Sede’s Send Off
- Updated: July 25, 2019
KELOWNA, BC – The Kelowna Falcons overcame a four-run deficit and a Richi Sede wall off RBI single spurred the Falcons to a 9-8 win over the Yakima Valley Pippins in 10 innings on Wednesday night at Elks Stadium.
Defence was the name of the game to begin things at Elks Stadium as a pair of strong plays from the field highlighted the early part of the ballgame. Brayden Merritt led that off in the 2nd inning as he caught a fly ball in center field before gunning out a runner at third base to collect the double play and scratch a leadoff double.
The man he grew out, Nick Israel, made a strong defensive play of his own in the 3rd inning as he leaped to his left to rob Brett Tressen of a base hit that was hit hard to the left side of the infield as the game remained scoreless between the two sides thanks to starting efforts from Zach Jacobs and Tyler Frazier.
The Pippins struck for the first time in the 4th inning in a big way as they were able to get five men on base consecutively with a two-run double down the right field line off the bat of Aidan Welch counting for the first two runs of the game and a 2-0 Yakima Valley lead.
A wild pitch from Jacobs brought home another Pippins run before Brett Wells singled in the fourth run of the inning and gave the visitors a 4-0 lead after three and a half frames of play.
Kelowna mounted their comeback in the 5th inning, chipping away at the Pippins lead and ultimately tied the game while bringing nine batters to the plate. Matt Voelzke delivered the big hit in the inning and got the Falcons on the scoreboard with his first of two doubles in the game and made it a 4-2 score.
Conagher Sands cut into the deficit even more with an RBI single up the middle before Jake Fischer checked his swing but got enough of the ball as it squirted into right field and tied the game at 4-4 heading into the 6th inning, which was an eventful one.
Yakima Valley didn’t take long to take their lead back as Christian Padilla led off the inning with a double. Padilla would later come into score on a wild pitch which restored the Pippins advantage at 5-4 heading to the bottom half of the inning.
After Brayden Merritt got on with a lead off bunt single, Brett Tressen bunted back up the first base line where new pitcher Mark Woinarowicz flipped onto first with his glove with the ball going over the head of the first baseman Welch before his throw to home was off target and allowed Merritt to score from third base and tie the game.
Austen Butler stood in next after Tressen advances to third on the error and brought him home with an RBI groundout to second base that brought home the leading run and his 13th RBI of the season gave Kelowna their first lead of the game at 6-5.
Wyatt Hummel came on to pitch after Zach Jacobs delivered six innings of work in a starting effort and the Pippins loaded the bases with no one out in the 8th frame before Connor Hurley came out of the bullpen to try and contain the threat.
Yakima Valley brought in a run on a fielder’s choice to second base on a double play attempt that the Falcons just could not complete and the game evened at 6-6 into the bottom of the 8th.
Another costly error effected the inning for the Pippins as Woinarowicz couldn’t make a play on a bunt laid down from Sands that allowed two men to get on base. Later in the inning, James Shimashita was able to score on a wild pitch and gave Kelowna a 7-6 lead.
Fischer came up in another big spot for the Falcons as he was able to deliver an RBI single to right field with the infield in and extend Kelowna’s lead to 8-6 before Yakima charged back in the 9th frame.
The Pippins worked their way back in the 9th and came from a familiar source on the night. Padilla drove in two runs with two out on a single up the middle as the visitors kept the game alive and tied things up at 8-8 heading into the bottom of the 9th.
After a 9th inning opportunity was squandered, Kelowna was able to end the game in the 10th as Richi Sede closed things out with a single to left field that scored Brad Norton from third and gave the Falcons their third win in four games.
The Falcons (4-9/14-25) continue their three-game series against the Pippins (7-7/18-22) on Wednesday night at Elks Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:35 PM with tickets available at the Falcons website as well as at the gate ahead of the opening pitch of the ballgame.
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