Pitching shined through for the Powell Pioneers at the ‘A’ state tournament in Sheridan, but the bats went cold at the wrong time as the Pioneers finished fourth and were eliminated on the second to last day of the tournament. Powell started with wins over Torrington and Riverton on Thursday and Friday before falling to Lovell in extra innings and Wheatland on Saturday and Sunday.

“I can’t say enough about my pitching staff and what they did this weekend,” manager Jason Borders said. “We went up against everybody’s best guy. I felt like we handled our own pretty darn well, we just had a bad weekend at the plate. If we could have scored a few more we’d still be in it. Defensively we played great, played clean baseball, we just didn’t swing it.”

POWELL 8, TORRINGTON 4

Kicking off the tournament as the No. 2 seed from the west, the Pioneers (29-30) took on the No. 3 seed out of the east in the Torrington Tigers (27-24).

Both teams had baserunners over the first three innings, with Powell having the biggest threat after Ryan Barrus doubled to lead off the third, later advancing to third base but unable to find a way home.

Powell finally got on the board in the fourth, as Cole Fauskee was hit by a pitch with one out.

Trevion Solberg singled and advanced Fauskee to third, also advancing to second on the throw from the Tiger rightfielder.

Fauskee scored on a passed ball and Solberg advanced to third on the same play.

Solberg later scored on an errant throw by the catcher back to the mound and Powell took a 2-0 lead.

The Pioneers added runs in the fifth, starting with a two out triple by Jordan Loera.

Caden Diaz hit into an error by the shortstop throwing to first, scoring Loera and advancing to second on the same play.

A balk advanced Diaz, before Fauskee was hit by another pitch to put runners on the corners.

Fauskee stole second, allowing Diaz to steal home.

On the throw back home, an error on the catcher allowed Fauskee to steal third.

Solberg walked, putting runners on the corners.

Ben Ostermiller singled, scoring Fauskee, and another errant play by the shortstop advanced Solberg and Ostermiller.

Dominik Bieber singled and scored both runners, with Bieber advancing all the way to third on the throw to get in scoring position.

He scored on a wild pitch, and Powell led 8-0 after the fifth.

A walk, four singles, a hit batter and an error allowed the Tigers to bring in four runs, but Bieber saved any more damage as he caught a ball and turned a double play at first to end the inning.

Powell didn’t allow a baserunner in the seventh, and earned the 8-4 win.

Powell outhit Torrington 6-5 and committed fewer errors than the Tigers 5-2.

“We didn’t swing it great but we swung it better than the other three games,” Borders said.

Loera was the lone Pioneer with multiple hits going 2-2, while Bieber had two of the three RBIs.

Ostermiller threw 4-2/3 innings, giving up one hit and striking out 10.

“Ben was great. He set the tone for us for the tournament,” Borders said. “For being a 16-year-old kid hats off to him. He went out, threw his game and controlled it.”

Loera came in in relief, giving up four hits, four earned runs, one walk and two strikeouts.

POWELL 3, RIVERTON 1

With the win the Pioneers advanced in the winners’ bracket to take on the Raiders (21-29) who had upset the No. 1 seed out of the east Casper (34-15).

Powell mustered one baserunner the first three innings and was hitless heading into the fourth before the offenses showed for both teams.

Riverton loaded the bases with one out and appeared to score a run, but a double play by Barrus tagging out a runner advancing to second and getting a runner out at first ended the threat before Powell got on the board.

Abel Teten and Loera walked to lead off the fourth, before Diaz singled to score Teten and advance Loera to third.

Fauskee grounded out and scored Loera, giving Powell a 2-0 lead.

Powell added another in the fifth, when Bieber singled to lead off, and then stole second to get in scoring position.

Barrus bunted, leading to an errant throw to first base  and he scored to make it 3-0.

The Raiders loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, via two walks and a single.

They scored one on a fielder’s choice, but two strikeouts ended the threat at 3-1.

Powell worked around one Riverton baserunner in the seventh to secure the 3-1 win.

Diaz led the Pioneers on the mound and at the plate, recording two hits and an RBI, while pitching 6-1/3 innings, giving up two hits, one earned run, five walks and 12 strikeouts.

“We stopped a team that was on fire the last month,” Borders said. “Caden was focused every pitch. You could tell he wanted it. I just wish we could have helped him a little bit more, I think that would’ve helped him relax more.”

LOVELL 2, POWELL 1 (F/8)

Advancing further in the winners’ bracket the Pioneers met up with a familiar foe in the Mustangs (32-25).

Lovell had the better scoring threats early, and the Mustangs got on the board in the third.

A walk and sac bunt put a runner on second, and an intentional walk put another runner on to add more force out options.

A double steal put the runners in scoring position, before a sac fly scored a run to make it 1-0.

Powell got its first baserunner in the fourth. Teten singled, advancing to second on an errant pickoff attempt.

Loera walked, but Teten eventually got caught stealing third.

Diaz and Fauskee walked to load the bases with one out, but Powell couldn’t find a hit and still trailed 1-0.

In the fifth, Talon Nuss and Teten singled while Loera walked to load the bases with two outs, but Powell again couldn’t find the hit.

It took until the seventh for Powell to score. Nuss reached on an error by the pitcher, and Teten walked to join him.

Loera grounded into a fielder’s choice which saw Teten out at second and advanced Nuss. Before Diaz hit into an error, sliding into first to reach and score Nuss to tie the game 1-1 and send it to extra innings.

A single and two walks loaded the bases for Lovell in the eighth with no outs, but Nuss saved a run with a fielder’s choice force out at home.

A single scored a run for Lovell, before Powell escaped without more damage.

Ostermiller and Bieber singled before Barrus was hit by a pitch with two outs in the eighth, but a ground out ended the game 2-1.

Teten had two of the five hits for the Pioneers, as Booka Fazen led the Pioneers on the mound going 6-1/3 innings, giving up six hits, one earned run, four walks and six strikeouts.

“That was an epic baseball game,” Borders said. “You don’t see those very often. Booka was dominant and just came out on the wrong end of it.”

Decker Engesser came in in relief, giving up one earned run, two walks and one strikeout.

WHEATLAND 4, POWELL 0

Heading into an elimination game Sunday the Pioneers took on the Lobos (34-19).

Wheatland got on the board first, as a two out solo home run made it 1-0 after the first.

Powell only mustered two baserunners over the first six innings on a hit batter and a Diaz single, before Wheatland put the game away in the seventh.

A walk, error and fielder’s choice loaded the bases with no outs, before a single scored a pair to make it 3-0.

Wheatland scored one more on a double play, making it 4-0.

Powell got one runner on in the seventh through a Loera double, but the Pioneers were unable to score and their season ended 4-0.

Kolby Gates pitched the complete game for the Pioneers, giving up three hits, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts.

“Kolby threw his butt off,” Borders said. “We just needed to put balls in play and didn’t do it.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Following a season that featured plenty of highs and lows the Pioneers will say goodbye to several seniors from this year’s team, but will return a number of starters.

Powell has several of those seniors eligible to return next season due to age, with Borders hopeful he can bring those select few back to take back the state title.

“I’m feeling pretty good with what we’re coming back with next year,” Borders said. “I think this (state) tournament was big for us.”

He said since this team  hadn’t played at the varsity level before, he was concerned about the experience factor.

“Put them through the wringer this year,” he said, adding, “They’ve tasted it and they know what it takes to win a state championship and I think we should be right there next year in the same spot … I’m really looking forward to this group next year, they won’t be the 2023-24 guys but they’ll be damn good. Should be a lot of fun next year.”