AUBURNDALE, FL - Pioneer baseball wrapped up spring break on Wednesday afternoon with a midday matchup against Wisconsin side Lakeland. The orange and blue held it down early, with some great initial contributions from dynamic pitching duo Knabe Kooper and Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic). Midway through the tilt though, some untimely errors cost Utica mightily against their Midwest opposition, sending them to a 9-4 defeat in their final Florida matchup.
 
Knabe got the start in the spring break finale, throwing two solid innings and escaping danger on both occasions. In the first, the former Empire 8 Pitcher of the Week saw runners advance to second and third with only one out on the board. The junior hurler proceeded to log two clutch strikeouts, stopping Lakeland from putting anything in play and keeping them off the board in the opening inning. In inning number two, Lakeland managed to cash in on a sacrifice fly, but Knabe induced a groundout shortly after to end the inning with minimal damage.
 
In the third, Knabe gave way for fellow starting stud Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic), who took the mound to receive some relief innings in the Pioneers' final game before a 10-day break. Rhodes' first two innings of work were magnificent, with the sophomore star sitting down six batters over the pair of frames. The fifth inning proved to be the game's decisive frame though, as two errors to start the at-bats allowed Lakeland to plate four runs, none of which registered as earned. Lakeland led 5-1 after the fifth inning.
 
Lakeland managed to grab two runs in both the sixth and seventh inning, bringing the tally to 9-1 entering the final two innings of play.
 
Despite this surge by the Muskies, the Pioneers began to battle back towards the end of the proceedings. The orange and blue pulled two runs back in the eighth, stringing together four hits and five at-bats to shift the momentum in their direction and earn some late energy. Yesterday's offensive standouts, DaShawn Hutchinson (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro), each grabbed an RBI during that streak, adding to their solid weeks while also getting the Pioneers on the right track to level the contest.
 
A 1-2-3 inning courtesy of Justin Notargiacomo (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) in the bottom of the eighth set up the Pioneers with one final chance to create a huge moment in their final ups of spring break.
 
In the ninth, the team accrued two quick outs but saw some life after offensive outlet Mike Rockwell (Liverpool, NY/Cicero) went yard to make it 9-4. Despite the late gasp, the Pioneers would eventually fall before achieving any more runs, losing to Lakeland by that same score.
 
Rockwell, along with fellow Pioneer newcomer Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), ended the outing with multiple hits.
 
The Pioneers fell to 5-4 with the loss but managed to get through spring break with a positive string of results, going 4-3 during the week of games. The team will be rewarded for their run through the spring break gauntlet with a 10-day break, getting a mid-March reprieve before conference play kicks off with a three-game series against new Empire 8 rival SUNY Poly. Game one of the series will take place on March 22nd.