The Junior Pioneers hosted the Bo Jackson Elite – Collegiate 18O on Thursday, May 28th at Gant Municipal Stadium in Zanesville. Weston Hartman pitched his way through the first two innings, leaving the Elite scoreless. The Elite grabbed a run at the top of the third inning to lead 1 – 0. In the bottom of the inning, Brody Hammersley singled to left field to drive in Caleb Campbell and Drew Hobbs to tie the game and jump out to a 2 – 1 lead. Aiden Reis singled on the next at-bat to drive home Carter McLain, 3 – 1. Peyton Tichenor hit a double later in the inning to drive in Hammersley and Reis, 5 – 1. Jake Valentine stepped up next to sacrifice, bringing home Carson Anderson, 6 – 1, ending the scoring for the inning. The Elite grabbed a couple of runs in the top of the fifth but still trailed 6 – 3. Valentine singled for a run in the bottom of the inning, followed by two more forced runs, increasing the Pioneers’ lead to 9 – 3. The batting lineup came to life at the top of the sixth with the Elite blasting out 10 big runs, shooting past the tie and leading the game 13 – 9. The Pioneers could not recover, and Bo Jackson Elite took the win.
The Junior Pioneers will be on the road on Saturday, May 30th, for a doubleheader against the Chillicothe Capitals. The games start at 11:30 AM.
