Powell's 16-3 win over Cody widens conference gapThe Powell Pioneers American Legion baseball team tightened its grip on the Northwest Conference's No. 1 seed last Wednesday with a 16-3 home victory over Cody. The win keeps Powell unbeaten in conference play. More importantly, it gave the Pioneers a two-game cushion atop the Northwest Conference standings with just four conference games remaining to be played.

“We did a good job of going out and taking care of business,” said Pioneers head coach Mike Jameson. “We had another night where we did a good job of hitting the ball and putting it in play, and that's what we need to do.”

While Powell generated just half of the offensive output it tallied the night before in Cody, the 16 runs posted were more than enough to take care of business and end the nine-inning game early via the run rule. The Pioneers hammered out 19 hits in the contest.

Colter Bostick carried Powell's biggest stick at the plate, ending the game 3-for-4 with a trio of RBIs. Tyler England added a 3-for-5 performance that included a double and a triple. Colt Nix, Olie Olson and Scotty Jameson each produced two hits on the night.

Pioneer batters struck out just twice in the contest.

All that offense was more than enough for Scotty Jameson, who threw a complete game victory as Powell's pitcher of record. Jameson threw all seven innings for the Pioneers, allowing just four hits and three runs. Cody batters struck out 12 times against the Pioneers' veteran.

With the win, Powell improves to 27-11-2 for the summer. More importantly, the team is now 8-0 in conference play and holds a two-game lead with four games to play in the chase for a No. 1 seed at the district tournament.

“We need to keep playing hard,” said Mike Jameson of the regular season's final three weeks. “Cody's a good team and we have to play them two more times. They're going to come after us. We've got Jackson twice as well, and they've shown they can be dangerous.

“The keys for us are to keep moving forward and improving. We need to keep doing the fundamental things well and then try to peak at the right time.”

The Pioneers host Green River today (Tuesday) in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Powell took a pair of games from Green River earlier this season during tournament action in Riverton.

Powell also travels to Casper this week for four days of tournament baseball action, starting on Thursday, July 8. The Pioneers will play five games over the space of four days, including several against Colorado opponents.

“It was an opportunity to see some new teams and play some folks that we wouldn't otherwise get to face,” Jameson said of the event, which is new to the Pioneers' schedule.