Pippins Drop Finale at Kitsap

BREMERTON – Rubber matches have been a challenge for the Pippins so far in 2015, and the struggles continued Wednesday night, as the Pippins dropped the series finale to the Kitsap BlueJackets, 6-4.

Yakima Valley (18-15) took an early 3-0 lead with a three-run 3^rd inning. Reid Martinez, who went 3-5 on Wednesday, brought in the first run on an RBI single and Alex Guenette brought in two more runs with another single on the next pitch.

However, Kitsap (12-21) had a big 3^rd inning of its own, scoring four runs in the frame against Pippins starter Matt Campbell to go up, 4-3. The Pippins pulled even again in the 4^th on an RBI triple from Tyler Mildenberg.

In the middle innings, both teams had a couple good opportunities, but were unable to score. In the 7^th, Kitsap finally broke through against reliever Josh Nashed, scoring twice in the inning to take a 6-4 lead. The Pippins had the tying run at second base in the 8^th but couldn’t get the run home and were retired in order in the 9^th.

The Pippins dropped their second straight game and have lost four of their last five West Coast League contests with Wednesday’s loss. They also dropped to 1-6 in rubber matches. Yakima Valley looks to get back on track Thursday night, coming home to take on the Corvallis Knights (18-15) in a three-game series before the all-star break. The Pippins took two of three in Corvallis June 16-18.