Gaining momentum heading into the postseason is key in any sport, and the Powell Pioneers picked up a much-needed boost on Tuesday — sweeping Cody on the road 5-4 and 5-1 in their regular season finale.

POWELL 5, CODY 4

Knowing that postseason positions had already been locked up, the Pioneers (30-19-1 overall, 5-3 A Northwest) came out looking to score early against the Cubs (28-19 overall, 6-2 A Northwest).

Powell put the three previous losses to Cody this season in its rear view mirror and loaded the bases early after Brock Johnson hit a single, and Cade Queen and Trey Stenerson walked with one out.

An error on Aidan Wantulok’s at bat brought in Johnson to start the scoring, 1-0.

The Pioneers got one more when Nathan Feller battled back from an 0-2 count to earn a walk and bring in Queen to make it 2-0.

On the mound, Stenerson started strong by striking out the first three batters.

Powell got two runners on in the second but could not bring them in.

Neither team secured a scoring threat again until the fourth inning, when a single and a hit batter put two on. The Cubs scored on a steal home after throwing to pick off a steal at second was unsuccessful.

Cody took that momentum into the fifth inning, scoring two more on two sac flies to take the lead at 3-2.

In the sixth, Feller reached on a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.

Cole Fauskee grounded into a fielder’s choice and made it to first base, but Feller was tagged out while advancing to third.

Ethan Welch joined Fauskee after hitting a single, putting two on for the Pioneers.

Schwahn drove in Fauskee, tying the game 3-3.

“My guys don’t quit,” Pioneers Manager Jason Borders said. “They don’t get down, they don’t fall apart and we fight back.”

In the bottom half of the sixth, a stop followed by a diving effort to third base helped Welch end the inning, giving Powell momentum heading into the decisive seventh inning.

Stenerson led off with a single, and Aiden Greenwald was walked along with Fauskee to load the bases with two outs.

Stenerson scored on a passed ball, and Greenwald scored on an error on Welch’s ground ball to give Powell a 5-3 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Cody got one more run, but fell short 5-4 — giving the Pioneers the first victory over Cody this season.

Stenerson finished the game in the sixth inning, after giving up three earned runs on four hits and getting 10 strikeouts.

POWELL 5, CODY 1

After a hard-fought first game victory, Powell turned around just 30 short minutes later into a game that proved to be a strong battle on the mound.

Johnson started on the mound for the Pioneers, and Trey Thomasson for Cody.

Both pitchers came out strong, with the first hit of the game not coming until the bottom half of the third inning for either team.

Powell continued to struggle at the plate until the fifth inning – but sometimes one hit is all it takes.

Facing a 1-1 count, Stenerson hit a high arcing ball over the left field wall — his eighth home run of the season –  giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.

“That was huge,” Borders said. “Neither team was doing much offensively because it was back and forth, pitching wise. I felt like that game would end 1-0 since neither team could do anything offensively.”

Johnson continued to keep Cody scoreless with the hit in the third inning as the only hit until he was relieved in the seventh inning by Queen.

Before Queen took to the mound, the Pioneers got a little more run support in the top half of the seventh.

Queen walked, Stenerson got on through an error, and Dalton Worstell joined them on an error to load the bases with one out.

Feller walked to bring in Queen to extend the lead to 2-0.

Welch hit a pop fly that was unable to be hauled in by the Cubs third baseman, bringing in two runners to make it 4-0.

Johnson hit a single and brought in Feller, but Welch was out advancing home to keep it 5-0.

Queen struck out two and walked two in the first four batters, and a single brought in one run for Cody to make it 5-1.

Queen struck out the final batter, securing the victory 5-1 on the road.

Johnson and Queen combined to only give up three hits and one earned run, along with nine strikeouts.

“This was a big set of wins for our program,” Borders said.

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Powell now takes to the road for the A West District Tournament in Green River, with the hope of returning to Cody in just under two weeks’ time for the state tournament.

The Pioneers kick off the tournament on Monday at 4 p.m. taking on Rawlins (0-19 overall, 0-8 A Southwest) in its first game.

If the Pioneers win, the next game would be a semifinal matchup on Tuesday at 10 a.m. against Riverton (18-15 overall, 7-1 A Southwest) with the winner advancing to the championship and the state tournament.

If the Pioneers lose, they will play Tuesday at 4 p.m. against the loser of Cody vs. Green River/Lovell.

“We just gotta win two games to go to state.  That’s our goal,” Borders said.