A season for the ages came to an end for the Powell Pioneers on Monday afternoon, as they dropped the final game of the season 2-1 to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, at the Northwest Class ‘A’ Regional Tournament in Havre, Montana.

Powell (48-20) got on the board immediately against the Lumbermen (33-11), after Brock Johnson hit a single and stole second before Cade Queen drove him in with a double to make it 1-0.

From then on, the Pioneers struggled to string together hits and put runners in scoring position.

Coeur d’Alene got its runs in the third, after a single and a steal put a runner into scoring position and another single brought him in to tie the contest 1-1.

Another single brought in the runner after an errant throw allowed him to score and make it 2-1.

Powell’s best chance since the first inning came in the top of the fifth when Johnson and Jhett Schwahn singled. But Johnson was out at third on a ground out to end the threat.

The momentum carried into the sixth, after a double play saw Powell down before a Cole Fauskee walk and an error on Aiden Greenwald’s ball put two on once again.

Powell was unable to capitalize, and did not get a baserunner in the top of the seventh as the Lumbermen held on to reach the championship Tuesday in Havre.

“We missed Ryan [Cordes] and Aidan [Wantulok] a lot as far as how our lineup plays out,” manager Jason Borders said. “We just didn’t get the key hits when we needed to.”

Johnson finished 3-4 at the plate to lead the Pioneers as Powell outhit the Lumbermen 7-6.

Dalton Worstell pitched all six innings on the mound for the Pioneers while only giving up one earned with one walk.

“We pitched the ball really well and played good defense for the most part,” Borders said. “We had the opportunity to win every game we played in. We were in baseball games and that’s all we can ask at regional tournaments.”

One run games were a toss up all season for the Pioneers, who finished with an 11-10 record.

Coeur d’Alene lost 12-7 to Redmond Sunwest, Oregon, in the play-in game to the championship against Service, Alaska.

Redmond Sunwest (31-8-1) ended up battling all the way back from an opening round loss to the Pioneers to claim the title after an 8-6 victory over Service (26-8) in the title game.

“I don’t think Wyoming gets the credit for the baseball we play around the region,” Borders said. “We are starting to show people that Wyoming plays pretty good baseball.”

SEASON WRAPS UP

The Pioneers’ strongest season in 13 years wrapped up with a state title in addition to one of the furthest pushes at the NWCART in program history.

“It was probably one of the best Pioneer teams since we went to ‘A,’” Borders said. “We just wanted to win the conference, a district championship and then the state tournament. I put a lot of pressure on them telling them they were going to be the 2023 state champions (before the season).”

Ranking at the top for the Pioneers was the win column, which tied the 2009 edition of the program for the most in history with 48.

That ranked just ahead of the 2010 program which finished with 46 — that 2010 team finished second at NWCART, still the highest placing team for the Pioneers at regionals.

Powell returns a strong majority of the core from this year’s team, just losing Cordes and Wantulok from the batting order and defensive rotations while returning nearly every inning pitched this season for a team that had a cumulative 2.76 ERA and 464 strikeouts as a team.

“We are reloading, not a rebuilding kind of thing,” Borders said. “This team we took to regionals — there’s a good shot it’s the team we play with next year.”

That will likely include more action for Fauskee, Jordan Loera and Trevion Solberg who stepped into the rotation for Cordes and Wantulok after they were unable to attend the regional tournament due to prior commitments with work opportunities at the University of Wyoming.

Borders said he knows there will be a lot of players in the mix, and there is potential for B team players to make the jump heading into next season with him knowing the Pioneers are going to play another tough schedule where the team will need to hit.

“I feel like we’ve got the team to win another title,” Borders said. “I’m going to play as tough, if not tougher schedule than this year.”