NEWARK, N.Y.  – The Newark Pilots picked up their 14th win of the year with a 9-4 victory over the Elmira Pioneers at Colburn Park on Wednesday. The win improves the Pilots' record to 14-26.  The loss drops the Pios to 21-19.

This was all Pilots from the start, after leading 9-0 after five, the Pios got 4 in the top of the sixth, but the Newark bullpen worked three scoreless innings in relief.  Adam Donovan (DeSales) picked up his second win and Bryce Zaparzynski (Mansfield) picked up his second loss.

The Pilots started off the scoring in the bottom of the first to go up 4-0.  After Zaparzynski loaded the bases with one out, Pilots' Prospect Game representative, Over Torres (Yavapai), lined a single to score Mark McKenna (Canisius) and Pilots' All-Star Game representative, Hunter Wells (Tyler JC), to open the scoring.  After a ground out for out number two, Zach Santoro (Notre Dame College) hit a single to score Pilots Prospect Game representative Will Allocca (Virginia) and Torres to double up the score.  Zaparzynski was pulled after just two-thirds of an inning.

After a scoreless second and third, the Pilots added 3 in the fourth.  Wells drove in Michael O’Connor (Buffalo) with a walk, Allocca drove in McKenna when he beat out the return throw of a double play, and Torres drove in Graham Hackbarth (Pearl River CC) with an infield single.  The Pilots took a 7-0 lead into the fifth.

They would extend the lead to 9-0 in their half of the fifth.  D’Marcus Guillory (Motlow State CC) drove in O’Connor with a double on a 3-0 count for run number 8, and Hackbarth drove in Guillory on a sacrifice fly to deep center field for run number 9.

After working 5 scoreless innings, Donovan ran into some trouble in the sixth.  After giving up a lead off double to Pioneers Prospect Game representative Brayden Combs (Kentucky), Donovan retired the next two hitters.  After a walk to Pios Prospect Game representative Andrew Orzel (Wofford) and a single to Devon Adams (Old Dominion), the bases were loaded with two outs.  Unlike what Donovan was able to do in the fifth, strand the bases loaded, he gave up a two run single to All-Star Brett Rodriguez (Wofford) scoring Combs and Orzel to put the Pios on the board.  On the next pitch, he gave up a two run triple to All-Star Troy Dixon (Samford) into the left-center field gap to score Adams and Rodriguez to cut the lead to 9-4.

That’s all the scoring either team would do the rest of the night.  In the top of the eighth, the Pios threatened after Eddie Fournier (Cypress) loaded the bases with three walks and two outs, but a strikeout to Combs ended that threat.

In the bottom of the eighth, 2017 Home Run Derby Champion and All-Star Conor Grammes (Xavier) came out of the pen for the Pios and struck out the side in order.  Kyle Griffen (Louisiana Tech) came in to pitch the top of the ninth, and matched Grammes by striking out the side in order to end the game.