Asay, Gill sing round two blues at CNFR

With a combined score of 158 points for his first two rides, Cowley’s J.R. Vezain is making his first College National Finals Rodeo appearance one to remember. The former high school national champion was the leader after two rounds of bareback competition in Casper.

Vezain, competing alongside Powell’s Kaleb Asay as a member of the defending national champion Vernon College men’s team, opened the 2011 CNFR with an 80.5-point ride. His ride was the only one in the 37-rider field to score better than 80 points in the opening round.

An old rivalry will be rekindled this Saturday when yours truly takes part in the annual community hike at Heart Mountain. It has been two years since I last scaled to the top of this iconic Big Horn Basin landform.

As far as rivalries go, that makes it time for a rematch. Especially since in the time since our last encounter, yours truly has slammed through the invisible brick wall barrier of his 40th birthday. Time inevitably marches onward. Hopefully, Saturday will demonstrate that I can still keep pace.

Team tops Helena, Halos

The Powell Pioneers moved to 11-8 this American Legion baseball season after scoring a split of four games at Aaron’s Tournament in Billings over the weekend. The Pioneers scored wins over Helena and the Billings Halos, but fell to both Great Falls and the Billings Cardinals.

The team also played a doubleheader Monday night against Douglas. Results from that twinbill will appear in Thursday’s edition of the Powell Tribune.

NWC’s Gill takes no score on opening night in Casper

The 2011 College National Finals Rodeo opened Sunday night in Casper. For local products Kaleb Asay and J.R. Vezain, the night held good news. For Northwest College’s lone representative, the opening night wasn’t nearly as rosy.

Bareback rider Jordan Gill, the only NWC rider to earn a spot in college rodeo’s pinnacle event this season, failed to cover the eight seconds needed to earn a score. He was one of a scant number of riders who failed to take a score in round 1 and will need to turn in two solid rides in order to have any shot at advancing to this weekend’s final round.

Local Youth get taste of tourney action

The Powell Little League sent a minors-division team to Lovell for tournament action and had that team return with runner-up honors. The tournament was the first of the season for Powell.

Powell opened with a 10-0 loss to a more-experienced Cody team. Jacob Herd smacked a base hit in the contest while Kaelan Groves turned a double play from the shortstop position to provide the highlights.

Sheridan snaps Powell winning streak

Down late in a pair of games Tuesday afternoon, the Sheridan Troopers found a way to rally in the late innings and capture a doubleheader sweep against Powell in American Legion baseball action. Sheridan won the opener by a 9-3 count before winning the nightcap 5-4.

“We had a chance in both games and didn’t do the things we needed to do,” said Pioneer coach Mike Jameson. “I don’t know if it was the long weekend or what, but we didn’t look very motivated out there.”

Sheridan snaps Powell winning streak

Down late in a pair of games Tuesday afternoon, the Sheridan Troopers found a way to rally in the late innings and capture a doubleheader sweep against Powell in American Legion baseball action. Sheridan won the opener by a 9-3 count before winning the nightcap 5-4.

“We had a chance in both games and didn’t do the things we needed to do,” said Pioneer coach Mike Jameson. “I don’t know if it was the long weekend or what, but we didn’t look very motivated out there.”

Legion Team surrenders two runs in five games

The Powell Pioneers began the season concerned with how a short bench could impact the team’s pitching performance in tournaments this season. It’s probably a safe bet those concerns aren’t quite as big now.

Five Powell pitchers turned in five complete-game performances over the weekend as the Pioneers captured the championship of the Roy Peck Memorial wood bat tournament. In 31 innings of work, Powell pitchers surrendered just two runs over the weekend.

Legion Team surrenders two runs in five games

The Powell Pioneers began the season concerned with how a short bench could impact the team’s pitching performance in tournaments this season. It’s probably a safe bet those concerns aren’t quite as big now.

Five Powell pitchers turned in five complete-game performances over the weekend as the Pioneers captured the championship of the Roy Peck Memorial wood bat tournament. In 31 innings of work, Powell pitchers surrendered just two runs over the weekend.

Pioneers run-rule Lovell twice

The Powell Pioneers began Northwest Conference play last Wednesday with a doubleheader sweep of Lovell at Cowley. Jake Beuster threw a no-hitter in the opener as Powell took a 10-0 victory. The Pioneers were 13-2 winners in the nightcap.

Powell jumped on Lovell early in both games. The Pioneers tallied five runs in the first inning of game one and stretched that to a 9-0 lead after adding four runs in the second. The team cruised from there, adding one more run and ending the contest on the run rule.