The Pioneer Baseball team played three games the week of March 25–29, this includes Prairie Grove, Siloam Springs, and Gravette.

The baseball team started in Praire Grove in the conference opener, and the Pioneers took a 2-4 loss.

On the mound, junior Drew Nash pitched through six innings and saw 26 batters. He gave up three hits and allowed zero earned runs.

Senior Riggs Harper went 1-2 with a single, one walk, and 2 RBIs. Junior Bennett Roberts went 1-2 with a double. Junior Houston Nance also went 1-3 with a single.

The Pioneers took a tough loss, but they continued on and played 7 miles down the road in Siloam Springs.

The Pioneers outclassed the 5A Panthers; they won 15-13 and had a great game to go with it.

On the mound was senior Bryson Woodall; who saw 16 total batters through 2 innings. He gave up 6 hits and 1 earned run, and got the win for the game.

Harper had a ball; he went 3-3 with a single, double, and triple. He almost completed the cycle and only lacked an HR; he also had 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases

Woodall also went off; he went 2-3 with 2 singles, an RBI, and one run scored. Nash went 2-5 with a single, a double, and a walk.

Nance, senior Brair Mayberry, and junior Bennett Roberts also scored in runs.

Ending the week, the Gravette Lions came down the road and had a rivalry game against the Pioneers, ending in a 16-3 Pioneer loss.

This game had a clear player, Harper. Harper was the starting pitcher and a prominent figure in the hitting game.

Harper started off the game pitching; he saw 24 batters through 4 innings, had 4 strikeouts, and gave up 8 hits and 9 earned runs.

He might not have had the best pitching game, but the hitting game shined through. He went 3-3 with 2 singles, 2 RBIs, one run scored, and lastly, a solo home run to right field.

This game helped earn Harper his SBLive Athlete of the Week nomination.

Nash went 1-3 with a single; Mayberry went 2-3 with 2 singles and an RBI; and Junior Mason Head went 1-1 with 2 walks.

Head Coach Anthony Nail said, “Confidence is what it’s all about…” continuing to say that the games after spring break are the ones that matter, and the two non-conferences after spring break are just for preparation.

But Nail said that playing these non-conference games gives “balance to the schedule,” and you need some easy and hard games. Nail said that playing teams you expect to beat helps you “gain some confidence and work on specific things without so much pressure,” but playing in harder games allows you to play with players better than you because of the higher student count at the school.

Nail said playing in higher-level schools helps you “learn a lot in those games because every success is just a little harder to attain: the pitchers throw a little harder, the batters strike out less, the defense makes fewer errors, and the baserunners will take more extra bases. When we can find success in these games, we know we can do it in conference games, too.”

Nail said the motivation so far for his team is to “find ways to improve,”

Nail continued saying, “If we’re playing our best baseball at the end of the year, we’re giving ourselves the best chance to advance in postseason play.”

Nail said that improvement is needed on his defense; the pitching game has shined through for the pioneers, but the errors have yet to. Nail said, “We can’t expect pitchers to strike everyone out ‘and don’t want them to because it drives up the pitch count quickly’.” It hurts pitchers’ arms and bodies to go through high-pitch count games such as the Siloam game that ended 15–13.

Nail said, “If the defense makes every routine play or almost everyone, we’re good enough on the mound and at the plate to win some big games.”

Freshman Eagan Harper said, “I feel pretty good about our season so far, we’ve gotten a lot better since the start.”

Overall, the baseball team has all the ingredients; they just need to put it all together.