Pippins Streak Past Kelowna for Sixth Straight Win

The sky over Yakima County Stadium wasn't the only place where thunder and lightning was going on Saturday night.

Lightning from the bats of the Yakima Valley Pippins struck down the Kelowna Falcons, 9-4, to extend the Pippins' winning streak to six games. The victory keeps Yakima in first place in the Eastern Division of the West Coast League, four games ahead of the Wenatchee AppleSox.

Matt Trask and the rest of the pitching staff combined to hold the Falcons to six hits and four runs.

Shawn Wardian, who had a big 5-for-6 night, got the Pippins on the board first with an RBI single. But Kelowna's Kody Matthews had some lightning in his feet as his scored two runs with a triple in the third inning to put the Falcons up, 2-1.

In the fourth inning, the thunder of the Pippins bats filled the stadium with RBI singles from Harrison Ramey, Shawn Wardian and Mitch Skaggs. Ryan Rosa caught some lightning in a bottle with a two-run RBI double to make the score 6-2 Pippins.

Then Mother Nature showed some flashes of her own. A lightning delay put the game on hold for half an hour.

When the danger had passed, the Pippins picked up where they left off in the sixth, getting two more RBIs from Troy Labrie and Harrison Ramey to make it 8-2.

Kelowna got two back in the eighth, but in the Pippins' half of the inning Wardian capped off his night with another RBI single.

The two teams line up once more at 5:05 tonight. Pregame coverage starts at 4:55 p.m. on 1460 ESPN Yakima.