Baseball: Pioneers Win 3 Games During Busy Week

 

The baseball season is in full swing. The twenty-two time section champs entered the week with a record of 2-1, defeating Berks Catholic and Twin Valley while suffering a tough loss to Conestoga Valley. On the weekly slate for the Pioneers was three Section 2 matchups, including rival Solanco. 

Pioneers Huddle Prior To Scrimmage vs Cocalico (Jon Klein)

To start off the busy week, the Pioneers hosted the visiting Lebanon Cedars. The Cedars were 0-3 prior to the matchup. Xander Getchis and Jose Porte started the game for their respective teams. Getchis performed well, giving up only one run and two hits over four innings on the bump. Giovanni Malatesta starred offensively, recording two hits and three RBIs as the Pioneers won the game by a score of 12-1 in five innings. 

The mercy-rule theme continued on Wednesday, defeating Elizabethtown 11-0 in 5 innings. The Bears were coming off a huge upset win over traditionally strong Ephrata, defeating them at home the previous day. The Pioneers silenced the idea of another upset early, with Isaiah Parido crushing a three-run home run over the right-field fence in the second inning for his first career home run. Senior ace Caleb Guyer started on the hill, shutting down the Bears. Guyer tallied six strikeouts and allowed only two Bears on base in 4 innings of work, with Jason Long pitching the last inning to seal the win. 

The Pioneers finished the week with a trip to Quarryville on Friday, hoping to finish the week undefeated. The Mules were 2-1 heading into the game, with the loss coming at the hands of Ephrata. The bats were alive early for the Pioneers, as both Caleb Guyer and Giovanni Malatesta drove in runs during the first inning. Malatesta also scored on a wild pitch from Mitchell Moyer later in the inning. The Mules tallied two in the bottom half of the inning when Nate Harnish crushed a ball into the left-center gap. The Solanco offense stalled the rest of the game, with Jack Swarr and Gehrig Harsh combining to allow only two hits in the final six innings of the game. The Pioneers added 3 more runs on a defensive interference call, a double off the bat of Alex Knapp, and a walk by Malatesta. The Pioneers won the game 6-2.

The Pioneers now boast a record of 5-1, sitting alone on top of the Section 2 standings. On Monday night, the Pioneers will travel to War Memorial Stadium for a matchup with their struggling arch-rival, the Ephrata Mountaineers. The team also has 2 crossover matchups later in the week, heading to Lititz on Wednesday to take on the Warriors and hosting Cedar Crest on Friday.

--By Logan Moyer, LS News reporter

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