After a season that featured plenty of highs and lows, the Powell Pioneer ‘B’ team is on the road to the state tournament starting today (Thursday) in Gillette.

The Pioneers started the season with a 2-1 record in April with wins over Lovell and a loss to the Lockwood Razorbacks ‘A’ team.

In a more difficult May, the Pioneers went 1-3, including splitting with Lovell and losing to the Sheridan Cavalry twice.

June saw an even more difficult time for the Pioneers, who finished 2-8 during the month, as the only two wins came against the Laurel Dodgers and Sheridan.

Powell started finding its groove late in the year, ending with a 3-3 record including a sweep of Sheridan with wins of 14-9 and 13-3 in the final two games at home to move the Pioneers to an 8-15 record.

At the plate the Pioneers are led by Dakota Erickson, who holds a .468 batting average and an OPS of 1.23, recording 22 hits, 11 RBIs and 26 runs scored.

Behind Erickson is Ryder Stewart, who holds a .302 batting average, recording 19 hits, 12 RBIs and scoring 15 times.

Stewart also leads the Pioneers on the mound with the most innings pitched this season, holding a 3-1 record in 27-1/3 innings.

The leading ERA for the Pioneers comes from August Teten, who has pitched the third most innings at 19, giving up just 20 hits while holding a 3.684 ERA.

Owen Jones leads the Pioneer ‘B’ team in strikeouts with 30 in 22 innings pitched.

Powell now heads  to Gillette for the Wyoming Class ‘B’ State Tournament starting today (Thursday) and running through Monday if needed for the championship game.

The Pioneers will start the tournament with a game against the Casper Roughnecks at 4 p.m. 

If Powell wins it will advance in the winners’ bracket to take on the winner of Lander and Gillette at 7 p.m. on Friday. If the Pioneers lose they will drop to take on the loser of that contest at 1 p.m. on Friday.

The tournament will be played with a modified double elimination bracket with the first championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m. and a second championship game if necessary on Monday at 10 a.m.

WYOMING CLASS ‘B’ STATE TOURNAMENT

THURSDAY

Game 1: 10 a.m. Cody vs. Cheyenne

Game 2: 1 p.m. Casper Wildcatters vs. Green River

Game 3: 4 p.m. Casper Roughnecks vs. Powell

Game 4: 7 p.m. Lander vs. Gillette

FRIDAY

Game 5: 10 a.m. Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser

Game 6: 1 p.m. Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser

Game 7: 4 p.m. Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Game 8: 7 p.m. Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner

SATURDAY

Game 9: 10 a.m. Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser

Game 10: 1 p.m. Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser

Game 11: 4 p.m. Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner

Game 12: 7 p.m. Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

SUNDAY

Game 13: 10 a.m. Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11

Game 14: 1 p.m. Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13 (Championship game)

MONDAY

Game 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14 (If necessary)