One streak ends as another begins for PowellPowell saw a 13-game winning streak come to end on Thursday as Brigham City, Utah, connected for a walk-off home run and a 4-3 win over the Pioneers in Jackson. Less than 72 hours later, the American Legion Post 26 squad was back on a streak. “These guys don't like to lose and they're not too familiar with losing this summer,” said Pioneers coach Jeff Young. “Brigham City was an oustanding team. They probably had the best outfield that we've seen all summer. They covered a lot of ground.”The Pioneers grabbed an early 1-0 lead in their Thursday game against Brigham City as Colter Bostick drove home Scotty Jameson with two outs. Bostick also worked some magic on the hill for the Pioneers, keeping Brigham City off the scoreboard until the third inning when the Utah team sandwiched an error between a pair of base hits.All three runners would eventually score to put the Pioneers into a 3-1 hole. The score would remain that way into the seventh inning. Auston Carter kick-started the Powell rally with a base hit to lead off the frame. Gianluca Giarrizzo drove him in with a one-out triple and eventually charged in to score on Jameson's two-out base hit to tie the game.Brigham City led off the bottom half of the seventh with a walk-off home run for the win. Bostick took the rare loss for the Pioneers despite surrendering just three hits and a walk. “We hit into four double plays in the game,” said Young. “We out-hit them, but it was one of those games where the ball went right at them. I was proud to see the kids not give up and rally in the seventh.”Powell needed a similar rally on Friday to escape from Jackson with a series split against Brigham City. The Utah club had scored twice in the fourth inning and two more times in the seventh to carry a 4-0 lead into the bottom half of the inning.Tyler England's two-out pinch hit double drove in two runs as three of Powell's first four batters safely reached base in the inning. Carter followed with a single knot the contest at 4-4 and force extra innings. Pioneer relief pitcher Josh Cragoe kept Brigham City out of scoring position in the extra frames and also turned in the game-winning hit, chasing home Grant Geiser.Cragoe threw five innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three. Tyler Dahlgren threw the first four innings for Powell, giving up six hits while fanning four and allowing two runs. “Those are the kind of games that make you a better team,” said Young. “They're a very good program and they forced us to play hard in both games. We haven't been in many situations where we had to come from behind this season.”The Pioneers' drama against Brigham City proved to be the only cause for nail biting over the holiday weekend. Powell won its remaining four games by an average margin of nearly 12 runs. Powell proved no match for conference foe Jackson on Thursday and Friday. Powell responded to its first loss in 17 days with a 14-1 win over Jackson and followed that on Friday with a 15-6 dispatching of the Giants. Bostick and Cragoe each drove in two runs in Thursday's game while Jameson and Geiser set the table by going a combined 6-for-6 and scoring seven runs. Jameson took the win, allowing five hits and a walk while fanning 10 Jackson batters. Geiser picked up the Friday win after allowing 10 hits and two walks. Bostick went 4-for-5 in the victory, driving home five runs. Geiser aided his own cause with a three-RBI game. On Sunday, the Pioneers returned home to score an 11-1 win over the Billings Halos in a wood-bat game. The Pioneers also blitzed Green River by a 17-4 final count. Dahlgren led off the third inning against the Halos with a solo home run and also picked up a save with one hit in the game. Carter added a pair of RBI's after going 2-for-2 while Giarrizzo went 3-for-3 at the dish. The Pioneers did the bulk of their damage in the game with a five-run fifth inning.In all, the Pioneers blasted 15 hits as the change to wooden bats seemed to matter little to the club. Starting pitcher Jake Beuster saw his streak of hitless innings stopped at eight as the Halos led off the game with a base hit. The Pioneers' hurler managed to throw four-plus innings while allowing just one run and four hits, however, to get the win. Against Green River, the Pioneers exploded for 11 runs in the first inning.“It's always nice to put up 11 runs to start the game,” quipped Young. Geiser went 4-for-4 at the plate and Bostick and Carter were also perfect at the dish as the Pioneers drilled Green River. Andrew Young remained unbeaten on the season, pitching the full five innings against Green River and allowing just seven hits against three strikeouts. The busy Fourth of July weekend saw the Pioneers improve to 30-10 overall this season. Powell is a perfect 8-0 in conference games. The team's next action will come at the Halos' Wood Bat Classic in Billings. The tournament begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.

