ELMIRA, NY- Elmira got their first home win tonight in a close game against the Pioneers. Though the defense continued to be a problem, the stellar hitting brought in the win.

The first two innings saw little in the way of action, but play finally got underway in the top of the third as Newark catcher Michael Lanza ran in off of an RBI single from Outfielder Kyle Norman. The Pioneers got out of the inning without any further scoring, and answered the Newark run with three of their own in the bottom of the third.  

With the bases loaded because of singles from outfielder Will Larue and Catcher Josh Lovelady, as well as a walk from Shortstop Timmy Mirabelli, PGCBL Player of the Week and Pioneers first baseman Christian Santisteban belted a double to left centerfield to bring in all three runners. This allowed the Pioneers to leave the inning up to runs with a score of 3-1.

Action picked up again in the fifth inning when Norman brought in Lanza for the second time off of yet another RBI single. Shortly thereafter, Newark’s infielder Nathan Suyematsu, who had moved Lanza to third with his single earlier in the inning, ran home off of a pop fly RBI from infielder Willy Yahn. This tied the score at 3 all heading.

After a 5^th inning that stranded 2 on base, the Pioneers moved into the sixth, where they regained their lead. After runners on first and second advanced, Michael Lanza made a wild throw to the Newark second baseman, Ryan Lynch. This allowed Hillson to run home, and gave the Pioneers a 4-3 lead. Shortly thereafter, Newark pitcher Bret Viola threw a wild pitch to bring in Jordan Bishop, and extend the lead to 5-3.

In the top of the 7^th. Frank Gregoire hit an RBI single to bring in Norman, closing the gap for the Pilots to 5-4. The run came as a result of some inconsistent pitching from the Pioneers’ Jake Greer, who walked one batter and hit another.

In the 8^th, Newark outfielder Blake Valley smashed a hit to right field to advance to first, and then stole second. Lanza then hit to a very similar position and allowed Valley to run home, tying the game at 5-5.  

In the bottom of the ninth, with the game still tied, Larue blasted a ball to deep left field for a double. Shortly after, Mirabelli bunted for a single and allowed Larue to advance to third. After a pitching change and a walk for Santisteban, Taylor Hillson, who replaced Sam Clark earlier in the game, hit a single to bring in Larue for the winning run.

Kyano Cummings started the pitching off right for the Pioneers, with seven strikeouts and only one earned run. Ryan Bellomo closed out the night for the Pioneers, and earned the win. Nick Wegmann takes the loss for the Newark Pilots.