Published: August 14, 2008 12:17 am      

Junior Pioneers pull out victory

Judicious use of pitching and a three-run homer by center fielder Erik Spitzer kept Zanesville alive for another day on Wednesday.

Schenectady was eliminated on the 8-7 decision at Roxbury Park, despite nearly overcoming a four-run deficit in the eighth inning.

“It was a good ballgame,” said PNA manager Todd Godlewski. “Both teams played well. But, we left a lot of guys on base (11), and we didn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”

Schenectady stepped out to an early lead with three first-inning runs. Jay Freethy led off with a double and Jordan Emerson singled. David Raczka singled Freethy home and Emerson scored on Jay Osborne’s single.

Then, Justin Englehart was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Spitzer singled in the second and scored on an error, and the Junior Pioneers added three more runs in the third for a lead.

The outburst started with Wade Kaido’s double. Kaido scored on Jordan Foster’s sacrifice, Chaz Mohler walked and scored on a sac fly by Spitzer, and Nathan Van Meter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Schenectady tied the game at 4 in the fifth when Dan Conley singled and was brought home by Justin Englehart’s grounder.

Zanesville got the upper hand again in the top of the seventh.

Mohler singled, Van Meter walked and Spitzer followed with a home run over the left-center field fence. Kyle Stoughton then walked and scored on Kaido’s grounder to deep left, giving the Pioneers an 8-4 advantage.

“That was the gamewinner,” Zanesville manager Doug Pollock said. “It feels pretty good. We hadn’t played well the last two or three weeks in our league, had a week off, then came here. They’re loving this.”

But, the PNA carved three runs off that lead with an eighth-inning rally after Evan Davis walked. Freethy singled and Emerson greeted reliever Jordan Buchanan with a double, scoring Davis. Raczka’s double scored Freethy and Emerson, making the score 8-7.

Schenectady threatened in the bottom of the ninth when Justin Hallock walked and advanced on Davis’ single. Pinch-runner Ken Cook replaced Hallock at second, but Ryan Nutter, who had relieved Buchanan after the eighth, ended the threat with his third strikeout of the inning.

“We showed a lot of heart coming back from four down,” Godlewski said. “We had the tying run on second and the winning run at first. You can’t ask for much more than that. We just didn’t get the big hit.”

Zanesville starter Jared Jesse gave up 10 hits and struck out six in 72⁄3 innings before yielding to Buchanan, who went two innings, then gave way to Nutter.

“We had very clutch performances from the three guys who pitched,” the Zanesville manager said. “As coaches, we changed pitchers at the right time. I think we backed up the team by making a couple of right decisions, but the team won the game. Spitzer got a big hit, and Kaido had two or three big hits for us. We executed some bunts that helped us early on. It was a total team thing.”