by: Andy Malnoske (mytwintiers.com)
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – The Elmira Pioneers surged past visiting Newark Wednesday night.
On the strength of a two-run homer by Joe Muzio in the bottom of the fifth inning, Elmira topped the Pilots 4-2 at Dunn Field. With the victory, combined with a loss by Batavia, the Pioneers (26-15) are now in first place in the PGCBL West in the final week of the regular season.
Batavia (25-15) lost to Niagara 3-2 Wednesday in a weather-shortened game. Elmira now leads by one game in the win column and will look to lock up a home playoff game for the first time since 2017 this week.
Cooper Smith added two hits and two RBI for Elmira and Bath’s Griffin Yastremski pitched five innings on the mound with five strikeouts. Yastremski only gave up three hits and one run on the night improving his record to (2-2) on the season.
Next up for Elmira is a road game at Auburn Thursday night before the home regular season finale Friday night against Newark. Stick with 18 Sports for more on the Pioneers and their PGCBL playoff push.