Pioneers 12... Lake Region State 2 (6 Innings)

The MCC Pioneers took advantage of the home field on Saturday in the MonDak Conference postseason tournament with a 12-2 win over Lake Region State at Connors Stadium. 

The Royals struck 1st on a towering solo home run in the 2nd inning by DH Trent Greek. The Pioneers answered quickly to take advantage of the game with 5 runs in the bottom of the 2nd. RF Ian Krump (Rapid City, SD) and 2B Ryota Kusumoto (Qairns, Aus) each walked and advanced a base on a passed ball. 3B Lane Neill (Belgrade, MT) nailed a 2 RBI single to give the Pioneers a lead they would not relinquish. DH Tommy O'Connell (Kalispell, MT) was hit by a pitch and C Takumi Kimoto (Brisbane, Aus) walked to load the bases. LF Grant Gabbert (Thorton, CO) grounded in to a fielders choice scoring Neill and a 3-1 lead. O'Connell scored on a wild pitch and CF Jake Lacey (Gillette, WY) had an RBI single and the Pioneers led 5-1 after 2 innings. 

In the bottom of the 3rd, Niell singled and moved to 2nd on a passed ball. Kimoto drove in Neill with a single to centerfield. Then in the bottom of the 4th, 1B Tim Holyk (Nanaimo, BC) hit a solo home run to make the score 7-1. 

Lake Region scored again in the 5th but O'Connell hit a monster home run in the bottom of the 5th for an 8-2 lead. Jake Lacey then picked up an RBI single. 

In the game ending 6th inning, Ian Krump reached base on an error and Kusumoto smacked a RBI double to center and reached 3rd on an error and scored on a wild pitch. Neill then reached on an error, O'Connell singled, and Kimoto walked to load the bases before Gabbert singled to end the game with the Pioneers winning 12-2. 

The Pioneers collected 11 hits in the game as 4 MCC batsmen had 2 hits. Jake Lacey was 2-4 (HR, 2 RBI), Lane Neill was 2-4 (2 RBI, 3 R), Tommy O'Connell hit 2-3 (HR, RBI, 2 R) and Kimoto was 2-2 (RBI, 2 BB). 

Bridger Erickson (St. Anthony, ID) pitched a complete game 6 innings (2 R, 5 H, BB, 8 SO) to pick up the win. 

Pioneers 9... Bismarck State 8 (11 Innings)

In one of the most exciting games in MCC Pioneer baseball history, the Pioneers rallied from a 6-1 deficit with 5 runs in the 8th to tie the game and eventually walk away with a 9-8 win in extra innings. 

Mystic starting pitcher Carter Rost kept the Pioneer bats quiet until the 8th inning rally from MCC. 

The Mystics built a 6-1 lead and seemed to be in control cruising in to the top of the 8th. That is when the game turned up the energy as Connors stadium was electric from that point forward. With 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, Takumi Kimoto reached base on an error that scored Kusumoto and moved Lane Neill to 3rd base. Kimoto moved to 2nd on the same error. Grant Gabbert then hit a 2 RBI double to centerfield to cut the lead to 6-4. Jaeden Jordahl (Billings, MT) then walked and Jake Lacey came up big again with a RBI single that scored Gabbert. Tim Holyk then hit a hard single thru the hole to left field driving in Jordahl and tying the game at 6-6. 

In the top of the 9th, the Pioneers took control of the game with 2 runs. With 2 outs and Clay Prell (Miles City, MT) on 1st base, the Pioneers rallied again. Gabbert and Jordahl walked to load the bases. Jake Lacey hit an RBI single up the middle to give the Pioneers their 1st lead of the game. Tim Holyk was the hit by a pitch to scored Gabbert and give the Pioneers a 8-6 lead heading to the bottom of the 9th. 

Mystic Mike Hallquist hit a mammoth home run to start the inning and make the score 8-7. Kyle Leapaldt doubled Nash Crowell walked. Alex Schimke then drove in the game tying run to send the game to extra innings. 

In the top of the 11th, Jordahl started the inning with a walk. Jake Lacey picked up his 5th hit of the game to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Tim Holyk then laid down a spectacular bunt to load the bases and Ryota Kusumoto game with the the game winning RBI on a sacrifice fly to left field. 

Lacey finished the game 5-7 for the game with 5 singles and 2 RBI. Holyk was 3-5 (3 RBI), and Gabbert was 3-5 (2 RBI, 2 R) as those 3 had 11 of the 12 Pioneer hits. 

Cy Miller (Helena, MT) got the start and pitched 5.2 innings. Miller threw 130 pitches and gave up 6 runs on 5 hits. Miller walked 6 and struck out 7. Jack Corriveau (Kalispell, MT) then pitched 1.1 innings (H, BB, 2 SO) before giving way to Cameron Murphy (Torrington, WY). Murphy pitched the final 4 innings (2 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 SO).

MCC will play Williston State Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM in the undefeated semifinal.