Opening day saw nice weather greeting the Powell Pioneers and Sheridan Troopers for a doubleheader on Sunday, as the ‘AA’ Troopers defeated the ‘A’ Pioneers 9-1 and 13-7 to open the season.

SHERIDAN 9, POWELL 1

The contest began Sunday after it was moved to Powell (0-2) from Sheridan due to snow still being too high on the Trooper fields.

Sheridan (2-0) got things started with two outs in the first inning, getting baserunners on through a walk and a single.

An error during the next at bat allowed the Troopers to get on the board and take a 1-0 lead in the first.

From that point forward the contest remained 1-0, with neither team creating significant scoring opportunities until the fourth inning.

Errors started to plague the Pioneers in the fourth, allowing Sheridan to bring in two more runs to extend the lead to 3-0.

Powell was creating contact with its bats but strong fielding by the Troopers kept the Pioneers at bay, and the score remained 3-0 heading into the sixth inning.

More errors and strong Trooper base-running doubled Sheridan’s lead and sent Powell searching for answers down 6-0 late in the game.

“We haven’t taken a lot of ground balls and fly balls and it showed,” manager Jason Borders said. “It was one of those early games to see where we were and what we needed to work on.”

Another three runs in the top of the seventh made it 9-0 which allowed for Sheridan to cruise late in the contest.

Kaden Diaz scored for Powell on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh, resulting in a 9-1 loss for the Pioneers.

Brock Johnson, Trey Stenerson and Ethan Welch were the only Pioneers with a hit in the contest.

SHERIDAN 13, POWELL 7

Heading into the second game, the Pioneers tossed Stenerson on the mound to get his first action of the year.

Two walks and a single helped load the bases for the Troopers early with two outs already on the board, but a final strikeout got Stenerson out of the jam to keep Sheridan scoreless.

Powell got baserunners on to start the first through a single by Ryan Cordes and a walk to Johnson, but couldn’t find a score to make it 0-0 after the first.

Sheridan got on the board in the second, scoring on a single, but the bleeding was stopped after a throwout from Cordes in center field helped Cole Fauskee earn a tag out at home.

Powell was unable to get any offense in the bottom of the second and Sheridan couldn’t find any action in the top of the third — setting Powell up for a key bottom of the third.

A walk to Welch and Cordes helped the Pioneers get two baserunners.

A bunt by Jhett Schwahn led to an error after the Trooper pitcher threw the ball over the first baseman’s head, allowing Welch to score and Cordes to reach third.

A single by Johnson drove in Cordes to give Powell a 2-1 lead.

Cade Queen was walked to load the bases, and a groundout by Dalton Worstell drove in Schwahn after Sheridan opted to throw to first instead of home.

A Fauskee ground out ended the inning with Powell leading 3-1.

The Pioneers kept the Troopers out again in the top of the fourth, giving Powell an opportunity to extend the lead.

Welch walked again in the fourth, and stole second to get into scoring position.

Schwahn was hit by a pitch, and Johnson was walked to load the bases with two outs on the board and Stenerson in to hit cleanup.

Stenerson hit a single to drive in two, and Queen followed that up with a single of his own to extend the lead to 6-1.

Unfortunately for Queen, he was tagged out trying to advance to second and ended the inning with Powell up 6-1.

A flip switched in the top of the fifth for the Troopers, who quickly got baserunners on as Powell searched for a first out.

The Troopers cut the lead down and took over the contest, using an eight-run outburst to take a 9-6 lead before the Pioneers got their first out of the inning.

“If you look at our stats for the day we had tons of errors and walks, that’s where we broke down,” Borders said. “It seemed like every time we walked a guy they’d get a hit. It was just one of those innings we couldn’t get an out.”

Powell was able to stop the bleeding to end the inning, but couldn’t regain its footing offensively over the next two innings.

Sheridan extended the lead to 11-6 in the top of the sixth and 13-6 in the top of the seventh, before Stenerson hit his first home run of the year to make the final score 13-7.

“We had a pretty tough opponent. I’m not making excuses but we should have played better,” Borders said.

Stenerson finished with three RBIs while Johnson, Queen and Worstell all earned an RBI each.

FIRST ROAD SWING

Powell heads out on the road this weekend, heading up to Montana to take on Miles City in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday.

“I don’t know how Miles City is this year but they are usually pretty good,” Borders said. “We’ve gotta clean things up, cut the errors and walks in half to give ourselves a chance.”

The Pioneers continue the road trip in Montana on Sunday in Billings, taking on the Cardinals at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Powell will return home next weekend on Sunday, April 30, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to host ‘A’ Evanston.