The Black Bears are home for the final time this season for the last three games at David Story Field as they play the Yakima Valley Pippins in a three-game weekend series. Cowlitz swept the Pippins at Yakima County Stadium on June 6-8, their first road trip of the season.
The Bears are in the middle of a series at Chemeketa CC against the Marion Berries. They have lost the first two games and have been eliminated from playoff contention, falling to 16-31.
Game one was a lot of offensive production from Marion. They scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-1 lead and never looked back. After scoring one run in the first inning, the Bears were shut out for seven straight innings and dropped the first game 8-2. Logan Anderson threw 6 IP with only 1 ER and earned the victory, which dropped the Bears’ record against lefty starters to 2-11.
Game two started better for Cowlitz, as they scored two in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. A few one-run back-and-forth innings made it 4-2 Bears before a three-run eighth inning. A balk scored Brayden Oram, Indy Anderson hit an RBI single and Jarett Sabol drove in the third run with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2. A Paul Vazquez solo HR in the bottom half made it 7-3. Down four in the bottom of the ninth, the bases were loaded for Marion after a walk, an error and a single. Cody Kashimoto hit one over the center field wall to tie the game at 7-7. After the game-tying grand slam, Danny Wideman walked and Bryce Hubbard hit the second pitch he saw over the right-center wall for a walk-off two-run HR. The Bears dropped game two, tying the season-high for the largest blown lead this season.
Martin Serrano is having a very good series against his former team, as he played with the Berries earlier this year. He has gone 4-5 with his first HR of the year, as well as his first two doubles of the year, raising his average to .333 on the season. Liam Barrett has three hits in this series, nearing a .300 average through 27 games. He also leads the team in walks with 25. Matt Champion had another good outing in game two, throwing 5 IP and only giving up 2 ER to a good Berries offense. He pitched very well against the Berries this season, also throwing five scoreless innings back on June 11 against Marion. Dylan Henson is set to start game three, being one of the best arms on the pitching staff with a 3.34 ERA in 32.1 IP. He is coming off six scoreless against Ridgefield last week with six strikeouts.
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Yakima Valley is the only team in the league with a worse record than the Black Bears, their 12-35 record being the lowest winning percentage in the West Coast League.
They are having a good series against the Springfield Drifters, winning both games. Game one was wild. After it was only 5-3 through four innings, the floodgates opened for both offenses. Springfield scored three in the fifth to make it 6-5, as well as scoring four in the seventh, but Yakima Valley scored six runs in back-to-back innings to take a commanding 17-10 lead. Springfield responded with three in the eighth and four in the ninth to tie the game at 17-17. A bases-loaded walk in the bottom half won it for the Pippins, 18-17. Game two was a lot calmer; the Pippins’ pitching staff only gave up one run while scoring seven to take the series at home.
The Pippins’ offense is headed by Dillon Anderson and Kyler Bittner. Anderson has a .274 AVG while leading the team in runs (21), hits (51), RBI (20) and walks (17). Bittner has a .254 AVG with 34 hits, 11 runs, 1 HR and 13 RBI. On the pitching side, Pearson Pollard has a 3.09 ERA in 29.1 IP with 45 strikeouts, which leads the team. They were led by Ty Pangborn, their only All-Star selection, but he is no longer on the squad.
After this series, the Bears end their regular season in Bend again as they play the Elks for the second time at Vince Genna Stadium. The Pippins end their regular season back home at Yakima County Stadium, playing the Raptors.
The Pippins-Black Bears series begins on Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Chemeketa CC. Game two will also begin at 6:35 p.m. on Saturday, before the Sunday finale and last ever Cowlitz game at David Story Field at 6:05 p.m. For more information about upcoming games, stats, or tickets, follow us on social media: X (Twitter) (@CowlitzBBears), Facebook, and Instagram (@cowlitzblackbears). To watch, listen live, or view the 2025 promotional schedule, go to our website, cowlitzblackbears.com.