Pippins Walk it Off on Kelowna in 10 Innings

After a couple of frustrating nights at the plate, things finally turned in a positive direction for the Yakima Valley Pippins Saturday night, as Tyler Friis delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10^th to get the Pippins a 7-6 win over the Kelowna Falcons.

Yakima Valley (9-5) had trouble getting going against Kelowna starter Nat Hamby, who allowed just one hit over the first six innings. Meanwhile, his Falcons built a 4-0 lead by the middle of the 7^th.

Hamby came out of the game at that point and his bullpen had severe control issues. The Falcons (7-4) used three pitchers in the 7^th inning and they combined to surrender five runs on two hits and six walks to put the Pippins in front, 5-4.

Kelowna was resilient though and came back in the 8^th to tie things up at 5-5. The Pippins had a golden opportunity to walk it off in the bottom of the 9^th, as they put runners on 1^st and 2^nd with nobody out. However, a failed sacrifice bunt, a failed suicide squeeze bunt and a groundout ended the inning.

Kelowna took the lead back in the top of the 10^th on a RBI single, but the Pippins had yet another rally in them in the bottom of the 10^th. Dayton Provost led off with a walk and scored the tying run on an RBI triple by Branson Trube. With two outs, Friis stepped up and delivered the Pippins’ second walk-off win in the last six days, after Yakima Valley walked off on Walla Walla last Sunday.

The win sets up a rubber match with Kelowna Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Lefty Darrion Simons is slated to make his third start of the summer, as the Pippins go for a second straight series win.

Listen in live on 1460 ESPN Yakima starting at 4:55.