The Powell Legion A baseball team cruised into the Fourth of July break in fine fashion Tuesday, upsetting the Riverton Raiders 4-3 in the second game of a home doubleheader.

After a 15-0 drubbing in the opener, the Pioneers once again dug deep, led on the mound by ace Colin Queen. After an impressive but short stint on the mound Sunday against Cody, the lefthander was dealing Tuesday night, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and striking out nine in 6 1/3 innings.

“Colin just came out and threw great,” Powell manager Joe Cates told KPOW after the game. “He was confident in everything that he threw. When he’s on, it’s night and day with the confidence this team has.”

It was the first win against Riverton for Cates as a manager, and he said the difference in the two contests was confidence.

“They [the Pioneers] had confidence that second game, there was no confidence at all that first game,” he said. “When these kids have confidence, they can play. But lately, we get down a run or two, they lose that confidence. But when they stay in it mentally, we’re a team that can win ball games.”

The Pioneers have a week off, and will be back in action Tuesday, July 9, hosting a doubleheader against the 406 Flyers at Ed Lynn Memorial Field.

Pioneers 4, Riverton 3

Looking to rebound from a 15-0 rout in the first game of a day/night doubleheader, the Pioneers were determined to go into the holiday break on a high note. After Riverton took an early 1-0 lead in the first, Powell would never trail again, using solid pitching and timely hitting to clinch a must-needed conference win 4-3 over Riverton.

After getting the first two batters out in the top of the first, Queen gave up four straight singles, giving Riverton a 1-0 lead. Powell answered in the bottom of the first, as Kobe Ostermiller and Queen led off with back-to-back singles. with Ostermiller on third, catcher Cameron Schmidt grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Ostermiller and tying the game at 1-1.

After a scoreless second inning, the Pioneers took the lead in the bottom of the third. With one out and the bases empty, Ostermiller smacked a triple to center field. Queen sacrificed in the next at bat, but reached on an error, scoring Ostermiller to take a 2-1 lead.

A double and a single by Riverton in the top of the fourth brought the game back to even at 2-2. The Pioneers retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth 3-2, as Garrett Stutzman showed patience at the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Stutzman walked to score Cameron Wentz, who had also reached on a walk. Schmidt had a single in the inning to load the bases for Stutzman.

Riverton tied the game once more in the top of the sixth, plating a run to make it 3-3 after a series of miscues in the field by the Pioneers. First baseman Ashton Brewer led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and advanced to second on a Landon Sessions sacrifice. Sessions reached on an error, and a sacrifice bunt by Noah Blough moved Sessions to second and Brewer to third.

With one out and runners in scoring position, Cates gambled on a suicide squeeze — Wentz bunted, allowing Brewer to score what would be the gamewinner. Sessions made an aggressive play to try and score from second, and was thrown out on a close play at the plate, ending the inning.

“It was close,” Cates said of Sessions’ play at the plate. “In hindsight, maybe I don’t send Landon, maybe give Kobe a shot with the top of the order up. But it was close — a little bit better jump and we have two runs right there. It was just a momentum boost.”

Holding a slim 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh, Queen struck out the first batter from Riverton, and was pulled in favor of Wentz. Wentz picked up his first save of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced to secure the win.

“Cameron [Wentz] looked great, I was very happy with how he looked tonight,” Cates said.

The Pioneers had five hits in the contest, led by a 2-for-3 performance by Ostermiller, which included a triple.

“Kobe [Ostermiller] swung the bat great that second game,” Cates said. “We’re starting to put together here and there — now if we can just continue to keep putting it together, we’ll be OK.”

Queen and Schmidt each finished with a hit and an RBI, while Ashton Brewer rounded out the hitting with a single and a run scored. Stutzman and Wentz had an RBI apiece.

Queen regained his early season form on the mound against the Raiders, going 6 1/3 innings and striking out nine. Wentz was credited with the save, giving up no hits and striking out two.

“This was a big game for us, especially after that 15-0 loss the first game,” Cates said. “Hopefully it gives us some momentum when we come out of the break.”

Riverton 15, Pioneers 0

Against Riverton in the opener, the Pioneers fell behind early and never quite recovered. Despite an inability to get anything going at the plate, Powell only trailed 5-0 going into the top of the fifth, not an insurmountable lead when Powell has its bats going. But Riverton pieced together a big inning, plating 10 runs to take a 15-0 lead.

The Pioneers showed some life in the bottom of the fifth, as back-to-back singles by Blough and Zane Cordes and a walk by Ostermiller loaded the bases with one out. Powell was unable to capitalize, however, and the game ended by the mercy rule.