It was a week to remember for the Powell Pioneers after earning a sweep against Cody 10-4 and 9-4 at home last Wednesday, while going unbeaten in their own Father’s Day Tournament over three days in Powell.

POWELL 10, CODY 4

Starting out Wednesday the Pioneers (23-13 overall, 2-0 ‘A’ Northwest) were searching for a first victory against the rival Cody Cubs (19-15 overall, 4-2 ‘A’ Northwest) at home to take control of the ‘A’ Northwest race early.

Cody got on the board first, when a Cub batter was hit by a pitch before advancing on a ground out and a stolen base to score on a single in the first — giving the Cubs the early 1-0 lead.

Fortunately for Brock Johnson, that was the only hit he gave up on the mound over the first five innings.

Johnson got out without any more damage, giving the Pioneers a chance to score their own in the bottom half of the first.

Johnson walked to lead off and an error on Jhett Schwahn’s hit put two on.

Cade Queen popped out, before Trey Stenerson hit a home run to left field to give Powell the early 3-1 lead.

Powell was unable to create any more damage before getting back on the board in the bottom of the third.

Leading off for the Pioneers was Queen, who hit a solo home run of his own to left field — extending the lead to 4-1.

Despite the home runs, Johnson and Cody hurler Trey Schroeder were having strong performances on the mound up until the second half of the contest.

In the fourth, Aiden Greenwald singled to lead off and advanced on a sac bunt by Jacob Gibson to give Powell a runner at second with one out.

Ethan Welch singled and Johnson singled to drive in Greenwald and make it 5-1.

Schwahn singled to load the bases, setting up Queen to try and putting the game out of reach.

Queen hit a triple that cleared the bases and gave Powell a commanding 8-1 lead — forcing Schroeder off the mound.

Stenerson kept things going and brought in Queen on a single, before scoring on his own on a double by Ryan Cordes to swell the lead even further to 10-1.

Powell was unable to extend the lead out to 10 runs and end the contest, before Cody got runs of its own in the sixth.

A single, double and a walk loaded the bases with one out, and a triple with two outs cleared the bases to cut the deficit to 10-4.

Johnson got out without any more damage and Queen came in to finish the contest in the seventh to give Powell the victory.

Queen and Stenerson each finished with four RBIs apiece with Cordes and Johnson each getting one.

Johnson finished with 12 strikeouts while Queen had two in the final inning.

POWELL 9, CODY 4

In the second matchup the Pioneers carried the momentum from the first victory early, getting on the board immediately.

Schwahn and Queen were hit by pitches to get on base, before Cordes hit a single to drive in one and give Powell the early 1-0 lead.

Dalton Worstell singled to drive in another and give Powell the 2-0 lead after the first.

In the second, Cole Fauskee singled to lead off, and advanced on a sac bunt by Welch.

He advanced to third after tagging up on a fly out by Johnson and scored on a single by Schwahn to make it 3-0.

Trey Thomasson continued to throw first pitch strikes against the Pioneers, something Borders said the Pioneers need to work on moving forward.

“Everybody wants to get ahead on that first strike and in the count and be able to dictate what the hitter can do,” Borders said. “I definitely think we need to attack the fastball more.”

Cody got on the board in the top of the fourth, hitting a leadoff triple off Gibson before driving in a run on a single to make it 3-1.

Powell had an answer, extending the lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Stenerson and Cordes singled to give Powell two on with one out. A balk during Worstell’s at bat advanced the runners to second and third.

Later in the inning Greenwald singled with two outs, bringing in both to make it 5-1.

A double followed by a home run scored two for Cody in the top of the sixth, forcing Gibson off the mound and once again bringing in Queen.

He finished off the side without a hit, but Powell knew the 5-3 lead may not be enough against the Cubs.

Welch singled to lead off the bottom half of the inning, alongside a single by Schwahn and a walk to Queen loaded the bases with one out.

Stenerson popped out, before Cordes hit a bases clearing triple to give Powell an 8-3 lead.

