Pioneers seeded second in Northwest Conference

As far as Jason Borders is concerned, the Powell Pioneers’ appearance in this weekend’s Billings Halos Tournament in Billings is more of a tune-up then anything.

The Billings tourney wraps up the regular season for the Pioneers (16-25) before the team travels to Wheatland for the Single A District Tournament Wednesday through Saturday.

“It’s a good tune-up for us whether we win or lose,” Borders said. “One way or another we’re going to find out a little bit about ourselves.”

The district tournament will feature six teams — the three from the Northeast Conference and the three from the Northwest — but the matchups have yet to be solidified. Cody and Powell, both of the Northwest, ended their conference slates with a doubleheader against each other Tuesday in Cody, which the Cubs swept 9-0, 6-1. That left Cody with the first seed in the conference, Powell second and Lovell (1-7 in the Northwest) third. Powell will face the Northeast’s No. 3 seed in the opening round Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The weekend will wrap up Northeast play, and will decide where Douglas, Wheatland and Gillette will be seeded when the tournament begins. Gillette currently holds the best record in the Northeast at 29-16, while Cody sits at 28-13 after Tuesday. One disadvantage for the Pioneers is that neither the team, nor Borders, knows much about the Northeast clubs outside of Douglas, whom Powell defeated 11-7 on June 6.

“I’m getting nervous is what I’m getting,” Borders joked. “It’s one of those deals where you’re kind of going in blind.

“I think we have a good chance to qualify for state. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be in the top four. I still think we’re one of the better teams in the state if you want to know the truth, it’s just about getting my guys to believe it.”

The top four teams from district will qualify for the state tournament, which will play out July 21-25 in Lovell. Powell made it to the state championship game against Cody last year, but fell short.