Even with its new tarp to protect the infield, Cornell's home baseball field doesn't come close to the surface the Raiders played on last Thursday.

Once again this year, Cornell had the chance to play an exhibition game at PNC Park, the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, losing to Class AA opposition in Avonworth, 11-5 in six innings.

"It's a lot of fun coming out here and seeing the field," Cornell senior Matt Korzen said. "It's a lot better than ours."

The final score wasn't relevant, because the game did not count toward either team's regular season record. It was shortened from the regulation seven innings because of a two-hour time limit enforced to allow a college game between Allegheny and Clarion to be played afterward.

For those reasons, the emphasis was on allowing all the players a chance to play, which Cornell accomplished by the end of the fifth inning.

"That's definitely the name of the game out here," Cornell coach Nate Torboli said.

"Win or lose, the reason we come down is to have fun and enjoy the day. We want to make sure that all the kids get on the field and get an experience that a lot of kids don't get to have."

"It's nice to get all the young kids a chance to get some time on the field, and it's good to get a break from section games," Korzen said.

Where last year's game was a pitching battle between the Raiders and Redbank Valley, 2-0 winners last April, this year's game had plenty of offense and plenty of chances for the players to get moving on the basepaths.

Avonworth scored in the top of the first on an RBI fielder's choice by Liam Coughlin, which would be the only run allowed by Cornell sophomore Jamie Byron in three innings of work. Byron had four strikeouts, allowing just two hits and walking one.

Cornell got on the board in the bottom of the first, after a leadoff single by Christian Jackson. The speedy junior stole second and advance to third on a fly ball before scoring on a groundout by Korzen.

The game stayed tied into the bottom of the third, when the Raiders added two more runs.

Jake Almasy's RBI single scored Billy Mackey and Byron scored on a groundout by Nick Whitaker, as the Raiders stayed aggressive on the basepaths. On the day, Cornell had three stolen bases, from Jackson, Mackey and Charles Dolgos.

Starting in the fourth, Avonworth began to get to the Cornell pitching, as Torboli kept his best arms off the mound to save them for section play.

"We didn't throw our best today, but we were basically throwing our fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth guys," Torboli said.

"But we're starting to get all the guys in the (batter's) box coming around swinging the bats. We got a big win in section against Monessen (9-1, on April 16) and we're really starting to turn it on."

In the top of the fourth, Avonworth took a 5-3 lead on RBI by Scotty Barlek and Ryan Schmid, while two more runs scored on wild pitches during the inning.

The Antelopes added five more runs in the fifth, only one of which was earned on a sacrifice fly by Mark Barlek. The other runs were all contributed to by errors, as Cornell started to struggle defensively with players in new positions and with young players entering the game for the first time.

At the plate, the Raiders got back in rhythm in the bottom of the fifth, adding two more runs of their own to cut the lead to 10-5.

Back-to-back singles by Ryan McCutcheon and Korzen started the rally, and McCutcheon scored when the Avonworth outfield misplayed a fly ball by Zach Shibner in the next at-bat. Dan Bosetti followed with an RBI single, scoring pinch runner Jon Sims from third.

Avonworth got its last run in the sixth, when Cameron Beer scored on another wild pitch, while the Raiders went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning. The sixth ended after 11 a.m. -- the curfew imposed on the 9 a.m. start -- causing the game to be ended at that point.

With the fun of another trip to PNC Park behind them, Cornell returned its attention to section play the next day.

A 3-1 loss to Clairton took some of the luster off the Raiders recent offensive success, but on Monday, Cornell got and 8-3 win over an Avella team that was previously unbeaten in Section 2-A games.

"Right now we're sitting in the third spot for the playoffs, but we're not going to settle for that. We're trying to get up to first or second, but at least get into the playoffs and back to where we were last year," Torboli said.

McCutcheon recorded the win pitching for Cornell, benefiting from a six-run lead after three innings. Jackson and Bosetti both doubled twice in the game, while both Mackey and Byron had three of the Raiders' 14 hits.

"We wanted to take the section this year, but we let a few close ones get away," Korzen said. "But we're going to fight back and make the playoffs."

At 6-8 overall and 4-5 in the section through Monday's play, the Raiders had sole possession of the third and final playoff spot by one game over OLSH (4-7, 3-6).

Cornell still has two section games remaining against the rival Chargers, including one scheduled for yesterday at OLSH's Youthtowne home field in Clinton.

The Raiders also face Clairton (2-5, 2-5) twice and one-win Monessen in their final seven section games, meaning Cornell still has a favorable schedule toward a repeat playoff berth.