A dominant first outing was followed by a chaotic second outing on the road against the Billings Blue Jays on Saturday, with the Powell Pioneers earning an 8-2 win before surviving in a 21-16 second contest to claim a fifth straight win.

POWELL 8, BILLINGS 2

Making the trip north on Saturday, the Pioneers (5-1) were looking to keep momentum rolling against the Blue Jays (2-2).

Few baserunners reached over the first two innings for either team, before a strong third inning gave the Pioneers the advantage.

Ethan Welch walked to get on, before Brock Johnson was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs.

Jhett Schwahn hit a single to score Welch and advance Johnson to third, before Cade Queen hit a double and brought in a pair to give Powell the 3-0 lead.

Queen was caught stealing third, before Trey Stenerson was walked, Dalton Worstell was hit by a pitch and Cole Fauskee was walked to load the bases with one out.

Stenerson scored on a passed ball, before a double play ended the inning at 4-0.

In the fourth, Welch walked with one out and Johnson hit a single, with both runners advancing further on an error.

Schwahn grounded out but scored Welch to make it 5-0.

Johnson scored on a wild pitch, with the score standing at 6-0 after the fourth.

Powell continued holding the Blue Jays scoreless, not giving up a hit until the final inning.

Before the hosts got on the board, Powell added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh.

Queen doubled with one out, then Stenerson singled. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch, before an error on Worstell’s hit scored Queen and advanced Stenerson.

Stenerson then scored on a wild pitch, capping off the scoring for the Pioneers.

Billings finally got on the board after a player got on through an error, another was hit by a pitch and a double brought the lead runner in on the Blue Jays’ first hit of the game.

The second run scored after the runner tagged up on a line out to finish the scoreline at 8-2.

Johnson and Aiden Greenwald combined for the one hit on the mound, combining for 11 strikeouts and only one walk with no earned runs.

“We played well. You got Brock on the mound and that kind of defeats the other team off the bat,” manager Jason Borders said. “A few base running errors here and there. That happens, not too concerned about it … Aiden also threw great.”

Queen went 2-3 with two RBIs while Schwahn was 1-4 with two RBIs.

Powell committed only one error compared to two for the Blue Jays while out hitting them 7-1.

POWELL 21, BILLINGS 16

After a short break the two teams rematched, with a high-scoring affair in store in the second contest.

The Pioneers got on the board early, after Schwahn singled and advanced on a balk before Queen was walked to put two on with one out.

Worstell was walked to load the bases before Schwahn scored on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.

Fauskee hit into an error, scoring Queen to make it 2-0.

That was all the offense for the Pioneers in the first before adding to the lead in the second.

Welch got on via an error, before advancing to second on a wild pitch.

Schwahn got on through an error, with both runners advancing during a wild pitch during Queen’s at bat.

Queen singled to bring in Welch, before Stenerson hit a sac fly to score Schwahn and make it 4-0.

Billings found its offense in the bottom of the second, getting on base through an error and a single before an error trying to catch a runner stealing second allowed a run to score and make it 4-1.

Powell pushed the lead back out with a strong third inning, despite getting two outs to start.

Jordan Loera got on via a single, followed by Welch and Johnson earning walks to load the bases.

Schwahn and Queen were walked to score two, and Johnson scored on a wild pitch to quickly make it 7-1.

Stenerson hit into an error, scoring Schwahn.

Queen scored on a wild pitch before Worstell hit a single to score Stenerson. Fauskee singled and Greenwald hit into an error to reload the bases.

Loera added to his early hit, knocking one deep into right field and clearing the bases via a triple to make the scoreline 13-1, capping off a nine run inning for the Pioneers to take a commanding lead.

Billings responded with a trio of runs, getting on via a single and a hit batter alongside a double and an error to cut the lead  to 13-4.

Powell again extended the lead to double digits, with Johnson leading off via a single, eventually stealing second.

Schwahn drove him in on a single to make it 14-4.

Schwahn stole second before Queen advanced him and got on through an error.

A balk during Stenerson’s at bat advanced the runners and made it 15-4.

Worstell was walked before Fauskee hit into an error and made it 16-4.

A strong bottom half of the fourth cut into the lead, with Billings scoring four to make it 16-8.

In the fifth, Loera singled to lead off, Welch hit into an error before Johnson hit a triple to score both and make it 18-8.

Queen singled to score Johnson and made it 19-8 heading into the bottom of the fifth.

The Blue Jays got a pair back in the bottom, keeping the contest going at 19-10.

Two more in the bottom of the sixth cut it to 19-12.

With two outs in the top of the seventh the Pioneers loaded the bases after Queen was hit along with Stenerson and Devin Kokkeler walking.

Fauskee singled to bring in Queen and Stenerson and push the lead to 21-12.

Billings added four in the bottom of the inning, but Powell held off any comeback attempt and finished with the 21-16 victory.

“We got a lot of guys on the mound in that second game which was good,” Borders said. “We just move on and try to learn from it.”

The Blue Jays outhit the Pioneers 15-13, but had nine errors compared to four for Powell.

Loera was 3-4 with three RBIs and Queen was 2-3 with three RBIs to lead the Pioneers.

ON THE ROAD

Powell had a home series against Green River canceled last Sunday, keeping the Pioneers on the road for an additional couple of weeks.

That will start with another trip to Billings this weekend, this time taking on the Cardinals (2-0) on Sunday.

“This time of year that’s what we try to do every week is to improve on what we are doing,” Borders said. “Going to keep playing and playing, and hopefully progress while getting better every game. We’re way further ahead of where we were this time last year.”

First pitches in each game are set for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.