Huge 5th Inning Propels Pinnacle Past Rival Horizon 9-5

The Pinnacle Pioneers scored 4 runs in the 5th inning to defeat their rival Horizon Huskies 9-5 on Friday night. 

For both teams, it would be a slow start in the first two innings with the Pioneers getting it done on the mound with their pitching.

Senior pitcher Noah Weiss would get off to a hot start and begin the first inning with two strikeouts. 

At the top of the second inning, the first run of the game would be scored. 

Getting one of the first hits of the game was Pinnacle junior Hawk Licari, who was able to hit a single. 

Throughout the inning, due to errors, Licari was able to advance to third base. 

Licari would eventually get help from his teammate, junior Will Newman, who hit a sacrifice fly to bring Licari home.

After two innings, Pinnacle led 1-0. 

In the third inning, each team would start to find the ball with precision. 

The Pioneers got out to their largest lead of the contest. 

Opening up the top of the third inning, senior Colin Kersten hit a lead-off double. 

Sophomore Chase Gonzalez hit an RBI single to deep center field, which brought home Kersten. 

Gonzalez wouldn’t be left stranded on the bases for long as senior Raul Escobar brought Gonzalez in for a run. 

The scoring wouldn’t stop there, though. 

Licari's second hit of the game was an RBI double that brought junior Erik Moo in to score.

Then, rounding out the impressive inning, junior Maddox Wahlenmaier hit an RBI single for the fourth run of the inning and fifth run overall. 

After allowing an explosion at the top of the third inning, Horizon would be able to come back swinging. 

Opening up the bottom of the third, senior outfielder Jake Giraud would be disciplined at the plate and get a walk. 

The Huskies would then get back-to-back singles from junior outfielder Braden Weber and senior outfielder Kanon Faseler fully load the bases.

The Huskies would then proceed to make it a game with one single swing.

Stepping up to the plate was senior catcher Jackson Weber, who would proceed to smash the ball 400 feet into center field for a grand slam.

Just like that, Horizon would cut Pinnacle's lead to just one run. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Horizon was able to tie the game up with Braden Weber's sacrifice fly.

Heading into the fifth inning, the game was tied at five. 

The Pioneers would make sure to regroup and start to pull away again at the top of the fifth.

Opening up the fifth inning, Moo would be the first batter. 

Moo would crush the ball to right field for a solo home run. 

The Huskies were throwing a lot of fastballs at Moo, and he realized he had to send one over the fences. 

“He was just throwing straight heaters,” Moo said. “I wanted to jump on one and help my boys out.”

Helping out is exactly what he did as the rest of the team fed off the energy from his home run. 

The Pioneers would go on to add three more runs in the inning. 

Wahlenmaier, who already had an RBI in the game, hit a two-run RBI single that would send Escobar and senior Cole Hirsch to home plate. 

Getting a run of his own, Wahlenmaier scored off of Kersten's sacrifice fly to deep center field. 

With a 9-5 lead, Pinnacle relied on its pitching to close the game out. 

One of the best pitchers of the night was senior pitcher Dylan Fisher, who was able to get multiple strikeouts and get his team to the seventh inning with no more runs scored.

Fisher, who is normally a starter, was called upon to get some crucial innings pitched for the Pioneers, and Pinnacle head coach Austin Byler said he was ready for it.  

“He’s our Ace and the dude shoves,” Byler said. “I told him earlier this week you’re alive on Friday. You’re gonna come into the game and shut it down for a couple of innings.” 

Doing just that, Fisher would be able to set up the closing pitcher with a solid lead. 

Closing the game out was Pinnacle senior pitcher Alex Korbsmeyer, who would allow no hits and get multiple strikeouts to finish the game. 

Pinnacle is now 7-2 on the season, and they are looking forward to keeping their momentum alive. 

“I like where we are headed. We've got a big week ahead,” Byler said. “I’m excited for the second half of the year.” 

Next up: 7-2 Pinnacle will participate in the Best of the West Baseball Invitational. 4-6 Horizon will look to get back on track as they take on Queen Creek in the Boras Baseball Classic.

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