Action all around Montana led to a busy week for the Powell Pioneers, as they split against the Upper Deck Expos ‘AA’ with a 6-4 win and a 13-10 loss on Wednesday. That was followed by games on Friday in Dillon, Montana, and in Idaho on Saturday as the Pioneers defeated the Broncs Baseball Club 8-0, lost to the Sugar Sox ‘A’ 3-2 in eight innings, defeated the Salmon Savages 8-6 before losing to the Post 56 Knights ‘AA’ 16-4.

POWELL 6, UPPER DECK EXPOS ‘AA’ 4

Making the quick pit stop in Billings on Wednesday the Pioneers (17-20-1 overall, 3-3 Senior North) took on the Expos (11-9) in a doubleheader.

Powell started strong, as Talon Nuss reached on an error and stole second, advancing to third on the same sequence on an error by the second baseman.

Jordan Loera walked and got to second on defensive indifference.

A Caden Diaz ground out scored one and advanced Loera to third.

A Dominik Bieber sac fly brought home another as Powell led 2-0.

The hosts answered in the bottom of the second, as two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with no outs.

With two outs, an Expos single scored a pair and made it 2-2 after the second.

Powell regained the lead in the third, as Bieber singled, and eventually stole second and advanced to third after an error by the catcher.

He scored on a wild pitch to give the Pioneers a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth the Pioneers added to their advantage, as Ryder Stewart led off with a single.

He stole second, before Abel Teten bunted a single, as both runners advanced further on an error by the pitcher to make it 4-2.

Nuss hit a sac bunt to advance Teten to third, and an error on Loera’s contact made it 5-2.

Loera stole second, and later advanced to third on a wild pitch before Bieber’s single scored him and made it 6-2.

Two singles and a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth scored one for the Expos, and made it 6-3.

A solo home run with two outs in the seventh gave the Expos one more run for a 6-4 final score.

Bieber led with three hits for the Pioneers as Stewart added two with Powell outhitting the Expos 11-7.

Bieber was the only Pioneer with multiple RBIs with two.

Teten went five innings giving up three earned runs, adding four strikeouts and three walks while Nuss went two relief innings giving up one earned run and three strikeouts.

Upper Deck committed six errors to Powell’s one.

UPPER DECK EXPOS ‘AA’ 13, POWELL 10

Nuss walked and Loera’s contact led to an error to put runners on the corners in the second game.

Diaz followed with contact into an error, to score Nuss, and Bieber followed with a walk to load the bases with no outs.

Ben Ostermiller singled to score two, but Powell could not do any further damage as the Pioneers led 3-0.

The Expos answered in the bottom half of the inning, as two walks and a single loaded the bases, and three straight bases loaded walks scored three and tied the game after one.

Powell got more runs in the second, as August and Abel Teten walked, before they both advanced on a wild pitch.

Nuss hit a sac fly and scored one to make it 4-3.

Abel scored on a steal of home, before August walked.

August stole second and advanced further on an error, before Bieber doubled to score him and make it 6-3.

Bieber advanced to third on a wild pitch, and later scored on a steal of home to make it 7-3.

Upper Deck got two back in the bottom half, as two singles followed by a double scored both and made it 7-5.

Powell again got runs in the third, as Stewart hit a leadoff single.

Abel doubled to put both runners in scoring position, before Nuss hit a sac bunt to score Stewart and make it 8-5.

Loera followed with contact into an error and scored another to make it 9-5.

Powell loaded the bases but couldn’t add more before Upper Deck answered once again in the bottom half.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, and a fielder’s choice scored one to make it 9-6.

A wild pitch scored another as Powell led 9-7 after three.

The Expos broke through and claimed the lead in the fourth, through a walk, two singles and an error to make it 10-9 after four.

In the fifth, a walk and single followed by an error on a ground out scored two runs and made it a 12-9 contest.

Upper Deck added one more in the sixth, before Powell got one in the seventh after August was hit by a pitch, reached second on a wild pitch before Abel singled to score him and make the final score 13-10.

Abel led with two of the six hits for Powell, as Nuss and Ostermiller led with two RBIs each.

Four Powell pitchers combined in the contest, tallying four strikeouts and 12 walks.

Upper Deck led in errors 5-2.

“Upper Deck is a good team. It was good to see some guys step up and fill in for us,” manager Jason Borders said.

POWELL 8, BRONCS BASEBALL CLUB 0

Heading to the tournament in Dillon the Pioneers took on the Broncs (6-2) first on Friday.

Powell got on the board in the first, as Ostermiller walked with two outs.

Ostermiller stole second and reached third on a wild pitch before Bieber singled to score him and make it 1-0.

A Diaz ground ball led to an error and scored Bieber to make it 2-0.

Powell loaded the bases but did no more damage.

The Broncs loaded the bases in the top of the second but couldn’t score, before the Pioneers added to the lead in the bottom half.

Loera walked with two outs before Ostermiller tripled to score him and make it 3-0.

It took until the fourth to add more to the lead, as Nuss and Loera singled before Ostermiller doubled to score both and make it 5-0.

Ostermiller stole third before Diaz drove him in on a single to make it 6-0.

In the fifth the Pioneers got runners on through August getting hit by a pitch and Abel singled before Loera walked to load the bases.

Ostermiller singled and scored both, as Powell finished with the 8-0 win.

