northridge, is 1-3 on the season with a 4.17 ERA. In 5 starts this year, Angebrandt has struck out 23 batters and walked 7 in 28 innings of work.

MASTERFUL MAGRISI: Following his seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts on Saturday, Joe Magrisi reclaimed his spot atop the West Coast League leaderboards in both ERA (0.62) and strikeouts (53). Magrisi is in the midst of a 19.2 scoreless innings streak, last allowing a run in the fourth inning of his start on June 12 at home against Victoria. The 11 strikeouts marked the third consecutive start that Magrisi has struck out 11 or more batters. Bend’s Gil Luna is the only other WCL pitcher with multiple starts this season with double-digit strikeouts.

AN AID TO THE OFFENSE: Infielder Aidan Welch collected 2 hits and reached base three times on Saturday, extending his recent hot stretch at the plate. 3 of Welch’s last 4 games have been multi-hit games, and he has six multi-hit games in his first 12 games with Yakima Valley this season. Welch leads all Pippins hitters with a .333 batting average, and has also added 5 RBIs.

A LOT OF DUDES: With the West Coast League debuts of brothers Tyler and Kyle Dean for the Pippins on Friday in the series opener against Port Angeles, the Pippins have now had 45 different players suit up for a game this season through just 30 games. When left-handed pitcher Anthony Alvarado makes his debut, it will bring the total up to 46. A litany of injures has led to larger-than-expected roster turnover early in the season.

ODDS & ENDS: The Pippins are playing their second doubleheader this season, both against Port Angeles…Joe Magrisi earned the win on the mound on Saturday, improving Pippins starting pitchers to 4-10 on the year…Pippins pitching did not issue a walk on Saturday for the first time since June 4 at Ridgefield.

By Miles Klotz

July 14, 2019