"ONE MORE AND IT'S CALLED A STREAK" Pios win second in a row against the Pilots

The Pioneers secured their first win at Dunn Field last night in a close victory over the Newark Pilots.

The Pios Bradyn Coletta (Niagara CC) put on a masterclass with six innings of one-run ball, including three consecutive strikeouts with runners on second and third and no outs. He finished the start with seven strikeouts, four hits and one walk. Ziv Gar (Molloy College) and Jarek Podest (Elmira College) had successful bullpen stints to secure the victory.

Bobby Marsh (Penn State) nearly hit the first home-run of the season for the Pioneers in the second inning, but it bounced off the wall for a standup double. Jonny Wall (Roanoke) had a successful day, going two for four with an RBI. The best hitter of the game was Chris Bear (Northern Essex Community College) as he went 3 for 4 with an RBI to improve his average to .500 for the season.

Bear felt this was the strongest night for the Pios so far, as he said,

“I think I did pretty good tonight, we had a good game all around, probably the best game we’ve played all season. It’s good to get another win in a row.”

Meanwhile, Coletta said the key to his success was,

“Locating off-speed was the biggest thing, I’d say. I located all three pitches.”

Coach Andrew Drum felt the team was doing everything right, as he said,

“I think we played all aspects of the game tonight, I really do. We played all offense, defense, pitching, you know, we only had like two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Everybody was very flexible out there, it was awesome.”

Drum also mentioned how the locker room and team continues to have a great atmosphere as he said,

“This is like a big fantastic family, you know. Everything’s looking great. It’s awesome to see them gel together in what, six games, seven games? It’s awesome.”

The Pioneers improved to 2-5 with the win, while the Pilots fell to 1-4 with the loss.

After tonight’s (6/11) home game against the Niagara Power, the Pioneers go on the road in Jamestown, before getting a day-off on Monday.