Wooden bats were cracking left and right for the Powell Pioneers in Douglas over the weekend, resulting in a semifinal berth in the Bolln’ Wood Bat Tournament — defeating Wheatland 13-1, Torrington 8-2 but falling to Riverton 7-6 in the semifinals in extra innings.

POWELL 13, WHEATLAND 1

The Pioneers (28-19-1 overall, 3-3 A Northwest) got things started early on Saturday, matching up with Wheatland (19-25 overall, 4-6 A Southeast) for the third time this season.

Cade Queen got on base through a double to start the day, later advancing to third on a wild pitch during Trey Stenerson’s at bat.

Stenerson brought in Queen on a sac fly to make it 1-0.

Jacob Gibson started strong on the mound, getting all three batters out on five pitches.

Dalton Worstell hit a leadoff single in the second inning, and Nathan Feller hit a one-out single to put two runners on for Powell.

During Ethan Welch’s at bat, Worstell stole third, and an error to third base allowed Worstell to score and make it 2-0.

Feller stole second during Queen’s at bat, and Queen drove him in on a single — making it 3-0 early in the game.

Wheatland threatened in the bottom half of the second with the bases loaded and two outs, but a fly out ended the threat keeping it at 3-0.

Stenerson was hit by a pitch to start the third, advancing to second and third on an errant throw during a pickoff attempt to get into scoring position.

Aiden Greenwald drove him in on a double, extending the lead to 4-0.

Greenwald advanced to third on a ground out, and scored during Keaton Rowton’s at bat on an error giving Powell a 5-0 lead.

Wheatland got its only run of the game in the third on a single.

Queen continued his strong play at the plate, hitting a leadoff home run ­— his first of the season — in the top of the fourth to make it 6-1.

Jhett Schwahn followed that up with a double, and Aidan Wantulok drove in Schwahn on a double of his own to make it 7-1.

Wantulok advanced to third on a ground out, and Worstell brought him in on a single for an 8-1 score.

Powell continued to score in the fifth, Welch hit a single to lead off the inning, and Queen brought him in on a triple to make it 9-1.

With the triple, Queen went 4-4 at the plate and completed the hitting cycle hitting a single, double, triple and home run all in the same game.

“He [Queen] has a lot of confidence in his abilities,” Pioneers Manager Jason Borders said. “We saw some kids step up that needed to step up with Brock [Johnson] gone.”

Schwahn brought in Queen on a single, and Stenerson hit a home run to score Schwahn and make it 12-1.

Greenwald walked and Worstell drove him in on a double to make it 13-1.

Gibson completed the game in the bottom half of the fifth, allowing seven hits and one earned run as the Pioneers won via mercy rule 13-1.

POWELL 8, TORRINGTON 2

A short break gave Powell a chance to prepare for Torrington (17-13 overall, 5-7 A Southeast) with a chance to make the semifinals on the line.

Torrington came out of the gates strong, scoring on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 after the first inning.

That lead extended in the second inning on a double, making the score 2-0 early.

Trailing 2-0, the Powell bats came to life when Feller hit a double to lead off the third inning.

Queen walked, and Schwahn drove in the pair on a double to tie the score at 2-2.

Wantulok hit a single, driving in Schwahn, and Stenerson hit a triple to bring in Wantulok and make it 4-2.

Greenwald hit a hard ground ball and reached on an error, scoring Stenerson to make it 5-2 after three innings.

Both teams struggled to reach base the next two innings, until Powell put the game away in the sixth inning.

Worstell and Cole Fauskee singled to start the inning, and Feller hit a ground ball into an error that allowed one run to score.

Welch grounded out, but brought in Fauskee to make it 7-2.

Feller advanced to third on a ground out during Queen’s at bat, and scored during Schwahn’s at bat on a wild pitch making it 8-2.

“This was one of our best team effort weekends,” Borders said. “Everybody contributed.” 

Following that victory, the Pioneers advanced to the semifinals on Sunday afternoon with a chance to advance to the championship.

RIVERTON 7, POWELL 6 (8 innings)

Heading into Sunday, Powell had the opportunity to advance to the championship game, matching up against A Southwest opponent Riverton (18-15 overall, 7-1 A Southwest) who the Pioneers may see at the district tournament next week.

Powell scored early when Queen hit a leadoff single and through base running scored on a Stenerson single to make it 1-0 after one inning.

Worstell walked to leadoff the second inning, and Feller hit a double to put two runners in scoring position.

Welch brought in Worstell and Queen hit a sac fly to bring in Feller to make it 3-0 early in the contest.

Riverton came back in the fourth inning, starting with a leadoff home run and later scoring another run to make it 3-2.

The Pioneers extended the lead in the fifth, after Stenerson hit a leadoff single and later stole second and third to score on a pop out by Worstell to make it 4-2.

Riverton continued to fight back, scoring three runs in the sixth to take the lead 5-4.

Welch walked to leadoff the sixth, and Queen drove him in on a double to tie the score at 5-5.

Both teams failed to score in the seventh, sending the game to extra innings.

Each team got a runner placed on second to leadoff the inning, and a Riverton batter was intentionally walked to have two runners on.

A double brought in both runners to make it 7-5.

Powell scored one run in the bottom half of the inning, but it was not enough as the Pioneers came up short 7-6.

“They got timely hits in the game and we did not,” Borders said.

Queen finished 2-4 at the plate and drove in three runs to lead the Pioneers.

FINAL GAMES

Powell heads back to Park County to finish off the regular season, matching up with Cody (28-17 overall, 6-0 A Northwest) on the road Tuesday (today) in the final games of the regular season.

Those games are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and both teams have been locked into their respective postseason positions, with Cody winning the A Northwest and Powell placing in second.

With nothing on the line, Borders hopes his team can come out relaxed heading into the end of the season.

“Hopefully we come out relaxed and go play baseball,” Borders said.

Looking beyond to the A West District tournament next week, the Pioneers are already scheduled to matchup with Rawlins (0-17 overall, 0-8 A Southwest) in the first round next Monday at 4 p.m. in Green River.