WALLA WALLA, Wash. — It was wild and high scoring night between the Sweets and the Pippins in game two of their three game series as Yakima Valley beat Walla Walla 14-8. Much like Tuesday’s series opener, a lot of free passes were issued between the two teams. Nineteen walks combined by the two pitching staffs, bring the series total up to 34.

Wednesday night started out great for the Sweets, who jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the first two innings. The scoring opened in the bottom of the first with Logan Meyer bringing home two runs on a double to left field.

After Yakima Valley got one in the top of the second, Walla Walla scored three runs in the bottom half. A sacrifice bunt from JJ Moran brought the first run home and moved a runner to second base. After a walk put two runners back on, an RBI double from Cort MacDonald scored one and RBI groundout from Stevie Hom brought home another.

Unfortunately, that is when the good times ended for the Sweets. After holding the Pippins scoreless in the first, Yakima Valley found the scoreboard in each of the final eight innings. Five of those frames featured a crooked number put up on the board.

The Pippins took their first lead in the fifth, jumping ahead 7-5. The Sweets responded with two runs of their own to tie the ballgame. Moran got his second RBI of the game with a single to left field scoring Chipper Beck. Joel Esparza scored the tying run on a wild pitch just moments later.

It looked like it continue to be a back-and-forth game in the final innings, but the Sweets only found the scoreboard one more time in the final four innings. Yakima Valley on the other hand put up seven more runs to make the final score 14-8.

While Yakima Valley was the culprit of the most walks Tuesday night, the Sweets carried that burden Wednesday, issuing 13 of the 19 walks in the game. The Pippins also got 13 hits to match their walk total.

Walla Walla had 12 hits in their own right but left 12 runners on base.

With the loss, the Sweets fall to 3-12 in the second half of the season and 12-29 overall.

Following the game, the two teams competed in their second home run derby of the season against each other. The first derby was in Yakima June 16, which the Pippins won in their home ballpark.

The Sweets returned the favor Wednesday night, with JJ Moran taking home the crown.

In the first round, the incoming freshman at Stanford hit nine bombs, the highest total of the six players competing in the derby. Six of Moran’s nine came in the second half of his allotted two minutes at the plate.

Nine home runs propelled him to the championship round where he faced off against Yakima Valley’s Kaden Kirshenbaum. The Pippin went first and launched three home runs, setting the number to beat for Moran.

It did not take Moran a minute before he blasted home run number four of the wall in left field to win the derby and end the night on a positive note for the Sweets.

In total, the six players hit a combined 50 dingers.

The Battle of the Basin wraps up Thursday night with the final game between the Pippins and the Sweets. The three game series is tied at one game apiece and the Sweets are looking to win their third series of the season. Yakima Valley is leading the larger regular season series 3-2. The first two years of the Battle have ended in 3-3 ties, and the Sweets are looking to make that streak three years in a row.

First pitch is set for 6:35 and Sweets’ coverage of the game can be found on their YouTube channel.