Wyoming Legion baseball will have a new look in the 2026 season following changes made at an offseason winter board meeting, as the Powell Pioneers will have to play up a level with the ‘A’ classification removed and every team moving to the ‘AA’ level.

“We don’t have a choice in this. This was dictated to us. We can either pout about it or we can step up and do something about it,” manager Jason Borders said. “Their whole idea of bringing us up was to make ‘AA’ better. I think they brought us up to make the state tournament as tough as they can make it. That should give our guys confidence right there.”

Heading into this year Borders felt with the competitiveness of his team, the Pioneers could be near the top of the ‘A’ ranks had the classification remained, as they’re set to return a majority of their production from a year ago both on the mound and at the plate.

“I thought we had another really good shot at a state title. I felt like we were one of the top two or three in ‘A’,” Borders said.

While these initial changes came as a shock to the program, Borders said the team is taking the same approach they have the past five years while being one of the top teams in ‘A’.

“We know we’ve gotta have pitching. We’ve been throwing a lot of bullpens,” Borders said. “For the most part, we’ve just been attacking it the same way we always do. Building our pitching staff the same way we always do because when we get to state we’ll need it.”

Throughout the winter the Pioneers have been able to get bullpens and hitting indoors, adding in a new pitching machine to help the team get up to speed with the pitching speed of ‘AA’ teams.

While the team has been able to do a number of things indoors, Borders said they have come in with the right mentality, although there’s no replacement for the speed or pressure of a real game.

“It’s gonna benefit us, but there’s nothing like seeing a live arm though,” Borders said. “When you get on the field it’s totally different. The situation of the game plays into the whole thing. We’ll see. We’ve put in a lot of work this winter, I hope it pays off in the long run for us.”

There are a total of 23 teams in the new ‘AA’ competing across North and South conferences.

The Pioneers will compete in the North along with three former ‘AA’ teams and a number of other ‘A’ teams and familiar foes.

The 12 teams in the North conference will be Powell, Cody, Lovell, Riverton, Lander, Jackson, Gillette Rustlers and Riders, Sheridan Jets and Troopers as well as the Casper Drillers and JV 2.

The 11 teams in the South will be the Casper Oilers, Torrington, Rock Springs, Green River, Wheatland, Douglas, Laramie Rangers and ‘A,’ and the Cheyenne Post 6, Hawks and Eagles.

Despite there being 12 teams in the North, the Pioneers will only take on seven opponents as part of the conference schedule.

Powell will host the Gillette Rustlers, Riverton, Lovell and the Drillers, and travel to Cody, the Sheridan Jets and Gillette Riders.

From those conference games, the postseason will depend upon conference standing, as the top four teams will head to the Division 1 State Tournament in Gillette from July 24-28, and the next four teams will head to the Division 2 State Tournament in Green River from July 30-Aug. 2.

Advancing to the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ Regional Tournaments can only be done should a team reach the Division 1 Tournament, as the state champion will advance to the ‘AA’ Regional Tournament and the runner-up will advance to the ‘A’ Regional Tournament.

Additional rules for teams advancing to the ‘A’ Regional Tournament (NWCART) align with the Wyoming High School Activities Association’s enrollment numbers as well as national rules, as schools with more than 1,250 students cannot send any 18-19-year-olds to compete in the tournament.

That means that any Cheyenne, Gillette or Casper team alongside Rock Springs or Jackson would not be able to send any athletes of that age to the regional tournament.

Borders knows that competing against these larger schools will be a test for the Pioneers this year, as they will have the depth and pitching to challenge his team.

“We’ve gotta finish in the top two to finish with a regional berth. It’s gonna be tough,” Borders said. “All the teams we’re gonna have to face, they’re very good programs. They have depth, they all have pitchers.”

Seeing opposing teams’ top pitchers isn’t new — Borders knows that his team has been seeing most team’s best these past couple years already following a pair of state titles in 2023-24.

“All we see is everybody’s best wherever we go — We’ve gotta rise to the occasion and see how it plays out,” Borders said.

Two state tournaments means two opportunities for the Pioneers to compete for another state title, with Borders noting that the team is not settling for competing at the Division 2 Tournament and instead is aiming as high as possible at the Division 1 Tournament.

“I 100% feel like they’re in the right mentality. Why put in all of this work if we aren’t going to shoot for that? We wanna go for the top four. Prove to those guys (‘AA’ teams) that we can play with them,” Borders said.

The Pioneers bring back an abundance of experience from a year ago, with a team that had to learn a new level competing from ‘B’ baseball up at ‘A,’ with Borders feeling his team is ready to move up to that next level once again.

“We’ve got a good team. We’re bringing back a lot of good baseball players that have varsity experience,” Borders said. “Last year was tough because they played ‘B’ up until last year. This year will be a learning curve but they know how to transition to another level. I think we’re going to be OK. I think we’re one of the better teams in the state.”

Since the Pioneers have been inside all winter, they will be looking to transition outside over the coming weeks with warmer weather likely on the horizon, despite scheduling being difficult in the early season with Montana competing in high school baseball for a second consecutive year.

“It’s been awful. I’ve not had as much trouble scheduling in April and May as I have this year,” Borders said. “I couldn’t get any games the first weekend of April. We’re starting two weeks later than we normally do. We’ll play the schedule that we’ve got, hopefully we’re ready when the conference games hit in June and July. We always try to build a tough April and May so once June and July hit we’re ready to roll.”

The Pioneer ‘B’ team’s season remains the same with a quadrant schedule against Cody and Riverton and the state tournament in Riverton July 17-20, and the Pioneer ‘C’ team will compete in a quadrant alongside Cody, Lovell, Riverton, Thermopolis and Worland with the state tournament in Laramie also July 17-20.