Pioneers outduel Batavia 9-7

The Pioneers and the Muckdogs squared up tonight just south of Buffalo in the second game of a season opening home and home back-to-back at Dwyer Stadium. Elmira sent Ithaca junior Nate Scott who got hot late in the spring to the bump to oppose the hometown native on the Muckdogs side, Tyler Prospero.

Prospero wasn’t greeted warmly by the Pioneers in front of the hometown fans as they jumped on him for a 3-0 lead in the 1^st, before he retired 1-2-3 in the second and was removed. The Muckdogs tallied a couple hits off Scott in the early goings, but with some fieldwork brilliance as an aid, he held them in check over the first couple frames.

Elmira tacked on another in the 3rd inning as South Trimble walked, stole a base, and scored on a Donovan Montgomery single to push the lead to 4-0. Continuing to keep the train rolling, the bottom of the order visiting batters chipped 3 runs to the board as Peter Theodorellis, Chris Erickson, and Kevin Serrano all managed to make the trip across the plate to stretch the board to now read 7-0.

Robbie Nichols club to the north answered back with 7 runs of their own in the 4^th and 5^th innings, forcing starter Nate Scott out after 5+ with the bases loaded as all of course came around to score to tie the game after 5 innings of game play.

The Pioneers bullpen held the Muckdogs bats in check over the final four frames and Ben Schorr added another two batted in single to his impress early season resume to make the score 9-7 in favor of Elmira, which would ultimately serve as the final score.

Historic Dunn Field serves as the back-drop for a two game weekend home back-to-back as the Pios kick it off by hosting Oneonta tomorrow night at 7:05pm with Free Frisbees sponsored by Hilliard as the promotion. Come on down and grab your tickets and check out the 2021 Elmira Pioneers in action.