Gibson singled to bring in Cordes, giving Powell a commanding 9-3 lead heading into the seventh.

A triple with one out gave Cody life in the seventh, as the runner eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 9-4.

“It was huge for our program, we probably haven’t beat them at home for a decade,” Borders said. “For us to beat Cody, who are the state champions, is a big deal for us — I’m not going to lie about it, it was.”

Queen finished off the side and capped off the win to complete the sweep 9-4.

Cordes finished 3-4 with four RBIs, Greenwald finished with two RBIs, while Schwahn, Worstell and Gibson each had an RBI.

POWELL 3, LANDER 2

After the victories Wednesday night the Pioneers took a couple days to rest before kicking off their Father’s Day Tournament on Friday against Lander (3-13 overall, 0-6 ‘A’ Northwest).

A potential slump hit early for Powell, as they were unable to find anything against the newly formed Legends program. Lander became part of ‘A’ this year after making a return to Legion Baseball after 15 years last year, playing in the ‘C’ ranks.

The visitors got on the board first with four singles in the top of the third to give Lander a 2-0 lead.

The Pioneers answered in the bottom half of the inning, when Greenwald singled, advanced to second on a balk and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Welch drove him in on a single, giving Powell life.

Johnson doubled, then a Schwahn single brought in Welch to tie the game 2-2.

Powell finally got the lead in the sixth, when Cordes singled to lead off, stole second and was eventually driven in on a double to make it 3-2.

The Pioneers escaped the potential upset, finishing with the 3-2 win.

“I think we overlooked them a little bit,” Borders said. “We won, that’s the main thing.”

Welch, Schwahn and Johnson all finished with an RBI.

Greenwald finished by giving up two earned with five strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings of work.

POWELL 12, GREEN RIVER 0

The afternoon break allowed Powell to regroup before taking on another ‘A’ West opponent, the Green River Knights (8-15 overall, 2-0 ‘A’ Southwest), to finish off Friday night.

Powell came out with a purpose after struggling earlier in the day, getting on the board early and often.

Johnson walked to lead off and Schwahn singled with Johnson advancing to third.

Queen doubled to bring in Johnson, but Schwahn was tagged attempting to advance home to make it only 1-0.

Stenerson singled and stole second before Cordes singled to bring in the pair and make it 3-0 after the first.

Gibson was hit by a pitch to lead off the second, Fauskee hit a sac bunt to advance him all the way to third on strong base running before Johnson hit a sac fly to score Gibson and make it 4-0.

Schwahn walked to get on and stole second during Queen’s at bat before Queen drove him in to make it 5-0.

Stenerson walked before Cordes hit a triple to bring in both and make it 7-0 after two.

Greenwald was hit by a pitch to lead off the third, Gibson walked before Greenwald stole on a wild pitch.

An error on a Fauskee hit scored Greenwald before a ground out by Johnson brought in another to make it 9-0.

Schwahn was hit by a pitch before Stenerson hit a home run to center field to make it 12-0 and cap off the scoring.

Worstell was dominant on the mound, having a perfect game broken up by the first batter in the fifth but only giving up one hit with four strikeouts.

“This might be the only time we see them until districts but it was nice to see them,” Borders said. 

Cordes finished with four RBIs, Stenerson had three, Johnson and Queen had two each and Fauskee had one.

Powell finished the Father’s Day Tournament undefeated, also defeating the Billings Expos 9-6 and Laurel 4-1.

Catch recaps of those games in Thursday’s edition of the Powell Tribune.

LANDER CONFERENCE

After experiencing a tight contest on Friday the Pioneers head on the road to Lander to take on the Legends at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday (today) for conference action.

“We are just going to try and sweep our conference games,” Borders said. “Conference games are huge and set us up for district seeding.”

The Pioneers will be without Schwahn and Stenerson due to other commitments, but Borders is looking to come home with two wins before returning to the Big Horn Basin this weekend.