Pippins Score Early and Often in Win over Walla Walla

YAKIMA, WA - The Yakima Valley Pippins scored a season-high 14 runs, defeating the Walla Walla Sweets, 14-4, Saturday night at Yakima County Stadium.

Mitchell Morimoto (Arizona) delivered the first run of the night on an RBI double in what ended a six-run 3rd inning, one of his three hits overall and his 9th multi-hit game of the season. Chris Ceballos (Cal State Fullerton) posted four hits in the winning effort, including an RBI single playing Trevor Achenbach (Oklahoma Wesleyan), making it 2-0 Pippins.

Michael Filia (UC Irvine) started his 3-RBI effort with an RBI squeeze bunt in the frame, scoring Ryan Garcia (UCLA) on the play. Then leading 6-1 entering the 4th inning, the Pippins would add five more runs featuring an RBI single from Jay Schuyler (San Diego) along with a 2-RBI double from Filia. Jace VanDeBrake (Gonzaga) added a pitch-hit RBI single later in the frame.

Four Pippins finished with two or more hits, including Christian Koss (UC Irvine), who finished 2-4 at the plate, while Morimoto and Ceballos each scored three times.

Zach Draper (College of Idaho) earned his West Coast League high 3rd win of the season, pitching six innings of one-run baseball allowing just three hits. Jens Jensen (Central Washington) threw two scoreless innings of relief while Connor Zwetsch (Oregon) and Josh Rios (Cal State Fullerton) combined to throw the 9th inning as the Pippins improve to 12-8 on the season.

Following the win, the Pippins move back into a tie with the Corvallis Knights for first place in the South Division. Both teams return to action Sunday night at 5:05 p.m. as Gavin Velasquez (Cal State Fullerton) pitches for the series win. Fans can listen to all the action live on 1460 ESPN Yakima, the official home for Pippins Baseball.