UTICA, NY - The Pioneers took to the diamond for the fifth time in five days on Friday afternoon to welcome New York powerhouse Brockport to town. In a doubleheader that pitted the orange and blue against their new conference foe, the Pioneers made things close for a majority of the first game, even getting to Empire 8 all-star Zach Eldred on the mound as they challenged the regular season champions. Eventually, the number twelve nationally ranked Golden Eagles would find their footing and defeat the Pioneers in a pair of pivotal games to get the final regular season series underway.
 
Game One: Brockport 9, Utica 3
 
The opening game of the weekend series brought the big game feel, as each out by either side felt very powerful in the early going. With both dugouts doling out lots of noise, the Pioneers and Golden Eagles went toe-to-toe in the early going of the seven-inning opener.
 
Game one starter Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic) sat down many Brockport batters in quick succession over the first two frames of the contest, also striking out the conference's most feared hitter in Eldred.
 
On offense, the Pioneers found space around the yard against Eldred, tagging up the Brockport pitcher for two runs in the bottom of the inning. In the second, Mike Rockwell (Liverpool, NY/Cicero) reached to lead off the inning, proceeding to move over to third thanks to a wild pitch and a ball in play. In a crucial clash early on in the day, Josh Duval (Utica, NY/Proctor) won a war of wits with Eldred, grabbing a big double down the left field line to cash in Rockwell and produce another scoring opportunity. Much like Rockwell, Duval advanced on a wild pitch before eventually headed home on a ball put into play by Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale). After two innings, the Pioneers led 2-0.
 

In the top of the fourth, the Golden Eagles would storm back and score three runs each in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to jump ahead 9-3 after five frames. The Pioneers could not manage to score over the final two innings, eventually falling by that same score in game one. Six different Pioneers each tallied a single hit to round out the players with base knocks in game one,
 
Game Two: Brockport 9, Utica 2
 
The Pioneers looked for more answers on offense in game two, although the defense also managed to pick up the slack thanks to an unbelievable shift put in by reliever Connor Ford (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional). The Garden State guy came on to relieve Jack Krug (Rotterdam Junction, NY/Canajoharie) in the third inning, immediately shutting down the Brockport bats as he shut them out in four of his six total innings. Ford also accrued three K's in his 6.1-frame marathon. Ford then gave way for Nicholas Greene (Rome, NY/Central Valley Academy), who cleaned up the Golden Eagles in the ninth inning, getting the two final outs to send the game to the bottom of the ninth.
 
On offense, Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) had a complete outing in game two, being the only Utica batter to record multiple hits in the contest while also adding an RBI.
 
The Pioneers managed to tag up both of Brockport's preferred starters in the opening two games of the series, getting to Eldred in game one before notching a few hits again in game two against the Brockport ace Anthony Lapine. The Pioneers will look to bring that early momentum tomorrow as they battle Brockport in their final game action before the Empire 8 Tournament. Tomorrow will also be Senior Day in Utica, with the ceremony beginning at 11:45 AM from the Pioneer Baseball Complex.