A week full of competition put the Powell Pioneers to the test, as they battled with the Sheridan Troopers in two tightly contested games, losing 7-6 and 4-3 at home last Wednesday, before heading to Douglas and defeating Wheatland and Torrington 9-1 en route to the championship game last weekend.

SHERIDAN 7, POWELL 6

Starting out the week with a true test against one of the top ‘AA’ teams in Wyoming, the Pioneers (35-17 overall, 8-0 ‘A’ Northwest) hosted the Troopers (33-19 overall, 6-0 ‘AA’).

Acting as the visiting team on the scoreboard, the Pioneers got things started in the top of the first.

Brock Johnson singled to lead off, and Jhett Schwahn was walked to put two on.

Cade Queen continued the early offense, hitting a double to bring in both runners and give Powell the early 2-0 lead.

Trey Stenerson then hit a double of his own to bring Queen home and make it 3-0 with no outs.

Powell was unable to do any more damage in the inning but headed to the bottom half with the early lead.

Sheridan had an answer, scoring on an error as well as a passed ball to cut the lead to 3-2 after the first inning.

Powell couldn’t keep the early offensive momentum going in the second, and Sheridan found a way to tie the score in the bottom half.

A single followed by a balk and a passed ball put a runner on third for Sheridan, and a single brought in the tying run to make it 3-3.

Powell regained its footing in the third, getting on early through a walk to Schwahn and a single by Queen to put two on with no outs.

Aidan Wantulok walked to load the bases and Ryan Cordes hit a single to score one and make it 4-3 in favor of Powell.

Dalton Worstell scored another on a sac fly — extending the lead to 5-3.

A single, a player hit by a pitch and a sac bunt put runners on second and third for Sheridan in the bottom half of the third.

A single with two outs scored both runners and tied the contest 5-5.

Powell appeared to regain the lead in the top of the fourth, after Schwahn singled.

Schwahn rounded for home after a deep hit to center by Queen, but his leaping effort at the plate was called out on the tag to end the inning — stopping the Pioneers in their attempt to regain the lead.

Sheridan finally took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, when a walk followed by a home run, all with two outs, put the Troopers up 7-5.

Powell continued to battle, putting Wantulok on through a single and advancing on a Cordes double to give Powell an opportunity to tie the contest.

A ground out by Worstell scored Wantulok, making it 7-6 in the fifth.

Powell was unable to find a tying or winning run late, falling 7-6 in the first contest.

“We showed up and we competed,” manager Jason Borders said. “It was good for us to play a team of that caliber at this time of year.”

Queen finished 4-4 at the plate with two RBIs, Worstell also finished with two RBIs and Stenerson and Cordes each drove in a run.

Powell out hit Sheridan 10-8 while each team committed one error. 

SHERIDAN 4, POWELL 3

The second game started slower for the Pioneers, after the Troopers put up three in the bottom of the first — giving Sheridan a lead early.

Powell answered with a run of its own, when Wantulok singled, Cordes walked and Worstell singled with one out in the top of the second.

Jacob Gibson hit a line out but brought in a run to make it 3-1.

Sheridan continued to roll early, scoring another run in the bottom of the second — however, that was the last run the Pioneers conceded.

After several scoreless innings, the Pioneers finally found a way to chip away at the lead in the top of the fifth.

A leadoff walk to Ethan Welch followed by a Johnson double put two runners in scoring position, and a single by Schwahn brought in both to make it 4-3.

Powell was unable to find a way to tie or take the lead, as Sheridan brought in a strong relief pitcher to close out the game and secure the 4-3 win.

“Every guy they threw was one of their [main] guys,” Borders said. “They didn’t want to get beat by an ‘A’ team by any means.”

Schwahn led the way with two RBIs while Gibson had one.

Both teams finished with eight hits, but five errors by the Pioneers made the difference in the contest.

“They are one of the top teams in ‘AA’,” Borders said. “We made crucial errors here and there that cost us.”

