This past weekend, the Powell Pioneers B baseball team had one last chance to play in front of friends and family in the summer.

After losing to Cheyenne 15-5 on the opening night and defeating Rock Springs 6-4 Friday, the Pioneers lost to Casper 16-3 on Saturday. 

CHEYENNE 15, POWELL 5

The Pioneers started the game strong against Cheyenne on Thursday night in front of the home crowd, as the game was tied 0-0 after the first inning.

“It was great to get a few more games at home before the season was over,” Pioneers B Manager Tyler England said. “Hopefully it was cool for the kids, but I am sure their friends and family enjoyed being able to watch them play some more.”

Unfortunately for Powell, the second inning swung entirely in Cheyenne’s favor.

After working to two outs in the inning, Cheyenne loaded the bases and brought in runs on walks and hits to grow a wide lead.

In total, Cheyenne brought in seven runs to make it 7-0 early.

Powell brought in two runs in the bottom of the third inning, scoring one on a hit by Jordan Loera and another on a bad throw to second base on a steal attempt by the Pioneers.

After cutting the lead to 7-2, Powell appeared to get back into the contest.

Cheyenne shut down any comeback attempts in the fourth inning.

Seven more runs stacked up in the fourth inning after some miscommunications and a dropped catch, to push the lead out to 14-2.

Powell again got a run in the bottom of the fourth, keeping the score at 14-3.

Cheyenne walked in one more with the bases loaded, and Powell scored two more in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the final score 15-5.

POWELL 6, ROCK SPRINGS 4

After the opening round loss, the Pioneers dropped down to the consolation games in the double elimination bracket, needing a win against Rock Springs on Friday to continue the season.

Powell started strong when Zane Graft hit a deep fly ball to left field that found its way over the fence after one hop to score a run on a ground rule double.

A single by Rowan Diaz scored a run to give Powell a 2-0 lead after the top of the first.

Rock Springs scored one in the bottom half with two runners on, cutting the lead to 2-1.

A single by Trevion Solberg led off the second, and Jordan Loera walked to give Powell two baserunners.

“Zane [Graft] and Trevion [Solberg] were big leaders for us this year,” England said. “They have great attitudes and do things the right way. Both were solid bats and played awesome defensively for us.”

A sacrifice bunt by Ellias Fazen advanced the runners to second and third and a sacrifice fly by Graft brought in another run to make it 3-1.

Ben Ostermiller got a hit and advanced on a steal and a passed ball to place himself in scoring position on third base.

He scored on a wild pitch that bounced off the umpire to make it 4-1.

Devin Kokkler got on through a walk and was advanced by Brenton Henke on a bunt.

A single by Solberg brought in Kokkler — extending the lead to 5-1.

Powell continued to keep Rock Springs at bay, but the score tightened to 5-3 after the fourth inning.

A triple by Graft followed by a fielder’s choice put another run on the board for Powell to make it 6-3.

Rock Springs appeared to get back in the game, having a chance to win with the score 6-4, the bases loaded and only one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Luckily for Powell, confusion by the first base runner on a dropped strike three led to a double play after he was tagged trying to get to first — ending the game 6-4.

“I was pretty pleased with the lack of mental errors we committed this weekend,” England said.

CASPER 16, POWELL 3

A victory on Friday meant Powell got to play more baseball on Saturday, matching up against Casper’s B team.

Casper came out firing and not allowing much breathing room for the Pioneers.

Strong hitting by Casper allowed the team to score three runs in the first inning, followed by nine in the second to make it 12-0 early.

Henke reached on a leadoff walk in the third and was later driven in on an error during Loera’s at bat.

Casper answered and scored another, pushing the lead back out to 13-1.

A lead off double in the fourth by Graft helped give Powell life.  Graft was driven in after two infield hits advanced him home to make it 13-2.

Casper again pushed the lead out, making it 16-2.

Powell got one more run, but the Pioneers B season ended with a 16-3 loss against Casper.

At the conclusion of the season, the Pioneers ended up with an overall record of 18-22 over the course of three months.

“I think the team would have liked to have a little more success this year,” England said. “Hopefully this makes them hungry to come back next year and work harder regardless of which team they end up on.”