Pioneers bitten by Lions

Move to 4 - 1 on Season

published Thursday, Mar. 7, 2007

The Pioneers suffered their first loss of the season at the Searcy Lions new home field on Tuesday night. In a game that appeared to be headed for extra innings after the Pioneers had tied the score in the top of the inning, a delayed fair ball call on a ball that appeared to be clearly foul dashed the Pioneers hopes of extending their early season winning streak to five. The Pioneers began their season by grabbing the Championship of the J.A. Fair Invitational Tournament in Little Rock. This tournament was hosted on the fields at Fair and Mills, a field long noted for it's friendliness toward the Pioneers. The Pioneers first round game against the Little Rock Hall Warriors quickly turned into a rout, and ended after only four innings with an easy 15-0 victory for the Pioneers. Pioneer Senior Steven Cesarski took the mound for his first varsity start and established his credentials quickly, pitching a no-hitter against the Warriors. He gathered his first 10 strikeouts along the way. He also picked up his first home run of the year. The second game of the tournament would prove to be very different in nature for the Pioneers. Facing the Cabot Panthers in the semis, it required extra inning to close the game with another victory and a ticket to advancement to the finals of the tournament. Home Runs would be the key to success in this game, when Pioneer Aaron Thornton homers in the bottom of the ninth to tied the game after a fluke play had allowed a Panther runner a free ticket to home. Junior Nick Palese would nail down the victory with a 2 run walk off homer. Senior Pitcher Cody Aycock went 6 innings, striking out eight while allowing 3 hits. He was relieved by closing pitcher Trent Weeks who struck out 2 and also allowed 3 hits.

The Pioneers claimed the title defeating the Marion Patriots and extending our undefeated "streak" against the Patriots to 26-0. I'm sure the Patriots never look forward to playing the Pioneers and defending that .000 record. However, if they defeat the Pioneers (not likely) in their next meeting they'll improve to .037! The Pioneers picked up seven hits in their 4-3 victory. Steven Cesarski started on the mound for the Pioneers and pitched the first six innings, adding sevens strikeouts to his tally for the year. He was relieved by Trent weeks who closed the game out by striking out the final Marion batter with the tying and winning runs in scoring position and adding three strikeouts of his own. The Pioneers improved to 4-0 on the season in Mountain Home grounding the Bombers with a 17-2 blitz. Trent Weeks got his first start for the Pioneers and pitched three innings. Weeks struck out four and allowed five hits. He was relieved by Cody Aycock who closed the Bombers picking up four strikeouts while allowing no hits. The Pioneers opened against the Searcy Lions with veteran pitcher Cody Aycock who set the Lions down in order in the first inning. The Pioneers trailed throughout the game except at the top of the second inning when lead off batter Steven Cesarski is hit by a pitch and scored by Nick Palese's double. The Lions take the lead in the bottom of the inning when a string of Pioneer errors and two hit batters results in two Lion runs and the inning ending with bases loaded without a Searcy hit. A lead off single followed by a Home Run in the bottom of the fifth would increase the Lions lead to 3 runs but the Pioneers returned the margin to one run in the top of the sixth with a lead off double by Ross Simpson. Aycock bunts safely advancing Simpson to third. Jake Arnold loads the bases when he is hit by a pitch. Aaron Thornton picks up an RBI with a single and Nick Palese is hit by a pitch to force in the second run. Cesarski relieves on the mound in the bottom of the inning and quickly sits the Lions down in order. The Pioneers tie the score in the top of the seventh when Ross Simpson walks on, advances on a passed ball, and is scored by Jake Arnold with a single. The Lions first batter in the bottom of the inning ground out, but a long fly ball would spell the end of the Pioneers chances of extra innings and extending their winning streak when the plate umpire signalled the ball fair to end the game. The Pioneers play again for their home opener on Friday against the Jonesboro Golden Hurricane.

If anyone was wondering where Carl was the first few days of the season, I had migrated to a more southern latitude for a brief break from work. This is a picture of Clearwater, Florida I took from the bridge to Sand Key.

Hold the Rope!, Carl.