A home win in the front end of a doubleheader against Cody’s B team Wednesday in Powell did little to propel the Pioneers forward as the team proceeded to lose five of its next six games.

The Pioneers (9-16) started their week of action with a 6-5 win over Cody, but went on to lose 7-2 in game two of the twin bill before dropping four of five contests at the Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament in Billings, Montana, on Thursday through Sunday.

“It was kind of a weird weekend all around,” Powell head coach Jason Borders said. “But until we start hitting, nothing is going to change; we’re still going to be the mediocre baseball team we’ve been lately.”

THUNDER RIDGE 4, POWELL 3

After defeating Thunder Ridge earlier in the tournament, the Pioneers lost a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning before surrendering the game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning to close out the tourney.

Matt Brown started the game for Powell, but went just two innings while allowing an unearned run. He fanned two. Carson Asher came on in relief and surrendered three earned runs with three walks and a strikeout in taking the loss.

Powell collected five hits, including two each from Cory Heny and Asher.

GLASGOW 14, POWELL 1, 5 inn.

Teagan Cordes’ ground out in the first inning gave Powell an early 1-0 lead, but the Pioneers were only able to hold off their foes for two innings.

Four runs in the third frame put Glasgow ahead for good, and Powell was unable to scrape anything together the rest of the way with just five hits.

On the mound for Powell, Ty Dearcorn was roughed up for 10 runs (seven earned) on six hits. Dearcorn was also hurt by seven walks and three errors by the Pioneer defense.

MISSOULA PROSPECTS 12, POWELL 4

Powell showed resiliency early, rallying back from a 3-0 first-inning deficit with four runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before Tyler Feller and Ezra Andreasen walked in two more runs. Feller later scored on a error to give Powell the short-lived edge.

Missoula pulled away, however, with two runs in the second and four more in the third.

Zavier Wantulok had two of the Pioneers’ three hits.

Asher suffered the loss after pitching 2 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs (four earned).

Another shaky performance by the Powell defense resulted in 11 errors.

“Carson was struggling a little bit ... when your pitcher struggles, your defense can get lured asleep a little bit and maybe get caught off guard when something is hit hard at you,” Borders said. “But I’m not putting all the blame on our pitchers — we played a miserable game. (Missoula was) a good baseball team, but they’re not that good that we should’ve just let them off the hook by kicking the ball around.”

POWELL 4, THUNDER RIDGE 2

The Pioneers bounced back from a tough loss in the first game of the tournament with a tight win.

Despite just three hits from its offense, Powell did enough to win in the second inning. After Dearcorn walked, he scored on an error after being advanced by Asher’s double. Heny later drove in Asher with a double for a 2-0 advantage. Asher later drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning before Andreasen walked in a tally.

Brown picked up the complete-game win for Powell, going all seven innings while allowing one earned run on with four hits, two walks and six strikeouts.

BILLINGS BLUE JAYS 5, POWELL 4

A 4-0 lead wasn’t enough for the Pioneers to claim victory in their first action of the tournament. Billings posted three runs in the third inning, one in the fourth and another in the sixth to rally and win.

Powell again did its damage on limited offense, registering just three hits. Asher, Heny and Wantulok each had an RBI for the Pioneers. Four errors hurt Heny on the mound, as the right-hander went six innings while giving up six hits and five unearned runs.

“We played shorthanded and played really well,” Borders said. “It was a game we should’ve won, there were just a couple of things that bit us, like always.

“But for just having nine guys, we played really well.”

CODY B 7, POWELL 2

Powell never led in its loss to Cody’s junior varsity squad.

The Pioneers trailed 4-0 when Grady Sanders scored on a passed ball. Sanders drove in a run on a single one inning later to pull Powell within 5-2, but didn’t come any closer.

Wantulok went six innings on the mound for the Pioneers, allowing seven runs (three earned) with four walks and three strikeouts.

POWELL 6, CODY B 5

Powell’s biggest bright spot of the week may have come off the bats of Heny and Toby Stowe in their first game of the week.

The Pioneers saw a 3-1 lead turn into a 5-3 hole in the sixth inning, but Heny and Stowe saved their team with some clutch hitting. After Brown and Sanders walked to start the bottom of the sixth, Heny smacked a triple to left center that one-hopped the fence and tied the game. It was a relief for Heny, who had popped a pitch to the right of the first base line only to see it be dropped by the Cody catcher to keep Heny’s at-bat alive.

Stowe then reached on a fielder’s choice groundout to score Heny with the winning run.

Dearcorn pitched a complete game for Powell, working around three Pioneer errors to allow just one earned run with eight walks and seven strikeouts. Stowe finished with two RBIs while Sanders and Asher also plated runs.

What’s next ...

Powell travels to Laurel, Montana, for a 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday before hosting the Ed Lynn Memorial Wood Bat Tournament on Friday through Sunday at Ed Lynn Memorial Field in Powell. The Pioneers will open play Thursday with an 11 a.m. battle against Lovell before facing off against the Billings Angels at 6:30 p.m. The rest of Powell’s schedule will depend on the results of those two games.