The Western Nebraska Pioneers defeated the Spearfish Sasquatch on July 13, bringing their overall record to 22-17. The game brought their last 10 games to a record of 5-5 and put them on a winning streak of one.
The game was close and tied 1-1 up until the top of the fourth inning. The top of the fourth was a huge inning for the Sasquatch, where Bryson Hoier smacked one out of the park, allowing Nicky Winterstein to score, bringing the score to 3-1. Then Davis Carr scored off an error by the catcher, where the Sasquatch took a commanding lead of 4-1.
The Pioneers scored early against Sasquatch, where Eric Smelko scored on a single by Alex Zerfass at the bottom of the first inning. At the top of the fifth inning, Winterstein advanced to first on a walk and then scored after Bailey Bordas hit a double, and the score now was 5-1, and it wasn’t looking too good for the Pioneers as they went into the sixth inning.
At the bottom of the sixth, the Pioneers started pushing for a comeback. Zerfass hit a double and scored after Shane Jamison put a sacrifice fly to left field. Declan Wiesner also scored on the next play after Tyler Mead hit a single, bringing the score to 5-3, going into the seventh inning.
At the top of the seventh, the Sasquatch couldn’t get anything done with only one hit. At the bottom of the seventh, the Pioneers made another push, where Antonio Nanez scored after Wiesner hit a fielder’s choice. Jace Jeremiah scored on the next play after Ryan Callahan hit a single.
The game was now tied at five as both teams got ready for inning number eight. The eighth inning went unanswered by either team, and the score stayed tied going into the ninth inning. At the top of the ninth, the Sasquatch had one hit but could not score against the Pioneers’ outfield.
The game was now up for grabs for the Pioneers at the bottom of the ninth. Jeremiah hit a single, advanced to first base, then scored on the next play for the win after Zerfass hit a double. The Pioneers made a comeback after being down 1-5 going into the sixth inning, and won with a final score of Sasquatch 5, Pioneers 6.
The winning pitcher for the game was Ignacio Radney Reynoso, who pitched for three innings allowing two hits and striking out four. The losing pitcher for the game was JD Kirchner, who threw for 0.2 innings and allowed one hit and two runs with three walks and striking out zero.
The Sasquatch had nine hits compared to the Pioneers’ seven. Winterstein led the Sasquatch in hits going three for three in at-bats. Zerfass led the Pioneers in hits as he earned three hits and went three for three in at-bats.