Be aggressive, capitalize on opportunities when they come and then make things happen when given the chance. It was a pretty simple strategy. But after Pioneer High School's baseball team hadn't managed to do much of that against Huron ace Jalen Bouma earlier this season, Pioneers coach Jerry Holley made certain his team didn't have a repeat performance in Tuesday's Division 1 pre-district game. Pioneer made the most of its chances to build an early lead before taking an aggressive approach at the plate during a seven-run fifth inning that led to the Pioneers' 11-3 win over their crosstown rivals at Dexter High School.

With the win, the Pioneers (24-12) advance to Saturday's district semifinal against Pinckney. The winner will face either Dexter or Brighton in the district title game. Brighton knocked off Howell, 10-3, in Tuesday's other pre-district game.

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As if the start of the post-season didn't create enough incentive to play well, getting another chance at Huron and at Bouma - this time in a do-or-die scenario - only fueled Pioneer. "We liked it because we wanted that challenge, we wanted to come back and beat Bouma...that was important for us," Holley said. "We've been in a little bit of a rut and so putting 11 runs on the board is important and so we're in a nice spot." Pioneer built an early lead, taking advantage of an error and a poorly-thrown toss on a close play at first base to go along with the first of five RBI doubles the Pioneers put together in the win. Huron (16-18) temporarily drew even in the fifth on Ned Messmore's run-scoring single before taking advantage of a Pioneer error that helped the River Rats load the bases with only one out. But after a missed squeeze bunt sign led to a runner being picked off third base, Huron missed a golden chance to add more to its run total. It didn't take long for Pioneer to regain the lead. This time for good. Pioneer responded by scoring seven runs, blending three run-scoring doubles with a pair of walks, and two hit batters that enabled the Pioneers to break the game open. Will Nimke and Andy Creal each doubled in runs before Huron elected to walk Jack Scheel to get to sophomore Travis Maezes. Maezes, who already had two hits in three plate appearances, drove a Bouma hanging curve to the wall, clearing the bases, adding to the offensive onslaught. "I kind of took (the intentional walk to Scheel) as an insult," Maezes said. "Maybe they thought the pressure was going to get to me, but it didn't really faze me and I found a pitcher I could drive." Miles Sorise came through with the fourth RBI double of the inning, driving in Maezes before Pioneer tacked on another run in the sixth - this time on a wild pitch. For Huron, the collection of mental mistakes - both defensively and on the base paths - all added up on a day when the River Rats couldn't afford to give Pioneer any more support than its potent offense had already provided.

"It was almost like our heads weren't in it the whole day," Huron coach Terry Bigham said. "We made a lot of mental errors that I think led to a lot of our physical errors. It's just really disappointing. I thought we'd show up to play today and I just think it's one of the worst games we've played all year.

"It's a tough way to go out ... especially against Pioneer." While Huron's season ended on a bitter note, the Pioneers' redemptive Tuesday leaves them two wins from a district title. After finishing the regular season struggling to produce runs, Tuesday's breakout performance may not have come at a better time as the Pioneers got contributions all the way through its line-up. The next step comes Saturday when the Pioneers hope to keep things rolling. It didn't hurt that their first step came against such a familiar foe. "It's great getting some hits and getting our bats alive," Maezes said. "We've been struggling at the plate and throwing a lot of goose eggs (on the scoreboard). We haven't been happy with our performance and so it was great to come out against our cross-town rivals and beat them and beat 'em pretty good." Jeff Arnold covers sports for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by email at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.