What a difference a few weeks makes. After taking an absolute beating in the first game of the series, the Pilots (8-4, 6-3) brought the sticks out and answered back, picking off their crosstown rival Encinal 20-6. Every starter had at least one of the team’s 17 hits, and the blue and orange scored at least one run in every inning.
The Pilots struck first with a leadoff double from Billy Johnson and capitalized on an error and a free pass before Nikko DeGrano struck the big blow with a two-run home run to push the lead to 4-0. Encinal answered with one in the bottom of the frame, courtesy of a leadoff walk but would get nothing else until the game was out of reach.
After going a few games without the benefit of an extra base hit, the Pilots strung them together in bunches today, as Sean Harding went 2-4 with a double and a triple, and Christopher Livingston and Ollie Cunningham both finished 3-4 with a double. DeGrano finished the day 3-6 with three RBI, and Johnson finished 2-3 with a double. 
Starter Matt Hermann, who also had a double, quietly put together an outstanding start, scattering seven hits and three walks over six innings to pick up the win. He finished with three earned runs allowed and two strikeouts.
The win concludes a string of seven games in two weeks, which saw the Pilots finish 6-1 but a perfect 5-0 in BSAL contests. The team gets a bit of a breather, as the program celebrates its history with the alumni game tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m. at Upper Washington Park before it returns to BSAL action with St. Mary’s and St. Pat’s next week.
SJND Pilots Baseball 
Great win Pilots! Congratulations to you and your coaches.
Survivor sang:
“It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the cream of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watchin’ us all in the eye of the tiger”.