Pilots Notch Upset Win, Will Play for League Tourney Title

The Pilots (1-0) jumped out early and didn’t look back, picking up a huge upset win over BSAL #1 seed Albany in Thursday’s league tournament opener.  Senior Billy Johnson got it going by depositing the game’s first pitch over the right field fence.  Seven runs, 12 hits and a brilliant pitching performance from senior Garrett Rich later, the pilots walked away with a 7-3 W.  Sean Harding finished with three hits, and Jon Dyer and Nikko DeGrano finished with two apiece.

The win sets up a rubber match at crosstown rival Encinal for a share of the BSAL title, a higher NCS ranking and island bragging rights.  The two teams split the regular season series, each winning lopsided affairs on the opponent’s home field.  When adding the scores, the series was tied at 24.  Here’s hoping for a pitcher’s duel.  Gametime is 3:45.  Be there!

Pilots Finish Strong, Sweeping Final Regular Season Week

In the wake of a disappointing split last week, the Pilots (14-10, 10-6) bounced back strong with a couple of huge wins to close out the end of the regular season.  Wednesday’s showdown with Kennedy was tight through a few innings, but the Pilots were able to pull away by swinging the sticks.

Christopher Livingston, Sean Harding, Ollie Cunningham and Nikko DeGrano all finished with multi-hit games, and Billy Johnson chipped in with a double to key the 10-hit attack.  DeGrano also picked up the win in relief of starter Garrett Rich, who threw well but was removed to conserve pitch count.  The Pilots walked away with a 14-3 win on Senior Day.

Friday’s 9-7 road win over Salesian was a wild see-saw battle that saw multiple lead changes, extra base hits, an elastic strike zone and the Pilots closing the season with a come-from-behind W against a BSAL Catholic school rival.  Rich picked up the win with four plus innings of quality relief, and the Pilots banged out 11 hits and took advantage of numerous extra chances given by sloppy defense and pitching by host Salesian.

Johnson, Harding, Alex Alvarez and Justin Oilar all finished with two hits each, and the Pilots simply played more mistake-free baseball than the opponent.

The focus now shifts fully to playoffs, as the Pilots have clinched the four slot in the BSAL and will face 1-seed Albany on the road on Wednesday.  Gametime is TBD.  Winner of that game will get the winner of Encinal-St. Mary’s on Friday.  A strong showing equates to a higher ranking in NCS.  Hope to see you at the park!

Pilots Jump Out Early, Bury Encinal

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.

Lucky Sixes for Pilots in BSAL Win Over St. Pat’s

After an early season marked by inconsistency and inability to put together a complete game with the bats and the gloves, the Pilots (2-3, 1-3) took a major step forward, earning a hard-fought win against defending NCS-champion St. Patrick/St. Vincent and now have a chance to square their record in game six.

Originally scheduled for last Wednesday but moved because of rain, the BSAL home game got off to a less than auspicious start, as St. Pat’s jumped out to a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of an error.

Starter Matt Hermann put a stop to it with two K’s to end the first inning and never looked back, finishing the game by tossing six scoreless. On the game, Hermann scattered four hits and dodged five errors, finishing with only one walk and 10 Ks.

On the offensive side, the blue and orange cut the lead in half early but exploded for six runs in the sixth inning. Hermann helped himself drawing a walk to get it going. Billy Johnson followed with a ringing opposite field double off the wall to put runners at second and third. After Justin Oiler was hit by a pitch, Christopher Livingston roped a fastball into the left center gap for a 3-run double in front of Jon Dyer plating two more with his first home run of the year.

Weather permitting, the Pilots return to action tomorrow at Piedmont at 3:45. Great win today, boys…let’s be able to stand prosperity and keep it going.

Pilots Bats go Dark in 5-3 Loss to Swett

Well…learned something else today.  We ain’t gonna win ’em all.  In a game shortened by a disputed call of darkness after 5 1/2 innings, the Pilots were unable to dig out of the hole caused by Swett’s 5-run fifth inning.

Behind a gritty performance on the mound from Nick Hassel, the blue and orange went into the 5th inning with a 2-0 lead, even threatening to add to it in the top half of the frame before a caught stealing short-circuited a rally.  Swett broke through in the bottom half of the inning with five, as Hassel ran out of gas and gave way to Freddy Ramirez.

The Pilots answered back in the top half of the sixth with a ringing leadoff double from Christopher Livingston who was pushed around on a right side ground ball from Jon Dyer and a single from Ramirez.  Dyer finished the day 1-3 with a 2B.

As you might have guessed…practice tomorrow morning! See you before 10, boys.  Five minutes early is five minutes late.