Pioneers Tripped up in Wild Contest with Mt. Aloysius

Alfred State and Mount Aloysius battled in an epic game three of their AMCC Tournament 1st round series. The Mounties rallied from an early deficit and won a 14-13 in a 11-inning contest. MAC advances to the AMCC Final Four later this week.

In the 11th, Ryan Leonard led off the inning by drawing a walk. Pinch runner Trevor Miller went to second on a sac bunt and then to third on a ground out. With two outs, he was able to scamper home on a passed ball to give the Mounties the victory.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the 1st inning. Andy Pichardo (Queens/Academy of American Studies) scored on an error, Connor Pingitore (Amsterdam/Broadalbin Perth) drove in a pair with a single through the left side, Brody Burdett (Scottsdale, AZ) hit a RBI double down the left field line, and Jack Henby (Hornell) capped the inning with a RBI single.

Jeremy Iellimo collected a RBI single in the bottom of the 1st to make it 5-1 but Alfred State put together another five run inning in the 4th. Josh Laurie (LeRoy) hit a two-run single through the right side, Colin Johnson (Alfred Almond) drove in a pair with a double, and Tim Holler (Brewster) collected a RBI ground out.

The Mounties would score the next 11 runs of the game. Leonard collected a two run single up the middle in the 4th and Sam Keibler hit a two run homer to right in the 5th to make it 10-5. In the 6th, Mt. Aloysius scored five more to tie it up at 10-10. Patrick Mahon and Matthew McCourt hit RBI singles, Doug Smith hit a sac fly, and Keibler tied it with a two-run single. In the 7th, Mahon hit a RBI triple to right center and scored on a McCourt single to center.

Johnson stopped the Mounties run and tied the game up in the 8th when he hit a two-run triple to right center. He scored on a RBI single to right by Pingitore to make it 13-12. In the bottom of the 8th, Daniel Singer tied the game back up with a one-out RBI single through the left side.

The Pioneers had a pair of runners on in the 9th but were able to score while the Mounties had the would be winning run thrown out at home to end the 9th (Henby to Laurie to Johnson). Both teams got a lead-off runner on in the 10th but could not break the tie. In the top of the 11th, Henby collected a one-out single but Michael McCourt kept the game tied. 

All nine Pioneer starters collected hits in the game with Laurie, Pingitore, and Danny Doran (Irondequoit) all collecting three hits. Laurie was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI, Pingitore was 3 for 6 with 3 RBI, and Doran was 3 for 6. Johnson was 2 for 4 with 4 RBI while Holler, Henby, and Mike Gibson (Schenectady) collected two hits. Alfred State finished the contest with 19 hits but stranded nine runners.

Matthew McCourt, Keibler, Iellimo, Singer, and Mahon all had three hits for the Mounties. Keibler led the team with 4 RBI. MAC (27-14) collected 20 hits in the game. Michael McCourt allowed just two hits in 2.2 innings of relief work to earn the win.

The Pioneers took the opener of the three game series 5-1 but Mt. Aloysius took game 14-13 on Saturday. After Sunday's game three was postponed, the two teams had to wait until today to see who would advance to take on #1 LaRoche in the AMCC Final Four. 

The Pioneers were making their first appearance in the AMCC Tournament and are 20-21 on the season.