Elmira Extends Winning Streak to 2, Wins 7-5
Elmira headed into Tuesday night having struggled in Colburn Park, but the Pios came in determined and ready to secure their first win against the Pilots in Newark's home field. With Brendan Koester on the mound and a couple new pieces in the lineup the Pioneers came in with a confidence a that they could play with the team they had just beaten on Sunday evening.
Koester would be the first to face adversity as in the bottom of the second after giving up two walks and two singles the Pioneers found themselves trailing by three very early on. This would normally spell trouble for the Pios, but as the team made the final two outs of the inning not a head hung as they ran into the dugout.
The third inning began with a quick out as newcomer Zack Turner grounded out to short. Jeff Mejia got on after an error by the first baseman and then Andrew Sexton walked down to first. Garrett Schultz was punched out for the second out of the third as the Pioneers sent Preston Moore to the plate and a double to the outfield wall drove in Mejia and Sexton. Nathan Peng then singled to move Moore over to third bringing up Nathan Berg who singled driving in Moore, but as Peng tried to stretch out the inning and score, but was gunned down at the plate with the score tied 3-3.
The game settled down until the fifth as Koester came in to pitch a final inning and got two quick outs, before an error by Berg at short allowed Jordan Fiedor to reach. Over Torres came to the plate and hit a long double off the wall driving in Fiedor. Parker Denny came up and singled drove in Torres to put the Pilots up 5-3 before Dylan Duplechain popped out in foul territory to end the inning.
The sixth inning saw another Pioneers comeback as Trae Harmon, Kyle Richardson, and Zack Turner all reached base with Turners hit driving in Harmon and Richardson and giving a quick yank to new pitcher Adam Zebrowski with the game tied 5-5. The Pios weren't done there though as a sac bunt from Mejia moved Turner to third and a sac fly from Sexton drove him in to give the Pios their first lead of the night.
The Pioneers would put out a pitching tandem of Connor Takacs for the sixth and Kevin Teschko for the seventh and eighth innings to guide them to the ninth with the one run lead in tact. However, in the top of the ninth a Preston Moore double and a Nathan Berg single allowed an insurance run to score. Neftaly Severino Cronier entered the game in the bottom of the ninth and had some trouble with the first two batters walking both. Not wasting a moment Matt Burch brought in Nathan Berg in to pitch from the shortstop position to close the door. Berg earned the save with two straight strikeouts and a throw down to third to catch pinch runner Michael Gorman to complete two straight wins against the Pilots.
The Pioneers are back in action tonight as they head to Oneonta for their second matchup of the season against the Outlaws which will be live on Mixlr.com and on Youtube live beginning at 7:05 pm! The Pios will be back home this Saturday at 7:05 pm call and get your tickets now 607-734-2690!