Pippins Strike Back to Even Series Against Riverhawks
2026-06-13
Hawks score in the 9th to avoid shutout as they go down 10-2
Box ScoreBy Cody F Schmidt
It was a gorgeous Saturday evening with bright blue skies as the Edmonton Riverhawks hit the field for their second game against the Yakima Valley Pippins. After besting the Pippins the previous night, the Riverhawks were looking to keep their offensive momentum that’s been carrying them through the home stand. Unfortunately the bats didn’t follow through, as the Hawks narrowly avoided a shutout by a tandem of Pippins pitchers. Pushing through a pair of runs in the bottom of the 9th, the Hawks still combined for nine hits across the game, the majority of which were isolated singles. The pitching staff hit some struggles as well, as they walked eleven batters and hit 5.
While neither team got much action in the 1st, Hawks’ starting pitcher #23 Derek DeVos managed to erase the Pippin’s first runner thanks to an expert pickoff at first base. Similarly, in the 2nd DeVos was able to corral the frame after some walks and a hit batter by tossing a pair of swinging strikeouts.
The Hawks started putting things together in the bottom of the 2nd as hits from #51 Easton Andrews, #36 Mitchell Middlemiss, and #24 Cale Clark loaded the bags with two outs. #24 Cale Clark made contact, but his bouncing grounder was nabbed before it could escape the outfield and the toss to first beat Clark by a step, preventing the Hawks from hitting the scoreboard. Backing up DeVos in the top of the 3rd, both Andrews at first and #1 Shiryu Sato made diving plays to hold the Pippins to a hitless inning. Similarly, in the 4th DeVos stopped the Pippins in their tracks, earning another three Ks as he retired the side.
Yakima ended up being the first team to break into the runs column in the 5th, after a hit batter a near-foul ball that bounced all the way into the right field corner to sit as a triple, and a sac fly put the Pippins up by 2. A retaliatory hit from Clark was backed up by a deep single from #25 Matt Vanslyke, but the two-out scoring chance was again spoiled by a fly out to shallow left.
DeVos ran into trouble in the 6th, after a single, walk, and hit batter loaded the bags.
That would be it for DeVos as he pitched 5.0+, earned 5 strikeouts, but allowed 4 hits, 5 walks, and 3 hit batters. Taking over with the bags juiced and no outs, #7 Chris Massey hit the mound and gave up a 2 RBI single up the middle. That’s before the Hawks were able to turn a 6-4-3 double play and induce a fly to end the half. The 7th was less dramatic for Massey as he worked through the inning only giving up a walk and a hit.
#6 Ryuga Sakamoto got the assignment for the 8th, but a walk, a single, a double, and a sacrifice fly put Yakima up by another pair of runs that Edmonton was unable to answer. After a four pitch walk Sakamoto was removed in favour of #12 Riley Starko. Back-to-back singles off Starko pumped up the Pippins’ numbers further, as they plated another four runs before Riley could curb the side with a K. The Hawks switched things up in the bottom of the 8th, with a fleet of pinch hitters. #35 Louis Dion knocked a two-out single to send Yakima to a pitching change. #15 Braeden Scott earned a walk, but it wasn’t enough as a fly to centre put the Hawks to rest in the 8th.
Starko returned to the mound for the 9th with new battery-mate #29 AJ Marchetti. A hit batter and a pair of walks spelled the end of his appearance, and got #50 Lucas Webber-Kitching to take over. A sac fly pushed the 10th run home for the Pippins before a strikeout gave the Hawks their last chance at bat.
A last chance rally, Clark dropped a ground rule double up the left side to score #37 Connor Cavnar who’d been hit by a pitch prior. Another run scooted across as #55 Caedyn Colford knocked a fielder’s choice grounder to score #47 Jake Tanner.