The Powell Pioneers fell to the rival Cody Cubs in two close contests Tuesday night, with runners stealing home proving to be the difference in a pair of 5-4 and 2-0 conference losses.

CODY 5, POWELL 4

Continuing with conference action the Pioneers (11-16 overall, 2-2 ‘A’ West) returned home to take on the Cubs (21-7 overall, 4-0 ‘A’ West).

Cody struck first, getting runners on through a walk and a single that saw the lead runner advance to third.

A double followed, scoring a run and making it 1-0.

Two straight ground outs scored a run each, and Cody led 3-0.

Booka Fazen was replaced two pitches into the final batter of the inning due to illness, placing Kolby Gates on the mound.

“That’s the first time in my career that I’ve seen that in person,” manager Jason Borders said. “He (Fazen) said he was fine and we left him out there. We probably should have pulled him when he got sick the first time.”

Gates struck out the final batter and Powell needed an answer early.

The Pioneers got a run back in the bottom of the first, starting with a two out walk to Jordan Loera.

Caden Diaz singled, before Cole Fauskee singled and scored Loera from second and made it 3-1.

Both teams had baserunners in the second inning, and Powell kept Cody scoreless in the top of the third before chipping away at the lead once again.

Loera walked once again, this time with one out.

He stole second, before Diaz hit a single.

Loera scored on an errant play at first base and Diaz advanced to second.

“I was proud of the boys for fighting back from that early three run deficit,” Borders said. “Other than giving up the three runs right away we settled in and played pretty well.”

Powell was unable to find a tying run in the third, and couldn’t find it again in the fourth despite a runner on third base with one out.

Cody extended the lead in the fifth, starting with a one out double, before an intentional walk with two outs put two runners on.

A single scored a run, giving Cody a 4-2 lead.

Powell had a chance to tie in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a one out Trevion Solberg single.

Solberg advanced to second on that hit after an error, and to third on a passed ball.

Ryan Barrus singled and scored him, making it 4-3.

Powell added additional runners through a Dominik Bieber single and a two out walk to Talon Nuss to load the bases.

Unfortunately for Powell the ball never got in play, as a pick-off at first base got the final out and ended the scoring threat for the Pioneers.

“That’s basically what has hurt us all year is we can get guys into scoring positions and we don’t get the big hits when we need them,” Borders said.

In the top of the seventh a leadoff walk put a runner on for Cody, before a hit batter and another intentional walk loaded the bases.

The next batter struck out, but during the final batter of the inning a steal home while the ball was being thrown back to the mound scored a run and made it 5-3.

Powell got the final out, and had a chance in the bottom half.

Diaz hit a one out single, later advancing to second on a wild pitch.

Fauskee singled to score him, advancing to second on an errant throw.

He moved to third on a ground out by Abel Teten, but a jumping catch on a deep hit by Solberg ended the game and Cody finished with the 5-4 win.

“That ball Trevion hit is a game changer if he doesn’t catch that,” Borders said. “It was just one of those nights where it felt like things went against us, the ball didn’t bounce our way.”

Powell outhit Cody 10-6 and committed no errors compared to Cody’s five.

Diaz finished 3-4 at the plate while four Pioneers each recorded multiple hits.

Gates went 6-1/3 in relief, giving up four hits, two earned runs, four walks and seven strikeouts.

“He (Gates) pitched his butt off. I don’t think he planned on coming in that early. But to come in and do that was good to see,” Borders said. “He did what he could to keep us in the game.”

CODY 2, POWELL 0

In the second game of the doubleheader the two teams only put one batter each on in the first two innings, before Cody got on the board in the third.

A pair of two out singles got runners on base for Cody, and an intentional walk loaded the bases for the Cubs.

Another steal home, this time in the pitching motion, gave the Cubs a run, and Powell was able to subdue any more damage and trailed 1-0.

“There’s stuff we can learn from and get better and improve,” Borders said.

Hitting was hard to come by, as the Cubs found an extra run in the top of the fifth.

A two out single put a runner on, and a single on a hit-and-run coupled with an errant throw scored a run for Cody and made it 2-0.

Powell’s best chance came in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a leadoff double by Barrus.

A sac bunt by Bieber advanced him to third, but two strikeouts ended the inning.

“You’re playing a conference opponent like Cody, you have to take advantage of those things and we didn’t,” Borders said. “It just comes down to the mental part of the game as opposed to the physical part.”

The Pioneers fell 2-0, trailing in hits to the Cubs 7-4 and committing the lone error in the game.

“We can look at game two simply as we didn’t hit it,” Borders said.

Diaz went six innings, giving up six hits, one earned, two walks and eight strikeouts.

WEEKEND GAMES

The conference swing continues this weekend, with the Pioneers heading to Cowley on Friday to take on the Mustangs (13-15 overall, 1-1 ‘A’ West).

“The Lovell guys were in the stands watching us, I’m sure they’ll be ready for us,” Borders said. “With me coaching over there before it has become more of a rivalry game. They don’t want to lose to us as much as we don’t want to lose to them. We need to win two basically … A split doesn’t hurt us but I’d feel a lot more confident winning two since we lost two to Cody. We’re still looking to get the one or two seed and not play that weekend. We want to go over there and play our best baseball we have played this year and get a couple wins.”

Those games are set for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Powell then heads to Billings on Sunday to take on the Lockwood Razorbacks (1-7) at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. before returning home to take on Green River on Tuesday in more ‘A’ West action.