Balanced Offense Powers 11-4 Win over Kitsap

YAKIMA, WA - The Yakima Valley Pippins scored 11 of the final 12 runs on Wednesday night, running past the Kitsap BlueJackets, 11-4.

After falling behind 3-0, Yakima Valley (17-13, 2-1) responded with four runs in the 1st inning kickstarted by a 2-RBI double from Chris Ceballos (Cal State Fullerton), who finished 2-5 overall at the plate.

Freddy Smith (Cal State Northridge) posted his second multi-hit game over his last four contests, going 3-4 at the plate with two doubles, including an RBI double in the 5th inning. Andrew Bernstein (Cal Poly Slo) earned his first win of the season, pitching five innings allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits.

The Pippins would add an early insurance run in the 2nd inning on a 2-out RBI triple from Jace VanDeBrake (Gonzaga), one of nine players to post a base hit in the winning effort. Leading 5-4 entering the bottom of the 5th, the Pippins broke the game open scoring three runs. VanDeBrake delivered an RBI single, plating Michael Filia (UC Irvine), who scored a season-high three times on Wednesday night.

Smith would give the Pippins an added run with his first double of the contest before an RBI single by Mitchell Morimoto (Arizona) made it 8-4 Pippins.

Drake Atlee (Cal State Northridge) and Matt Fish (Lewis-Clark State College) pitched a combined three innings of scoreless relief, extending their combined streak to 14.2 straight scoreless innings. Then Cameron Haskell (UC Riverside) closed out the game in the 9th inning for the Pippins second win versus the Kitsap BlueJackets (9-20, 1-1) this season.

Following Thursday’s scheduled off-day, the Pippins head down to face the Corvallis Knights in a three-game series starting on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. Fans can listen to all the action live on 1460 ESPN Yakima, the official home for Pippins Baseball.