  We compare the inclusive transverse momentum spectra of single pions above pT
= 3 GeV/c measured in proton-proton (p-p) collisions at sqrt(s) = 21.7 - 23.8
GeV, with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD (pQCD) predictions using
recent parametrizations of the parton densities and parton-to-pion
fragmentation functions. Although the dependence on the theoretical scales is
large, the calculations can reproduce the experimental results both in
magnitude and shape. Based on the existing data and on a pQCD
$\sqrt{s}$-rescaling of the measured spectra, we provide a practical
parametrization of the baseline p-p pion transverse momentum spectrum to be
compared to nucleus-nucleus collisions data at sqrt(s_NN) = 22.4 GeV.