One streak ends as another begins for Powell

Powell saw a 13-game winning streak come to end on Thursday as Brigham City, Utah, connected for a walk-off home run and a 4-3 win over the Pioneers in Jackson. Less than 72 hours later, the American Legion Post 26 squad was back on a streak.

“These guys don't like to lose and they're not too familiar with losing this summer,” said Pioneers coach Jeff Young. “Brigham City was an oustanding team. They probably had the best outfield that we've seen all summer. They covered a lot of ground.”

The Pioneers grabbed an early 1-0 lead in their Thursday game against Brigham City as Colter Bostick drove home Scotty Jameson with two outs. Bostick also worked some magic on the hill for the Pioneers, keeping Brigham City off the scoreboard until the third inning when the Utah team sandwiched an error between a pair of base hits.

All three runners would eventually score to put the Pioneers into a 3-1 hole. The score would remain that way into the seventh inning.

Auston Carter kick-started the Powell rally with a base hit to lead off the frame. Gianluca Giarrizzo drove him in with a one-out triple and eventually charged in to score on Jameson's two-out base hit to tie the game.

Brigham City led off the bottom half of the seventh with a walk-off home run for the win. Bostick took the rare loss for the Pioneers despite surrendering just three hits and a walk.

“We hit into four double plays in the game,” said Young. “We out-hit them, but it was one of those games where the ball went right at them. I was proud to see the kids not give up and rally in the seventh.”

Powell needed a similar rally on Friday to escape from Jackson with a series split against Brigham City. The Utah club had scored twice in the fourth inning and two more times in the seventh to carry a 4-0 lead into the bottom half of the inning.

Tyler England's two-out pinch hit double drove in two runs as three of Powell's first four batters safely reached base in the inning. Carter followed with a single knot the contest at 4-4 and force extra innings.

Pioneer relief pitcher Josh Cragoe kept Brigham City out of scoring position in the extra frames and also turned in the game-winning hit, chasing home Grant Geiser.

Cragoe threw five innings, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three. Tyler Dahlgren threw the first four innings for Powell, giving up six hits while fanning four and allowing two runs.

“Those are the kind of games that make you a better team,” said Young. “They're a very good program and they forced us to play hard in both games. We haven't been in many situations where we had to come from behind this season.”

The Pioneers' drama against Brigham City proved to be the only cause for nail biting over the holiday weekend. Powell won its remaining four games by an average margin of nearly 12 runs.

Powell proved no match for conference foe Jackson on Thursday and Friday. Powell responded to its first loss in 17 days with a 14-1 win over Jackson and followed that on Friday with a 15-6 dispatching of the Giants.

Bostick and Cragoe each drove in two runs in Thursday's game while Jameson and Geiser set the table by going a combined 6-for-6 and scoring seven runs. Jameson took the win, allowing five hits and a walk while fanning 10 Jackson batters.

Geiser picked up the Friday win after allowing 10 hits and two walks. Bostick went 4-for-5 in the victory, driving home five runs. Geiser aided his own cause with a three-RBI game.

On Sunday, the Pioneers returned home to score an 11-1 win over the Billings Halos in a wood-bat game. The Pioneers also blitzed Green River by a 17-4 final count.

Dahlgren led off the third inning against the Halos with a solo home run and also picked up a save with one hit in the game. Carter added a pair of RBI's after going 2-for-2 while Giarrizzo went 3-for-3 at the dish. The Pioneers did the bulk of their damage in the game with a five-run fifth inning.

In all, the Pioneers blasted 15 hits as the change to wooden bats seemed to matter little to the club. Starting pitcher Jake Beuster saw his streak of hitless innings stopped at eight as the Halos led off the game with a base hit. The Pioneers' hurler managed to throw four-plus innings while allowing just one run and four hits, however, to get the win.

Against Green River, the Pioneers exploded for 11 runs in the first inning.

“It's always nice to put up 11 runs to start the game,” quipped Young.

Geiser went 4-for-4 at the plate and Bostick and Carter were also perfect at the dish as the Pioneers drilled Green River.

Andrew Young remained unbeaten on the season, pitching the full five innings against Green River and allowing just seven hits against three strikeouts.

The busy Fourth of July weekend saw the Pioneers improve to 30-10 overall this season. Powell is a perfect 8-0 in conference games. The team's next action will come at the Halos' Wood Bat Classic in Billings. The tournament begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.