In yesterday’s ballgame, the Sweets fell behind 2-0 after the first inning and trailed by six through three. In Sunday’s contest, Walla Walla ran into the same issue. As Issac Hallam took the mound, Yakima led off with a single by Langan Naylor, who advanced to second and third on a pair of outs. With two away, Finley Spicer hit a ball hard at Dominic Cadiz at first base. The ball ricocheted away, allowing the Pippins to score their first run on an error. Gage Reeser followed with a triple to right-center, scoring Spicer. Cole Hansen then singled to bring home Reeser and extend the lead to 3-0 after one inning.

What followed was a pitchers’ duel. Hallam worked five innings, striking out four while allowing no earned runs. On the other side, Ian Fisher went five scoreless, fanning four of his own. Neither team managed another run until the seventh when the Sweets’ offense finally showed life.

Nate Stiveson grounded out to short for the first out, but Landon Young followed with a double to left to put a runner in scoring position. Young then advanced to third on a stolen base and came in to score on a throwing error in a do-it-all trip around the bases. The University of Washington product upped his stolen base total to a team-leading nine. Andrew Demianew grounded out to third for the second out, but Cole Rogers singled to keep the inning alive and stole second. Trevor Tse then singled to right, bringing home Rogers to cut the lead to 3-2 entering the bottom half.

The Pippins added insurance in the eighth. Dylan Torres struck out Reeser to open the frame, but Hansen followed with a double to left-center. Neil Jansen singled to put runners at the corners. Preston Allen grounded out to second for the second out but brought Hansen home to push the lead to 4-2.

In the top of the ninth, the Sweets’ bottom of the order tried to spark a comeback but came up short. Young struck out, and both Demianew and Rogers grounded out to end the game as Walla Walla dropped its second straight and fell to 1-4 against the Pippins this season.

The Sweets will try to salvage tomorrow’s finale at 5:05 p.m. A couple of weeks ago, the Sweets rallied to take the final game of a series in Yakima after dropping the first two. Coverage begins at 4:55 p.m. on Mixlr.