(Bismarck, ND) The Pioneers were victorious over Blue Knights, 6-2, in the final game of the Region XIII Tournament.  The Blue Knights opened up scoring in the second inning, on a solo homer.  MCC evened things up at one in the top of the third inning when Will Riley singled on a 2-0 count, scoring one run.  The Pioneers pulled away for good with three runs in the fifth inning when TY Jones was struck by a pitch, driving in a run and Lewis Johnson doubled on the first pitch of the at bat, scoring two runs.

Jones took the win for the Pioneers. He went nine innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out three.

MCC smacked one home run on the day. Carson Hoke put one out in the eighth inning.

The Pioneers totaled ten hits in the game.  Riley, Johnson, and James Martin all collected two hits to lead the team.

With the win, the Pioneers are the 2019 Region XIII Champions and move on to host the District Championship on Saturday, May 18, starting at 1:00 pm.  Coach Brabant is looking forward to the matchup, "The team that comes out of the Iowa regional are always solid.  We will have our hands full and will have to play our best baseball to move past them...which you should in order to earn a shot at the World Series.  Since only 8 teams get to go to the World Series, the pathway to get there is extremely difficult.  When we earned the right to go the World Series years ago, we had to have a lot of things go our way and of course, they did.  Baseball becomes that 'odd' sport where you get as many chances on both offense and defense as the other team and you can't give free outs or take pitches off because they could be the difference maker.  There is a lot of parity this time of year.  It is special to be playing this weekend for the chance...there are a lot of teams whose seasons are over, but we are still together and all you need is a 'chip and a chair'.  Hopefully, we get dealt a good hand!"