Yakima Baseball Team Gets Name, Logo

It has been vacant for a year, but a new baseball team is ready to fill up the field at Yakima County Stadium once again.

Excitement seemed like a fitting word to describe the atmosphere inside the gym at Selah Intermediate School. 800 students were the first to see the name and logo for Yakima's brand new baseball team.

The Yakima Valley Pippins will once again take over the baseball stadium at State Fair Park.

"The fact that it was the very first professional team here in 1937," said Noel Zanchelli, the Director of Operations for the Yakima Valley Pippins. "So it feels nice to be a part of nostalgia of bringing that back."

The Yakima Bears relocated to Oregon back in 2012 leaving Yakima without a baseball team. Zanchelli said it was a big loss for the community, and he is honored to play a role in bringing baseball back to the valley.

"From what I can tell, there's a lot of great sports fans here, committed sports fans with a lot of enthusiasm," said Zanchelli.

"I grew up here for 18 years," said Marcus McKimmy, the Head Coach for the Yakima Valley Pippins. "I know full well about the tradition here in the Yakima Valley, and how much baseball means to the community."

Team managers said this is all coming together at a perfect time meshing well with the revitalization of Yakima's Downtown. They said having a team to rally around will help bring people to the area and boost the economy.

The Pippins will play in the West Coast League, which includes teams in Wenatchee, Walla Walla and Bellingham. The season opener is scheduled for June 6th at County Stadium.