Founded in 1995, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference.

The Yakima Reds joined the USISL Pro League in 1995, and were placed in the Northwest Division, but finished their first year of national competition with just 4 wins, a distant fifth behind divisional champions Hawaii Tsunami.

For the second year in a row they finished the regular season second to Spokane Shadow, but the playoffs were a different story – a 1–0 win over Seattle BigFoot in the divisional semi-finals was followed by a resounding 4–1 win over Okanagan Challenge in the Divisional final, and although they lost 4–2 to eventual national champions San Gabriel Valley Highlanders in the regional final, the performance was indicative that Yakima were beginning to grow into a regional powerhouse.

The playoff were a massive success; a 2–0 win over Spokane took them to the Conference championship game, where they duly dispatched the Colorado Comets 1–0 to move onto the national stage.

In the final four, Yakima went down on the wrong end of a comprehensive 5–0 scoreline to the Mid Michigan Bucks, and they even lost the consolation game 5–2 to Westchester Flames, but to finish fourth in the country was a huge achievement.

It was not until the end of the season that the Reds began putting up any kind of resistance, and they finished their campaign with back-to-back wins 4–2 over Fresno Fuego and 5–2 over Abbotsford Rangers, but it was too little too late.

The team won just three games and scored just 21 goals all season, and eventually finished a full 29 points adrift of divisional champions BYU Cougars.

Yakima's dominant early-season form also saw them qualify for their first ever US Open Cup, and they were drawn away in the first round to reigning USL2 champions, Harrisburg City Islanders.

Junior Garcia was the top scorer in the entire PDL, with 15 goals, and was subsequently named the national MVP, the first time that honor had ever been given to a Yakima player.

On 25 September 2008, the Reds' management announced that the club was folding and withdrawing from the USL, citing the economic climate and the financial difficulties being suffered by the ownership group, Irwin Research & Development, as the reasons.

[2] Unfortunately for Yakima, the optimism and enthusiasm at being afforded a last-minute reprieve did not translate to positive results on the pitch; they struggled all year, ultimately winning just three regular season games.