Simpson Sets The Tone In Series Win Over Wenatchee

YAKIMA, WA - The Yakima Valley Pippins leaned on strong starting pitching, shutting down the Wenatchee AppleSox 2-1 for a series-clinching win on Saturday night at Yakima County Stadium.

Tanner Simpson (Lewis-Clark State College) earned his first win of the season throwing six shutout innings, retiring 18 of the first 19 batters he faced.

After scoring their first run of the game in the 9th inning on Friday night, Jace VanDeBrake (Gonzaga) delivered an early run for the Pippins with an RBI single in opening inning, driving in leadoff hitter Mikey Filia (UC Irvine).

The Yakima Valley Pippins (23-15, 8-3) would add the eventual game-winning run in the 5th inning when Christian Koss (UC Irvine) posted his team-leading 18th RBI of the season, scoring Hunter Hanson (College of Idaho) with two outs in the frame. The Wenatchee AppleSox would add one run in the 8th inning, scoring their first run in 27 innings against Yakima Valley pitching.

Matt Fish (Lewis-Clark State College) allowed one unearned run in 1.2 innings of relief while Ryan Garcia (UCLA) posted the final two outs of the 8th inning. Connor Zwetsch (Oregon) earned his team-leading third save of the season, striking out two in the final frame.

Andrew Bernstein (Cal Poly Slo) will start on Sunday night at 5:05 p.m. as the Pippins search for the series sweep on Tickets For Kids Day supporting youth around Yakima Valley. Fans can listen to the action live on 1460 ESPN Yakima, the official home for Yakima Valley Pippins Baseball.