For the first time in 318 days, the Pilots have suffered a loss at home.
Peninsula (13-4) fell to Wilson (7-10) 14-7 snapping its four-game winning streak and franchise-best nine-game win streak to start the 2021 home campaign.
Peninsula shot itself in the foot all night and it started from the first pitch on.
Daniel Cole’s first pitch was skied into left field for Ethan Hunter — who slid from his usual second base to the outfield to make space for high school graduate Carson DeMartini.
Hunter looked to have read the ball well off the bat for a typical infielder, but the wind — which was blowing straight out to center field — carried all the way to the warning track and was dropped for a two-base error.
Two sacrifice flies later and the Pilots were down 2-0 after the top of the first, trailing in their first game since the second inning of Thursday’s 15-10 win over Tri-City.
The Pilots — now down 4-0 — battled back in the bottom of the second, loading the bases for Alden Mathes who chopped a routine grounder to Tobs second baseman Drew DeVine.
DeVine booted it and Peninsula looked to be mounting a comeback, but junior first baseman Luke Zimmerman rounded the third base bag too far, getting nabbed on a 4-5 back-pick from DeVine to end the Pilots’ threat.
Mathes added another run on a line-drive single to center field in the bottom of the fifth, drawing the Pilots within striking distance, cutting the game to 4-2.
Lefty Trey Morgan trotted back out in the top of the sixth for his second inning of work, inducing a groundout to Zimmerman at first before giving up a walk and a single.
With one out, Wilson third baseman Dylan Scaranda grounded a ball to Zimmerman who fired over to shortstop Jack Dragum who was covering second base. The potential inning-ending double-play ball tipped off the end of Dragum’s glove and all three runners were safe.
The next batter, shortstop Greg Mattis, smashed a 388-foot three-run bomb to the parking lot in left field, putting the lid on the Tobs’ four-run inning — three of which were unearned.
The Pilots got a gift of their own in the bottom of the sixth when Dragum popped a ball straight up to the pitcher’s mound. Two Tobs players collided and the ball fell in play for a hit.
Dragum took advantage of nobody covering second, rounding first and turning the single into a double. Wilson’s center fielder came sprinting in to make up for the defensive indifference but pitcher Justin Guidos’ throw sailed behind the last line of defense and into a vacant center field, allowing Dragum to cruise home on the two-base error, cutting the deficit to 8-5.
The Tobs erupted in the top of the eighth for five runs, adding an insurance run in the top of the ninth.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Pilots grabbed a pair of runs on a wild pitch from Michael Yuille and an RBI walk from Mathes — his team-best 17th of the year.
The Pilots are off Tuesday, but turn back around and head to Colonial Heights, Virginia to face off against familiar foe Tri-City Wednesday at noon. Peninsula currently holds a 5-1 record against the Chili Peppers in 2021.