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The bats of Pioneer continued to pound out the hits last week as the Mustangs put a pair of Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division wins in the books at the expense of the Willow Glen Rams.
Pioneer ripped 22 hits that produced 20 runs in the two games. Pioneer (7-3, 3-3) ended the week with a three-game win streak in division play while the two losses dropped Willow Glen to 2-5 in league play and to 4-6 overall.
In the 12-3 win by the Mustangs early in the week, Pioneer drew first blood with a three-run second inning. Matt Montelongo and Michael Schulz led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Jon Silva followed with a shot over the bag down the third base line for a double that brought Montelongo home for the first run of the inning.
Willow Glen second baseman Brandon Mendoza put a little water on the fire with an outstanding over-the-shoulder running catch behind first base for the first out. Pioneer's Derek Clark used his speed to beat out an infield hit as Schulz rambled home for run No. 2. The final score of the inning came when Silva scampered home on a passed ball.
Pioneer stretched its lead to 4-0 by adding another run in the third. Montelongo slapped a two-out single and then raced home all the way from first when Schulz poked a blooper that dropped in short center field.
The Rams came roaring back in the bottom of the fourth inning with three runs of their own. Mike Roseland blasted a rocket back up the middle off the glove of pitcher Michael Rudolph and hustled to first for the infield hit. Roseland was awarded second on a balk. Jason Gibilisco sent a slow roller toward the hole between short and third. The ball skipped past Pioneer's Schulz as he charged the ball and it bounced off the foot of Roseland as he headed toward third base. The ball rolled into foul territory and Roseland was able to lope home and Gibilisco went all the way into second.
After Jose Torres lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to move Gibilisco to third and Anthony Gotelli worked his way on with a walk, the Rams cashed in again. Charlie Findeisen roped a single to drive in Gibilisco. The rally concluded with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Dewey Rogge to score Gotelli.
Pioneer put the game out of reach with a five-run outburst in the top of the seventh with singles by Ryan Gall, Kyle Burchfiel and Steven Muirhead and a few miscues by the Rams. The major damage was done by Muirhead who drove in two runs with his hit.
Rudolph went four and a third solid innings for the Mustangs and got credit for the win. He got solid relief from Mike Talovic who closed things out.
In the rematch later in the week, the Rams jumped out to a 3-0 advantage by slapping out five singles in the top of the first. Jason Jeffrey and Greg Garrity kicked things off to set the table with back-to-back hits. Gibilisco, Torres and Gotelli each ripped RBI singles to account for the runs.
The lead was short-lived however as Pioneer sent 10 batters to the plate and exploded for six runs in the bottom of the second to go up 7-3. Burchfiel connected on a two-run single and then it looked like the Rams might get out of the jam when Silva sent a roller to first for out No. 2. However, the hits just kept on coming.
A single by Muirhead and a double by Eddie Hsieh each drove in a run which sent Shaun Souza to the plate. The compact but powerful Souza launched a shot over the left-center field fence for a two-run blast to close out the scoring.
Headed into the sixth and looking at an 8-4 deficit, the Rams got help from the long ball. Jeffrey rifled a sharp one-out single past third which brought Garrity to the plate. He muscled an arching blast that didn't stop until it had cleared the left field fence and brought the Rams to within 8-6. Talovic, who was on the mound in relief once more, settled down and got the next two Rams quietly to end the threat. The Rams went quietly in the seventh as Talovic nailed down the 8-6 win for the Mustangs.
Mound duty was by committee for the Mustangs. Johnny Carreras got the start but Kyle Fager, Andy Wright and Talovic all shared time on the hill. Fager (1-0) was the beneficiary of the Mustangs outburst in the second and got credit for the win. On the other side of the field, Torres went the distance for the Rams.
"We've been playing pretty good, but it seems that we have one inning every game that does us in," Willow Glen coach Bret Gladden said. "We have a young squad but they are a bunch of talented juniors and sophomores. Torres did a good job today and threw only 86 pitches."
Mt. Hamilton Division play continues for each squad this week with a home and home series. Willow Glen travels to Santa Teresa on March 29 and then hosts the Saints on March 31. Pioneer hosts Leigh on March 29 before visiting the Longhorns on March 31.
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