Pioneers 14... White Rock Tritons 1 (7 Innings)
The MCC Pioneers ended their week long stint in Tucson, Arizona by breaking open a close game in the 5th inning and cruised to a 14-1 win over White Rock.
With the game tied at 1-1 going to the 5th inning, the Pioneers struck for 3 in the 5th, 9 more in the 6th, and another in the 7th to close out the win. The Pioneers collected 13 hits and had 7 walks in the game.
Scoring got started in the 1st inning for MCC as SS Jaeden Jordahl (Billings, MT) and CF Jake Lacey (Gillette, WY) walked. Each of those players proceeded to steal the next base and RF Ian Krump (Rapid City, SD) hit a sacrifice fly RBI for a 1-0 lead. White Rock tied the game in the 4th inning at 1-1 and it stayed that way until the 5th.
Jordahl walked again, stole 2nd, and Lacey singled to put runners on the corners. Lacey stole 2nd and Jordahl scored on an error by the White Rock 2nd baseman. Krump then singled to shallow centerfield and Lacey scored. 1B Kaleb Breeze (West Valley City, UT) ripped an RBI double to left scoring Krump the give the Pioneers a 4-1 lead.
The Pioneers took over the game for good in the 6th inning. LF Grant Gabbert (Thorton, CO) walked and 2B Ryota Kusumoto (Australia) whacked a triple to rightfield scoring pinch runner Mason Flanary (Rexburg, ID). Jordahl smacked an RBI double to rightfield bringing in Kusumoto. Jordahl was then caught stealing and there were 2 outs. Lacey singled and DH Tim Holyk walked putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Krump singled in Lacey while Holyk and Krump moved to 2nd and 3rd on throw to the plate. Breeze belted a 2-RBI single making the score 9-1. 3B Tyler Tenney (Helena, MT) tripled to right scoring pinch runner Brady Jones (Manhattan, MT). Tenney was replaced on the base paths by Lane Neill (Belgrade, MT) and Mason Flanary then reached 1st on a passed ball strike 3. Neill scored on the passed ball to make the score 11-1. C Clay Prell singled and was replaced on 1st by courtesy runner Jack Corriveau (Kalispell, MT). Kusumoto hit his 2nd triple of the game bringing in 2 more for a 13-1 lead.
Matt Burton (Helena, MT) pinch hit for Lacey and reached on an error and proceeded to 2nd. He hit 3rd on a passed ball and scored on a Wyatt Searcy (Littleton, CO) sacrifice fly to end the scoring.
Lacey, Krump, Breeze, Tenney, and Kusumoto had 2 hits each for MCC.
Bridger Erickson (St. Anthony, Idaho) struck out 8 over 5.2 innings and scattered 7 hits. Noah Aliff (Centralia, WA) got the last out of the game with a strikeout.
The Pioneers are now 13-9 and will host Prairie Baseball Academy this coming weekend with games starting at 1:00 MST each day.