Game 1 - Pioneers 11... Dawson 7
After all the snow from last week finally melted, the MCC Pioneers were able to get back on the field Wednesday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of rival Dawson CC in Miles City. The Pioneers rallied from a 6-2 deficit in the 3rd inning by scoring 8 runs in the final 3 frames to take an 11-7 victory over Dawson on Wednesday afternoon. RF Ian Krump (Rapid City, SD) had a 2-3 effort at the plate (HR, 2B, 3 RBI) and 2B Ryota Kusumoto was a solid 2-2 (2 2B, BB, 2 R) to lead the rally for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st without getting a hit. Dawson followed that up with 3 in the 2nd and 3 more in the 3rd to take a 6-2 lead. The Pioneers got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd after back to back doubles by 3B Tim Holyk (Nanaimo, BC) and Ian Krump. Holyk scored on a fielders choice ground ball by 1B Kaleb Breeze (West Valley City, UT).
A 4-run 4th inning for MCC got started with a walk by C Takumi Kimoto (Brisbane, Australia). Courtesy runner Matt Burton stole 2nd and scored on a Kusumoto double to make the score 6-4. Holyk followed that with an RBI single that scored Kusumoto and Krump then hit a 2-run blast to leftfield to give the Pioneers a 7-6 lead.
The bottom of the 5th got started on a double by SS Tyler Tenney (Helena, MT) and a bunt single by DH Tommy O'Connell (Kalispell, MT) to put runners on the corners. Kimoto executed a sacrifice squeeze bunt that scored Tenney to make it 8-6. LF Grant Gabbert (Thorton, CO) then put down another bunt and O'Connell scored on an error to make it 9-6. Another RBI double by Kusumoto scored Gabbert for a 10-6 lead. The final MCC run came on a Kimoto sacrifice fly that scored Tenney in the 6th inning.
Cy Miller (Helena, MT) got the start and went 3.0 innings (6 R, 3 H, 6 BB, 4 SO). He gave way to Bo Hays (Bozeman, MT) who finished the final 4.0 innings (1 R, 4 H, 2 SO).
Game 2 - Pioneers 5... Dawson 4
In what turned out to be a pitchers dual that saw only 9 hits for the game, the Pioneers snuck by the Buccaneers 5-4 to complete the sweep. The Pioneers got a solid pitching performance from Jay Neugebauer (Rapid City, SD) who usually pitches out of the bullpen. Neugebauer went 4.2 innings (2 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 SO) before giving way to Cameron Murphy (Torrington, WY). Murphy pitched the final 2.1 innings (2 R, 1 H, 3 SO) to close out the sweep.
The Pioneers picked up 2 runs in the 1st as SS Jaeden Jordahl (Billings, MT) and CF Jake Lacey (Gillette, WY) were both hit by pitches. After Jordahl was caught stealing, 1B Tim Holyk hit a high RBI triple to rightfield that scored Lacey. A fielder's choice grounder by Krump scored Holyk for a 2-0 lead.
DH Tommy O'Connell led off the 2nd with a monster blast to leftfield for a 3-0 Pioneer lead. The Bucs cut it to 3-2 with a run in the 3rd and 5th inning. The Pioneers added 2 big insurance runs in 6th inning when Tenney reached on an error and O'Connell walked. C Karter Yancey (St. Anthony, ID) hit a sacrifice bunt moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Gabbert then bunt singled Tenney to the plate and Mason Flanary scored on a DCC error for a 5-2 lead.
Dawson cut it to 5-4 in the 7th inning and put a runner on 3rd but a web gem by Gabbert in leftfield ended the game for the Pioneers with a circus catch to end the game. The Pioneers are now 23-17 on the season and 7-7 in MonDak Conference play.