The Powell Pioneers’ first two games of the state tournament were polar opposites.

In their first game, on Saturday, the Pioneers cruised to a 6-0 win over the Cheyenne Hawks. Behind Colin Queen’s dominance on the hill and the timely hitting of Powell’s bats, Cheyenne never threatened the home team’s lead.

On Sunday, however, the Pioneers’ fortunes changed. They were routed at the hands of the Douglas Cats, who won 15-5.

In game one, Queen threw a complete game shutout, striking out seven Cheyenne batters and allowing just two hits. But after throwing 86 pitches, Queen will likely not pitch again in the tournament — or American Legion baseball as a whole.

“It’s amazing,” Queen said. “It’s probably the best game I’ve ever thrown.”

Queen has played for the Pioneers since he was 14 and will move on to play for Quincy University in the coming weeks. The left-handed pitcher has developed consistently in his years of American Legion baseball, so it’s only fitting that his strongest outing came in what was probably his final game.

“It’s one hell of a way to go out on the mound that way,” head coach Joe Cates said. “Colin’s confidence has come around big time this year. He was lights-out tonight.”

Additionally, the defense played an efficient ballgame in the win. From a Kobe Ostermiller sliding catch in center field to a Trey Stenerson diving stop at second base, the Powell fielders constantly made flashy plays.

This is significant progress in an area that was once considered a weakness for the team.

“The confidence has gone up for them,” Cates said. “We told them, ‘You’re going to make errors, you just can’t let it affect you.’ They’ve played hard lately.”

As for Sunday against Douglas, Powell took an early 4-3 lead. However, the Pioneers’ advantage quickly evaporated when the Cats’ offense ignited.

Douglas notched 10 runs in the fourth inning, creating an insurmountable deficit. They later scored two more in the sixth, giving the Cats a 15-5 mercy-rule win.

“Douglas is a good team,” Cates said. “They do everything the right way and they came out to play.”

In spite of the wide margin, two of the Pioneers youngest arms — Kolt Flores and Ryan Cordes — showed promise in their relief appearances. But Cates said the inconsistent strike zone took a toll on their production.

“It’s hard to find the strike zone when the umpire’s still looking for the strike zone,” Cates said.

With one win and one loss under their belt, the Pioneers are in win-or-go-home mode. Next up is a contest against the Torrington Tigers at 4 p.m. today (Monday).

In a do-or-die situation, Cates’ message to the players is simple.

“Let them know that they control their fate,” he said. “They still get to play. I think we’re right where we need to be, we just need to clean up a few things.”