The Powell Legion A baseball team was on the road over the weekend, competing in the 2019 Harold Gjerde Memorial Tournament in Lewistown, Montana.

The annual tournament featured eight teams from around the region, and ran from Thursday to Sunday. The Pioneers were competitive in the tournament’s first three games but faded in the final two, returning home with an 0-5 record.

“It was a terrible weekend,” said Powell manager Joe Cates. “It really was a combination of things. Bad umpires, and the kids folded in the sense that when things weren’t going their way, instead of fighting back, they just checked out. Their effort turned into crap.”

Cates said the team had the ability to win three games, and should have won at least two; questionable calls by officials coupled by lackadaisical play in the field was a toxic combination.

“We should have walked out of there with two [wins] for sure,” he said. “But we let the umpires get into our heads, and when things weren’t going our way, we just stopped talking. There was no communication. Everyone was flat-footed. ... I think they mentally checked themselves out of the tournament early.”

The Pioneers are home this week, hosting a doubleheader against Green River at 3 and 5 p.m. Thursday. Cates gave the team Monday off, but said practices on Tuesday and Wednesday would be geared toward getting back to the basics.

“It’s going to be going over a lot of the stuff we’ve covered already,” he said. “Going over our bunt defense, going over first and third defense. Just taking care of the ball. A lot of defensive work, a lot of individual work. If we just field the ball and throw the ball, there’s no reason we shouldn’t win Thursday.”

Tri-County Cardinals 8, Pioneers 5

The Pioneers opened the tournament Thursday against the Tri-County Cardinals, and seemed to be cruising early, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the third.

The Cardinals battled back, however, outlasting Powell in a lightning-delayed contest, 8-5.

The Pioneers’ Kobe Ostermiller led off with a single in the top of the first, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jesse Brown. Powell added to its 1-0 lead in the top of the third, when Ostermiller singled again and scored on a Colin Queen double. Queen scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Cameron Schmidt to push the Pioneers’ lead to 3-0.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the third, plating two runs to make it 3-2. Another Tri-City run in the bottom of the fourth tied the game at 3, then the Montana team scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-3.

Back in action after a lengthy weather delay, the Pioneers scored twice in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to 7-5. Landon Sessions led off with a single, and scored on an Ostermiller line drive to center, as did Cameron Wentz.

But with one more run in the bottom of the sixth, Tri-County staved off Powell for the 8-5 win.

Sessions made his first start of the season on the hill for the Pioneers and took the loss, giving up seven runs (four earned) on four hits and striking out two. Brown and Zane Cordes both pitched an inning in relief, with Brown striking out the side in the bottom of the fifth. Cordes gave up one run on one hit.

The Pioneers outhit Tri-City 11-5, led by multi-hit games by Ostermiller, Queen and Sessions. Ostermiller finished with three hits on the day, driving in a run; Queen and Sessions both had a pair of hits, with an RBI by Queen. Brown, Schmidt, Wentz and Cordes had a hit apiece, with Schmidt and Brown each driving in a run.

Glasgow 16, Pioneers 4

Taking a break from his duties behind the plate, Schmidt got the start on Friday morning against the Glasgow Reds, while Brown filled in at catcher. The Reds wasted no time geting on the board, plating three runs in the top of the first, en route to a 16-4 win.

Down 4-0 in the bottom of the second, Schmidt helped his own cause with a single. Sessions drove Schmidt in on a long fly ball to right to cut the lead to 4-1.

Schmidt was pulled in the top of the third in favor of Colt Florez, who was called up from the B league for the trip to Lewistown. The Reds scored two runs in the third and two in the fourth to make it 8-1.

The Pioneers battled back in the fourth, plating three runs to climb back into the game at 8-4. Sessions led off the inning with a single, and scored on a double by Garrett Stutzman. Stutzman scored on an Ostermiller grounder that was misplayed; Ostermiller scored the final run of the inning on a double by Queen.

But just when it appeared the Pioneers were poised to claw back, Glasgow posted back-to-back four-run innings, ending the game after the sixth 16-4.

Schmidt took the loss for the Pioneers, giving up four runs on one hit, while walking six in two innings of work. Flores gave up four runs on three hits in relief, while Noah Blough gave up eight runs (five earned) on seven hits, striking out two.

The Pioneers played well at the plate, pounding out eight hits. Queen led the charge with a 3-for-4 effort, including a double and an RBI. Stutzman also had an RBI double to go along with a single; Schmidt, Ryley Meyer and Sessions had a hit apiece.

Livingston 16, Pioneers 15

The second game of a Powell doubleheader Friday was a wild one, with the Livingston Braves outlasting Powell 16-15 in 11 innings.

“We had the lead, we were cruising,” Cates said. “And then it went off the rails.”

The two teams combined for 37 hits and the lead changed hands four times before the Braves plated the gamewinner in the bottom of the 11th.

“Physical errors happen, but we had a lot happen because we were lazy,” Cates said. “We had ground balls that we booted because we were standing flat-footed, we weren’t charging the ball. Lazy — that might be the key word to this weekend.”

The Pioneers led 9-7 going into the bottom of the fifth before Livingston scored three to take its first lead of the game, 10-9. Powell retook the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but the Braves tied the game with a run in the bottom of the frame.

Both teams scored three runs in the ninth, and after a scoreless 10th, Powell took its final lead when Brown scored on a double by Meyer. However, the Braves plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the 11th for the 16-15 win.

The Pioneers pounded out 20 hits. Brown and Schmidt had four hits apiece, with Brown driving in two runs. Queen and Meyer had three hits and three RBIs each, while Sessions and Wentz finished with two hits. Ostermiller and Stutzman rounded out the hitting with one each.

Pitching stats were unavailable for this game at press time, though Cates said his pitchers had a rough go due to the play in the field.

“My pitchers threw so many extra pitches because of giving away outs and bad calls at the plate,” he said. “We had strike three pitches all day long that were not being called, and that would extend the inning. The umpires did not help us out whatsoever.”

Fergus 12, Pioneers 0

Against Fergus Saturday afternoon, the Pioneers began to show the effects of three games in two days, giving up eight runs in the first inning en route to a 12-0 loss.

Wentz got the start, giving up 12 runs (five earned) on nine hits and striking out three. Florez pitched an inning and a third in relief, giving up one hit.

After tearing it up at the plate the previous two days, the Pioneers’ bats were all but silent Saturday, managing just one hit from Sessions and another from Florez.

Miles City 18, Pioneers 3

Powell’s struggles carried over into Sunday’s finale against the Miles City Mavericks, as the Pioneers again managed just two hits. Brown and Ostermiller had a hit apiece, with Brown driving in the Pioneers’ only RBI.

Meyer was credited with the loss, giving up 11 runs (five earned) on six hits and striking out two in two innings. Blough and Stutzman pitched in relief, giving up six hits and seven runs between them; Blough struck out two.