It was a special afternoon at The Pipe Yard on Sunday.

The beloved Noemi Pagan’s son Antonio threw out the ceremonial first pitch, the International Queens made guest appearances, Mickey and Minnie Mouse made cameos, Sammy DeLeon performed a postgame concert and Sacred Heart Chapel Day brought out The Pipe Yard’s third largest crowd of the season to see the Ironmen end their 11-game losing streak, defeating the Slippery Rock Sliders, 5-3.

The win improved the Ironmen to 19-32, and snapped an ugly 11-game skid.

"It was a good win, collectively," Ironmen manager Eric Cormell said. "When you get in a streak like that, the monkey on your back gets bigger and bigger. We had a meeting before the game and talked about eliminating the pressure and just doing what got you here."

Mike Grieco delivered the game-winner, a two-run single that plated Billy Urban and Will Hodges to break a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning. Urban led things off by beating out an infield single, then moved to second after Hodges drew a walk.

"After having a rough first three at-bats, that felt better than anything," Grieco said of the game-winner. "I have to give credit to my coaches and my team. They kept my head in the game … It feels great. It makes the game a hell of a lot funner. It’s no fun losing."

It was then ‘Brua Time’, as Avon’s Phil Brua came on to close the game out, picking up his league-leading ninth save. Brua allowed a single, but then struck out the next batter before inducing a ground-ball out to end the game.

The Ironmen found themselves down 3-1, but tied the game in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Stephen Hagen, scoring Justin Mackert, who led off with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher. Nate Antone’s groundout to third scored Evan Melendez, who was hit-by-pitch and stole second, to tie the game at 3.

Starting pitcher Aaron Hilt, who came into the game with an 0-7 record, pitched a solid 6 1/3 innings, striking out five, while allowing just one unearned run and five hits. Four errors by his defense led to two unearned runs.

"Hilt has been good all year," Cormell said. "His record really doesn’t show how well he’s pitched. I don’t know if he’s got a black cat at home or something, but he’s had some rough outings where either we make a lot of errors or we don’t score a lot of runs. He’s a really good pitcher and has a bright future."

Amherst graduate Tony Naso relieved Hilt and walked the first batter he faced, before getting the next two guys out on a groundout and a pop out to the catcher. He also pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning that included a strikeout to pick up his first win.

"It feels great," said Naso, who pitched in front family and friends. "It’s really nice to get a win again … Now we have to get ready for the next game."

Down 1-0 early, the Ironmen tied the game when Urban drew a bases-loaded walk, scoring Matt McAllester, who started things off with a one-out infield single. Hagen and Antone followed with singles, but were stranded when Hodges hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat.

A routine fly ball to right field that should’ve ended the inning was dropped by Mackert, costing the Ironmen a pair of runs. The three-base error scored Erick Miranda, who singled, all the way from first base to take a 2-1 lead. Sam Sivilotti then followed with an RBI single to score Sean Mahley, who was at third on the error, making it a 3-1 Sliders advantage.

"The hardest thing in sports when you mess up, you gotta keep your head level," Mackert said. "I always try to hustle on the bases. Getting a hit, stealing some bags and try to make things happen like that. It was nice to redeem myself after that mishap in the outfield ... It feels great just to get a win. I hate losing and everyone on the team does to."

Mackert was also able to make up for his error in the fourth inning when he caught a Kyle Mossbarger flyball, then fired a strike to catcher Mike Grieco to nab a sliding Matt Baer at the plate to halt a rally. The inning started with two men on base with no outs. Aaron Hilt struck out Brady Stewart before the inning-ending double play.