Pios Ride Strong Arms to 6-3 Victory

The Pioneers came back to Dunn Field after a rough night on the road to again see the Niagara Power. Elmira looked to hop back up in the Western Division standings. 

Stu Pederson entrusted Cameron Gallardo with the start on the bump for the visiting side as he had pitched in 6 games in relief prior, but was starting for the first time. Nate Scott got the nod from Andy Drum looking to continue the success he had in his last outing 8 days prior, picking up the win after 5 strong innings at home against the Tarp Skunks.

A couple of runners were left stranded aside in the 1st inning, but it wasn't till the bottom of the second when the first run crossed the plate. South Trimble singled and stole second, coming in to score on a Gil Merod single to left field. The Merod RBI single put the Pios out to a quick 1-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Elmira pushed another across by playing a little small ball. Dom Popa walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a Cam Hill 4-3 groundout. Ben Schorr then ripped one in play that was mishandled by Power third basemen Casey Saucke, as Popa came in to score unearned on the line of reliever Joey Schott. Elmira now led 2-0. 

Niagara jumped on top for the first time in the top of the 7th inning. Alex Sweeney replaced Nate Scott on the mound and wasn't greeted warmly. The Power peppered him for 3 hits and crossed 3 runs over home plate, but none were earned in large part due to two errors by the home town side. At stretch time in the game, Elmira was now left to play catch-up trailing 3-2. 

The deficit wouldn't last long however. Popa continued to be a large factor in the game, knocking in Trimble and Merod to put the Pios back on top 4-2. Donovan Montgomery then brought in Sam Polanco from third base on a sacrifice fly to plate the lead at 5-2. 

Chris Erickson walked, moved over to second on a Trimble single, went to third on a wild pitch, and then came in to score on yet another wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth as the score was now 6-2 Elmira and the struggles for Ethan Hurte continued. Niagara went down quietly in the Top of the 9th and this game quickly moved final. 

The Pioneers are back in action tonight at 7:05pm up in Muckdog Country as they battle Batavia at Dwyer Stadium. Catch all the action on YouTube and Mixlr.