Powell outhit the Broncs 9-2 while the Pioneers only committed one error compared to five for the Broncs.

Ostermiller went 3-3 with four RBIs, and went the complete game with eight strikeouts and two walks.

“He did what Ben does. He did what we expect out of him when he’s on the mound,” Borders said.

SUGAR SOX ‘A’ 3, POWELL 2 (F/8)

Continuing in the tournament the Pioneers took on the Sox (6-12-1) later on Friday.

Powell got on the board first in the third, as singles by Rowan Diaz and Abel got runners into position, and a sac bunt by Nuss scored Rowan to make it 1-0.

The Sox answered in the bottom half, as an error and a fly out scored a run to make it 1-1.

Powell took the lead back in the top of the fourth, as Ostermiller singled but was out on a fielder’s choice on Bieber’s contact as Bieber reached first.

Caden doubled, scoring Bieber to make it 2-1.

It took until the seventh for the Sox to tie it, as a single and error put runners on, and an eventual passed ball scored the run to tie it at two and send it to extra innings.

In the tournament, teams had a lead runner placed at second.

After Powell failed to score, a Sox single scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth for the 3-2 win.

“We tried to play small ball and just didn’t execute. We’ve gotta get better because that’s how we’re gonna have to win games,” Borders said. “The boys took that loss fairly hard. Seems like we’ve been in one run games a lot lately, we’ve gotta gut those out and get wins.”

Powell outhit the Sugar Sox 8-4, but committed all four errors in the game.

Ostermiller, Rowan and Abel had two hits each, while Nuss and Caden had both RBIs for Powell.

Kolby Gates went six innings, giving up three hits and recording nine strikeouts. Loera went one inning in relief giving up one hit, with two strikeouts. Neither team walked a batter in the game.

“Our pitchers did what they had to do in that game. Just one of those games where we didn’t manufacture enough runs,” Borders said.

POWELL 8, SALMON SAVAGES 6

On Saturday the tournament moved across the border to Idaho due to weather in Montana, as the Pioneers took on the Salmon Savages (30-14).

“The tournament was pretty much canceled,” Borders said.

Loera got things started with a one out single, then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Ostermiller walked, before Bieber grounded out to score Loera and make it 1-0.

The Savages replied with three in the bottom of the first, through a walk, two errors and a single.

Powell clawed one back in the third, as Loera singled, stole second and rounded to third on an error, before Bieber singled to score him and make it 3-2.

The Pioneers tied the game in the fourth. Gates singled, but was out on a fielder’s choice that saw Stewart reach and round to second on an error as the Savages tried for a double play.

He advanced to third on an error by the catcher, before Abel singled to score him and tie the game at three.

The Savages regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning, as a single and an error helped get a run to make it 4-3.

Powell regained the lead in the fifth, as Rowan hit a leadoff single, and advanced on a ground out.

Ostermiller was hit by a pitch, and a ground out advanced both of those runners further.

Caden doubled and scored both, before Gates hit into an error to score Caden and make it 6-4.

Two walks and an error helped score one for the Savages in the bottom half as the Pioneers lead was 6-5.

In the seventh the Pioneers added insurance, as Ostermiller singled and stole second.

Gates walked with two outs, before a Stewart single scored Ostermiller and August followed with a double to score another and make it 8-5.

The Savages got one run back in the bottom of the seventh but the Pioneers held off any rally to earn the 8-6 win.

Loera and Abel led with two hits each, as Bieber and Caden led with two RBIs each.

Caden went 4-1/3 giving up two hits, one earned run alongside four strikeouts and three walks. Loera went 2-2/3 in relief giving up two hits, one earned run, five strikeouts and one walk.

POST 56 KNIGHTS ‘AA’ 16, POWELL 4

In the final game of the tournament the Pioneers took on the Knights (14-17) on Saturday night.

Powell trailed early and often, as the Knights scored two in the first, three in the second, four in the third and three in the fourth to make it 12-0 before the Pioneers got on the board.

Ostermiller singled and Caden tripled to score him, before Cael Kysar was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

A ground out scored Caden and advanced Kysar to third, before August walked and Abel singled to score one and make it 12-3.

The Knights added four more in the fifth, before Powell got one as Bieber was hit by a pitch and Kysar’s hit led to an error to make the final score 16-4.

Powell was outhit 15-5 as each team committed an error.

“We haven’t seen a team hit the ball that well all year. It didn’t matter where my pitchers put it, they hit it,” Borders said. “Probably one of the better teams we’ve played all year as far as hitting … We just played a better team.”

Five Pioneers recorded a hit each, while Diaz and Stewart had the lone RBIs for Powell.

ACTION CONTINUES

The summer days do not slow down for the Pioneers despite their final tournament games on Sunday being cancelled. They head to Gillette to take on the Riders (31-24 overall, 6-0 Senior North) at 5 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Powell then heads back to Billings to take on the Expos once again at 1 and 3 p.m. on Thursday.

The Pioneers cap their busy week by returning home next Monday, to take on the Casper Drillers (14-12-1 overall, 3-7 Senior North) at 2 and 4 p.m.

“We need to split on the road and sweep at home … They’re (the Riders) young. People are playing with them,” Borders said. “We’ve gotta take two from the Drillers at home … We’ve gotta get some extra wins somewhere, we can’t split.”