In a tale of two games Friday the Powell Pioneers dominate the first game with 18 hits against Lovell in an 11-7 win before only managing one hit in the second contest in an 11-1 defeat.

POWELL 11, LOVELL 7

Looking for wins on the road against Lovell, the Pioneers (12-17 overall, 3-3 ‘A’ West) got off to a strong start against the Mustangs (12-14 overall, 2-3 ‘A’ West).

Ben Ostermiller walked to lead off, but was caught stealing second before the Pioneers started rolling.

Jordan Loera tripled, and then scored with a play at the plate on a passed ball to make it 1-0.

Caden Diaz singled, and Cole Fauskee followed with another single to put two on.

Trevion Solberg followed with an RBI double, scoring Diaz and making it 2-0.

Abel Teten singled and scored Fauskee, advancing Solberg to third.

Dominik Bieber singled to score Solberg and advanced Teten to third. Teten then scored on a dropped third strike to Decker Engesser as Powell led 5-0 after the top of the first.

Lovell got one run back in the bottom of the first, starting with a walk.

The lead runner was out at second on a fielder’s choice, but then a deep hit to left field followed by an errant throw in led to a single and saw the runner advance all the way to score and make it 5-1 after the first.

Powell responded and pushed its lead back out in the top of the second.

After a ground out started the inning, Diaz reached on a single. 

Fauskee’s hit nearly led to a double play to end the inning, but an errant throw to first allowed Fauskee to advance to second.

Solberg then singled to score Fauskee, and Powell led 6-1.

In the top of the third the Pioneers added another run, as Engesser hit a one out triple before Ostermiller singled to score him and make it 7-1.

Another pair of runs scored in the top of the fourth, starting with a one out triple by Solberg.

“The first game we did everything we worked on in practice,” manager Jason Borders said. “We hit a lot of balls in the gaps like we worked on.”

Teten singled and scored Solberg, and Ryan Barrus singled to join Teten.

Bieber singled and scored another run as Powell led 9-1 after the fourth.

Another Powell triple caused damage in the fifth inning, as Diaz hit a one out triple and scored on a Fauskee single to make it 10-1 heading into the final innings.

Lovell got runs back in the bottom of the sixth, as a solo home run scored one, before a hit batter and a triple scored another to make it a 10-3 contest.

Powell added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, as Diaz walked with one out, and advanced to second on a ground out.

Solberg singled to score Diaz, and made it 11-3 Powell.

A Lovell runner got on and advanced to second after an error on a ground out to start the seventh.

A single advanced the lead runner further, before another single scored a run.

A fly out scored a runner after they tagged up, before a two run home run capped off the scoring as Powell finished with the 11-7 win.

Solberg led at the plate going 4-5 with three RBIs, followed closely by Teten going 3-4 with two RBIs.

Bieber added two RBIs going 2-4 while Diaz went 3-4 and scored three times.

Ostermiller went 5-2/3 giving up one hit and one earned run, walking three batters and adding six strikeouts.

LOVELL 11, POWELL 1

What went well in the first game for the Pioneers did not follow in the second matchup, as it was Lovell getting off to the strong start.

Two walks, followed by an error and two singles scored four runs for the Mustangs, before a ground out scored another and made it 5-0 after the first inning for the hosts.

Fauskee and Solberg walked to lead off the second, but two strikeouts nearly left the Pioneers without a run.

Kolby Gates singled and scored Fauskee, the only hit the Pioneers would muster against Lovell’s Tucker Jackson.

“Tucker is good. He’s tough,” Borders said. “Probably one of the better guys we’ve seen all year and he dominated us.”

A two out walk followed by an error on a pickoff attempt with the runner stealing second allowed the runner to advance to third, before a wild pitch scored him and made it 6-1 Lovell.

After a quick rain delay following the second, neither team scored a run until the bottom of the fourth.

A single followed by an errant pick off attempt at first allowed the runner to advance to second.

A double scored that runner and made it 7-1 Lovell.

In the bottom of the fifth a hit batter and a walk got runners on for Lovell, and a two out walk loaded the bases.

An error scored one run, before another error scored two more and made it 10-1.

“It seems like we sometimes can’t get out of our own way,” Borders said. “Dropped balls here and there — there are easy plays we just don’t make sometimes and it kills us.”

An intentional walk reloaded the bases, before a single scored the final run and ended the game via the 10 run rule.

Lovell outhit Powell 5-1, while the Pioneers committed seven errors compared to none for the Mustangs.

“It was one of those nights where we couldn’t get out of our own way,” Borders said.

Booka Fazen gave up two hits and three earned runs with four walks in two innings, while Loera gave up three hits and no earned runs with three walks and three strikeouts in 2-2/3 innings.

“To scatter five hits throughout a game I’m pretty happy with our pitching,” Borders said. “We just never put all three phases (hitting, pitching and fielding) together often.”

The Pioneers struck out 12 times in the contest.

GREEN RIVER TUESDAY

The Pioneers originally had games scheduled in Billings on Sunday to take on the Lockwood Razorbacks, but a pipe burst at the field caused those games to be canceled.

That means Powell got the weekend off to recover before jumping into their final conference games of June, hosting the Green River Knights (3-18-1 overall, 0-4 ‘A’ West) today (Tuesday) at 5 and 7 p.m.

“They’re really young,” Borders said. “I’ll probably throw my top two guys against them. If I can keep their pitch counts down I’ll pull them. If we have to use them up, we’ll use them up. They’re conference games so they’re important.”

Powell currently sits second in the ‘A’ West standings, with Borders believing the whole conference will have a “good understanding” of where each team sits following a series of games on Tuesday.

Following the home games Tuesday the Pioneers head on the road to Billings for the Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament starting on Thursday. Catch a recap of the Green River games and a preview of the BWW Tournament in Thursday’s Powell Tribune.