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 3rd 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 3rd 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 4th 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 7th, 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 8th but couldn’t get the run home and were retired in order in the 9th.
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.