Legion season gets started for PowellThe Powell Pioneers raised the curtain on the 2012 summer season over the weekend, splitting a home doubleheader against the Billings Halos on Saturday and a road twinbill at Livingston, Mont., on Sunday. Saturday’s games took place only after team officials pushed the time for first pitch back three hours after early morning rains in Powell.

Once the season got started, the Halos cracked the scoreboard in the third inning against Powell starter Josh Cragoe. Cragoe gave way to Frankie Vogt in the fourth inning as the Halos gradually built a 6-0 lead.

Powell got onto the scoreboard with a two-run home run to right field off the bat of returning all-state selection Seth Gilmore, but the Halos continued to add to their lead in what would eventually be a 9-3 victory for the Billings team.

The nightcap was a different story as Pioneers newcomer Ty Whiteman threw a complete game after also pitching the final inning of the early game. Whiteman surrendered just two unearned runs, but was only assured of the win when Cory Heny, another newcomer to the Powell Legion program this season, raced home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 deadlock.

“Ty’s performance was probably the story of the weekend,” said Pioneers coach Mike Jameson. “We knew he could throw, but to come out and give us a complete game and allow just two unearned runs was outstanding. Now we just need to work on consistency so we can get that sort of effort throughout the summer.”

Elsewhere, the Pioneers’ coach noted the team looked rough around the edges at times during the doubleheader.

“We had some baserunning errors in the first game and in the second we left an awful lot of people on base,” said Jameson. “We’ll work to sharpen that up and improve our approach. On the other side, I was happy with the way we were hitting balls with the wood bats tonight. We’ve got room to improve in a lot of areas though.”

On Sunday, the Pioneers traveled to Montana with a slimmed-down team. Jameson estimated seven players did not make the trip with the team for various reasons.

“We had a chance to play a lot of our younger kids,” said Jameson. “We were definitely a short-handed team.”

That hardly mattered in the opener as the Pioneers handed the ball to Gilmore on the mound. The Miles Community College signee delivered with a complete-game, 10-strikeout performance in a 7-2 Powell victory.

Gilmore helped himself out with some solid hitting at the plate. Olie Olson added a two-run triple and Gage Henderson came through with an RBI double to help the Pioneers score the win.

The second game was a different story as the Pioneers’ youth showed through in several fielding errors and a 17-7 run-rule loss. Heny suffered the loss on the hill for Powell.

“Some of those younger guys were playing out of position and kind of got thrown into the fire at the Legion level,” said Jameson. “It might have been a little overwhelming. Heny threw well. We just didn’t have a defense behind him today.”

Full stats from Sunday’s games were unavailable on Monday morning.

The Pioneers return to action this Sunday with a doubleheader at Sheridan. Game one against the Troopers will get started at 1 p.m. The twinbill will be the team’s last action prior to the Billings Memorial Day tournament.