Pioneers resilient in split with Green River

Powell rebounds with 6-1 win after first-game 22-0 rout in doubleheader

Posted 6/25/19

After a brutal loss in the first game of a doubleheader against visiting Green River Thursday, the Powell Legion A baseball team was faced with a gut-check moment.

The Pioneers were still …

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Pioneers resilient in split with Green River

Powell rebounds with 6-1 win after first-game 22-0 rout in doubleheader

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After a brutal loss in the first game of a doubleheader against visiting Green River Thursday, the Powell Legion A baseball team was faced with a gut-check moment.

The Pioneers were still reeling from a rough showing the weekend before at the Lewistown tourney, where they’d posted an 0-5 record. The team’s sluggish play continued in the opener against Green River with a 22-0 loss. Powell manager Joe Cates gathered his team in the outfield following the contest and challenged them to play like he knew they were capable of.

“I jumped on them a little bit,” Cates said. “I let them know this was unacceptable — they’re better than this. I told them to just play the game, instead of worrying about everything else. I think everyone was scared of making mistakes. They came into that second game ready to play.”

The pep talk worked: The Pioneers looked like a different team from the outset of the second game, taking an early lead and cruising to a 6-1 win.

“They bounced back great, and it was nice to see that,” Cates added. “But it was terrible to see how bad they were in that first game. When they play with confidence, they can play with anybody.”

Starting pitcher Colin Queen was solid on the mound, giving up just one earned run while pitching a complete game.

“It’s a different swing when Colin [Queen] is on the bump,” Cates said. “Deep down, the guys know that Colin is going to compete, he’s going to throw strikes. He’s going to do whatever he can to do the best he can for our team.”

The Pioneers are back in action today (Tuesday), hosting a day/night doubleheader against the league-leading Cody Cubs. Games are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m. at Ed Lynn Memorial Field. Cates said practice this week would be geared toward field work.

“I’m not going to do a ton of individual work; we’ll go over picks and a few other things,” he said. “I’ll see if I can keep the guys loose. That’s going to be the key.”

 

Pioneers 6, Green River 1

The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead in the first inning of game two and never looked back, winning 6-1. Powell’s batters scattered five hits over six innings, but put enough players on base to manufacture runs. Defensively, the Pioneers committed just one error and turned a triple play in the top of the fourth that had the home crowd on its feet.

“Our defense was much better, especially with Jesse [Brown] back at shortstop,” Cates said. “We played more confident, and Colin [Queen] did a great job throwing strikes. Jesse [Brown] bobbled that first ball hit to him, but fired it across the diamond and we get the call. It seemed like everyone took a deep breath there and said, ‘Hey, we can do this.’”

After walking and stealing a base in the bottom of the first, Queen advanced to third on an error by the Knights’ catcher. Cameron Schmidt then reached first on a dropped third strike, scoring Queen and giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.

The game was a pitcher’s duel for the next two innings, before Powell added to its lead in the bottom of the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out, Ryley Meyer scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. A Cameron Wentz single drove in Garrett Stutzman, and the Pioneers led 3-0 heading into the top of the fifth.

After the Knights went three up, three down in the top of the fifth, the Pioneers plated two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Green River walked three of the first four Powell batters to load the bases, setting the stage for Stutzman. A single to right field scored Queen and Jesse Brown, pushing the Pioneers’ lead to 5-0.

Green River finally got on the board with a run in the top of the sixth, but it was too little, too late. Kobe Ostermiller singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth, and promptly stole second. After getting Queen to ground out, Green River walked the next three batters, scoring Ostermiller for Powell’s final run of the game. Holding a 6-1 lead going into the top of the seventh, Cates stuck with Queen on the mound. The lefty struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up a single, then closed the door on the Knights with a pop up to Brown at shortstop. It was the first complete-game win for Queen this season.

“He [Queen] is consistent, he’s always working,” Cates said. “The team sees that and knows that Colin is going to show up to play; we better show up to play as well.”

The Pioneers finished with five hits by five different players. Stutzman led the team with a run scored and two RBIs; Schmidt, Meyer and Wentz were also credited with driving in a run. Ostermiller rounded out the hitting with a single and a run scored.

Queen gave up one earned run on eight hits and struck out five.

 

Green River 22, Pioneers 0

The first game of the doubleheader was all Green River, as the Knights took advantage of nine errors by Powell to win 22-0.

The box score wasn’t pretty, with three Pioneer pitchers combining for 22 runs on 10 hits; only eight of those runs were earned.

“We struggled in every aspect of the game in that one,” Cates said. “We didn’t throw strikes well; Ryley [Meyer] struggled on the bump. We walked 10 batters and hit three; that’s 13 free bases right there. We were playing some guys out of position. Our defense was on its heels, and they got into their own heads too much at that point.”

Meyer took the loss for the Pioneers, giving up nine runs on five hits (four earned) and striking out three in three innings of work.

Noah Blough and Ryley Meyer accounted for the Pioneers’ only two hits in the contest.

Powell Pioneers

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