POWELL 9, WHEATLAND 1

Starting out at the Bolln Wood Bat Tournament in Douglas on Saturday, the Pioneers got their first look at another ‘A’ East team in Wheatland (11-21 overall, 2-6 ‘A’ East).

After a scoreless top half of the inning, Powell got on the board in the bottom half in emphatic fashion.

Johnson was hit by a pitch, Schwahn hit a single and Queen was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Stenerson stepped up, hit a deep fly ball over the wall to center field which gave Powell a 4-0 lead off the grand slam.

Powell was unable to get any runners on the next three batters and went into the second.

The Lobos got their run in the second, when a walk and a single put a runner in scoring position before a ground out on a fielder’s choice to first scored the run and made it 4-1.

Powell reenforced the lead in the second, with a single by Johnson with two outs to get on base.

He stole second during Schwahn’s at bat and was brought in on an error by Schwahn’s hit to make it 5-1.

Queen followed with a double and brought in Schwahn and extended the lead to 6-1.

Stenerson hit a single, and Wantulok’s hit led to an error and scored Queen to make it 7-1.

Wantulok stole second, which led to Stenerson stealing home and Powell continued to grow the lead.

Cordes hit a single that scored Wantulok but Cordes was called out advancing to second and ended the inning with the score 9-1.

Gibson continued to hinder the Lobos and Welch got the final out on the mound with Powell only giving up two hits in the contest after it was called after four innings.

Stenerson led the way with four RBIs, while Queen and Cordes each chipped in one.

POWELL 9, TORRINGTON 1

Rounding out pool play matches the Pioneers came up against Torrington (25-11 overall, 5-3 ‘A’ East), which Powell defeated 10-0 a week prior in Green River.

Torrington got on the board first in the top of the third inning, scoring one on a fielder’s choice to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

Powell had an answer in the bottom half of the inning, when Schwahn singled and Queen homered to give Powell the 2-1 lead.

Stenerson followed that up with a home run of his own, appearing to give Powell momentum up 3-1 with no outs.

“We hit a lot of home runs,” Borders said. “That was the main difference in all of our ball games.”

That momentum was stopped once again, but Powell got more run support in the bottom of the fourth.

Johnson led off with a double and stole third during Queen’s at bat, before scoring on a passed ball to make it 4-1.

Once again, despite only one out on the board, the Pioneers were unable to grow the lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Gibson singled with one out and advanced to second on a passed ball before Welch was walked to put two on.

Johnson singled to score Gibson, but this time Powell capitalized and added to the lead.

Queen stepped up and hit his second home run of the game, extending the lead out to 8-1.

In the bottom of the sixth the Pioneers needed one run to end the game early, and Powell got it with two outs.

Cordes walked, before stealing second and third on an error by the pitcher. He scored on a steal home and ended the game with a 9-1 victory.

The Pioneers went on to defeat Douglas in the semifinal 4-3 before a late blown lead in the championship saw Powell lose to Torrington 5-4. Catch recaps of those games in Thursday’s Powell Tribune.

FINAL WEEK

Heading into the final week of the regular season the Pioneers are set to host their final home games Tuesday (tonight).

That will be a matchup with Lander (5-17 overall, 0-10 ‘A’ Northwest), with Powell looking for the regular season sweep over the Legends after starting the season 3-0 against the visitors.

“If we play up to our capabilities we should be fine,” Borders said. “We need to come out and know every team is going to go at us … I don’t think we are going to overlook anybody at this point of the season.”

Those games have been moved up to 4 and 6 p.m. from the originally scheduled 5 and 7 p.m.

Borders said he feels his team will be up to the challenge with the team hosting senior night to close out the home schedule.

If Powell completes the sweep, that will set up a rivalry tilt for the regular season title in the Northwest on Friday in Cody, where the Pioneers would need one victory over the Cubs (29-17-1 overall, 8-2 ‘A’ Northwest) to guarantee the ‘A’ Northwest title and the first seed at the district tournament next week.