The Powell Pioneers ‘C’ and ‘B’ teams competed in midseason tournaments this past weekend, with the ‘C’ team participating in its home tournament and the ‘B’ team heading on the road to Casper.

‘C’ TEAM RECAP

A wet and rainy weekend led to constant delays and changes for the Pioneers home tournament, leading to less games being played over the weekend.

The weekend started off with a slugfest against the Billings 13’s on Friday.

Despite only getting one hit in the first inning, the Pioneers scored five runs through a combination of players hit by pitches, walks and wild pitches to take a 5-0 lead early.

Billings responded with five runs of its own in the top of the second, tying the score 5-5.

In the bottom half of the inning Dakota Erickson led off with a double and Decker Engesser was walked to put two on.

Consecutive steals allowed Erickson to steal home and Xander Clark hit a single to bring in Engesser and make it 7-5.

That score held until the top of the fourth, when Billings scored five to take a 10-7 lead.

Powell cut back into the lead in the bottom half after Dominik Bieber hit a double, Engesser was walked — allowing Bieber to eventually score on an error to make it 10-8.

Clark walked and Pratt Wambeke hit a sac bunt to advance the runners. A balk brought in Engesser and it was 10-9 heading into the fifth.

Billings exploded in the fifth, bringing in 12 runs to quickly take control of the contest.

Powell was able to get one back in the fifth but was unable to cut it below 10 runs with the game being called after the fifth at 22-10.

Erickson, Engesser, Clark, Ryder Stewart and Gabe McMillin finished with an RBI apiece in the contest.

After a rainy Friday night the Pioneers game was moved to Saturday morning, matching up with the Green River ‘C’ team.

The Knights kicked things off with five runs in the top of the first, with Powell searching for an answer early.

In the bottom half of the inning, Carter Fauskee walked and stole a base before Erickson hit a single to put Powell in prime position with runners on the corners and no outs.

Fauskee scored on a passed ball with Erickson advancing to third and scoring on a Clark ground out to make it 5-2.

Wambeke and Owen Jones walked along with Stewart to bring in a run before Wambeke eventually scored on a passed ball and Powell had cut the lead down to 5-4 after the first.

Green River scored three more in the top of the second, and Powell again needed an answer.

That answer did not come before the Knights extended the lead out even further to 15-4 over the fourth and fifth innings.

Bieber singled in the fifth and advanced on multiple passed balls to score — making the final score 15-5 with the mercy rule once again being invoked.

The final game of the weekend shifted to Sunday after a contest against Lovell was rained out, and the Pioneers took on the Gillette ‘C’ team.

Gillette put two on the board in the top of the first, and Powell answered after a walk to Clark, who stole second before being brought in on a Erickson double to make it 2-1 after the first.

Gillette quickly pushed out the lead to 9-1 in the second, and extended it further out to 12-1 in the third.

A walk to Engesser, a single by Bieber and Fauskee being hit by a pitch loaded the bases with one out before Wambeke brought in one — but Powell still trailed 12-2 after the third.

Two walks to Joel Baxter and Clark led off the fourth and Erickson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Two straight outs put Powell in a bind, before a double by Fauskee, a single by Wambeke, a single by Jones, walks to Stewart and Baxter alongside a pair of singles by Clark and Erickson brought in a total of seven runs and put the Pioneers back in the contest down 12-9.

Unfortunately for Powell time ran out on a comeback, with the time limit being reached after the fifth inning.

The Pioneers currently sit with a 7-10 record with the state tournament scheduled for a month from now in Douglas.

‘B’ TEAM RECAP

A similar rainy weekend greeted the Pioneer ‘B’ team in Casper, with Powell playing three games in over three days.

Powell started the weekend strong, coming out with a victory over Laramie.

The Pioneers got on the board after Jordan Loera walked to lead off the second, Kaiden Apodaca was hit by a pitch and Talon Nuss hit a sac bunt to advance the runners.

A single by Brenton Henke brought in a run but Powell was unable to bring in more, leading 1-0.

Kolby Gates got on in the third on an error which allowed him to reach second, and he eventually scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 2-0.

Laramie answered with a pair of runs in the fourth to tie the contest 2-2.

Loera and Apodaca singled to lead off the fourth, eventually stealing home and reclaiming the lead 3-2.

Henke walked and a single by Ben Ostermiller brought in a run. A double by Gates brought in a pair and Powell took a 6-2 lead after the fourth inning.

Rowan Diaz walked to lead off the fifth and Loera hit a single to put two on.

Both runners advanced on a passed ball and an error on Apodaca’s hit brought in a run to make it 7-2.

The final run came on a Henke single to make the final 8-2.

Loera finished with the win giving up five hits and two earned with three strikeouts.

In the second matchup the Pioneers came up against the host Casper Wildcatters, where a late lead was lost in walk off fashion for the Pioneers.

A double by Gates followed by a single from Ostermiller put Powell up 1-0 early after the first.

Ryan Barrus walked, Gates singled and Ostermiller walked to load the bases with one out in the top of the third, and Max Reynolds eventually brought in a pair on a single to make it 3-0.

Casper got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the lead to 3-1.

They again cut the lead in the sixth, scoring one more to make it 3-2.

In the seventh Casper was able to complete the comeback with a pair of runs to make it 4-3.

Caden Diaz finished by giving up only two hits and one earned over five innings alongside eight strikeouts and five walks.

In the final game on Sunday the Pioneers matched up with Gillette. Gillette got on the board early, scoring two in the first inning to make it 2-0.

The lead extended in the third to 3-0, and Powell needed an answer in the second half of the contest.

Ostermiller doubled in the sixth and was brought in by Gates on a single to make it 3-1.

Ellias Fazen doubled in the seventh but was out, trying to advance to third on a Nuss single.

Nuss advanced on a Barrus single, and Trevion Solberg brought in Nuss to make it 3-2.

Powell was unable to get the last run, falling 3-2.

Gates finished with three hits given up, one earned and six strikeouts over four innings.

Powell now sits with a 7-6 record and the state tournament is just over a month away in Rock Springs.