They weren’t the best two days, results wise, as the Powell Pioneers dropped four games Wednesday and Thursday against visiting Lovell and Riverton, but there were certainly signs of progress for the squad.

The only real blowout was in Wednesday’s opener against the Lovell Mustangs, a 15-2 loss, and even that was a bit misleading.

Powell starter Ezra Andreason lassoed the Lovell lineup for four scoreless innings, with the Pioneer defense standing strong behind him.

Things unraveled, however, in the fifth inning, when the Mustangs broke out of the corral with six runs, ending Andreason’s outing.

Ben Jackson came on in relief and pitched a scoreless sixth, and Powell got on the board in the bottom of the inning.

Carson Asher doubled to lead off for his third of four hits in the game, and one out later, Kaden Moore singled him home.

But Lovell got loose again in the seventh, breaking it open with nine runs on four walks, three singles, a hit batter, an error, a double and a sacrifice fly.

And while it was a 15-1 game with the Pioneers heading into their last at bat, they still were able to scratch for another run as Andreason and Asher singled, with Andreason coming around on a double to left from Tyler Feller.

Moore then squared one up that could well have plated two more, but his line-drive to center stayed up a bit too long and was snared for the final out.

Even with a lopsided loss to start the day of play, Powell came out for the second game and gave the Mustangs a good fight in a 3-2 loss, with Asher pitching a solid, complete game, and the offense manufacturing the pair of runs with just one hit.

The Pioneers drew five walks, had two players hit by pitches and stole six bases, but a couple of key hits were not to be had and the great effort came up just short.

“We’re missing two strong hitters in Tegan (Cordes) and Carson (Murdock), so our hitting struggled to get going,” Asher said. “But we played a lot more confidently as a group and it showed on the field.”

Thursday saw a visit from the Riverton Raiders, a team that had downed Powell by 10-3 and 10-2 scores at the Riverton Tournament the previous weekend.

This time around, still without Cordes and Murdock, the Pioneers played the Raiders much closer in 5-1 and 9-7 losses.

The opener saw Moore take the mound and work through a scoreless first, and helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, scoring Andreason, for a 1-0 lead.

Riverton scratched for two runs in both the second and third innings, but Moore then held them scoreless over the next three innings.

The Pioneer offense put two runners on in the fourth, but couldn’t manage to bring them around.

The Raiders added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to provide for the final, 5-1 margin.

In the nightcap, early pitching and defensive issues paved the way for nine Riverton runs over the first two innings, with just four of the runs being earned. But, Tyler Feller settled in, found his rhythm and held the visitors scoreless over the final five innings.

The line-up, meanwhile, immediately battled back.

Two runs came across in the bottom of the first, with Andreason getting hit by a pitch, moving to second on Asher’s single and coming in on a Moore single.

Moore and Asher then pulled off a double steal, with Asher scoring as the throw went down to second.

Two more scored in the second, as Luke Washington started it with a double to center and Carson Schmidt drawing a walk.

Andreason walked to load the bases and Asher came through with a two-run single to make it a 9-4 game after two.

Raider reliever Alex Fabricus then locked horns with Feller over the next few innings, retiring the Powell side in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings, just as Feller did.

Each team put two runners on in the sixth, but came away scoreless, and after Feller worked around a single and walk in the top of the seventh to keep the margin at five, the Pioneers made one last charge.

Jackson Griffin got it started by drawing a walk off of Dylan Fabricus and, with one out, Asher drew a walk as well.

Feller then blasted one to the fence in left for a two-run triple, narrowing the gap to 9-6.

Feller would later come in when a pitch got away, making it a 9-7 game.

But Fabricus would sandwich a Zack Wantulok walk with two strike outs to end the rally and get the win for Riverton.

“We did miss Teagan and Carson,” Asher said. “With their bats in the lineup, we may have had the edge in those tighter games.”

And while there is the expected frustration with the losses, the promise of progress is being seen.

“It seems like we have to play a perfect game, or close to it, to beat teams,” Moore said. “But we will get there. We’re just on the cusp of being a competitor.”

The team will look to get over that cusp today (Tuesday) as it travels into Montana for a double header against Laurel, Montana.

Powell then heads further into Big Sky Country Thursday for a weekend tournament at Lewistown, Montana.