A short road trip north, intense heat and strong opponents greeted the Pioneers on a trip to Billings — resulting in a 2-2-1 record over four days at the Billings Cardinals BWW Tournament.

Starting out the tournament on Thursday morning, the Pioneers (15-15-1 overall) matched up with the host Cardinals in the opening game.

Billings started the contest strong, as two hits and two walks helped the Cardinals take a 3-0 lead off Brock Johnson in the top half of the first inning.

Johnson got on base off a single in the bottom half of the inning, and Trey Stenerson brought him in on a triple as Powell tried to claw back from the early deficit.

Neither team was able to find consistent hitting over the next three innings, until Powell got another run in the bottom half of the fourth inning.

Stenerson reached on an errant throw to lead off the inning, and Cade Queen drove him in on a single to make the score 3-2.

Aiden Greenwald was then hit by a pitch to give Powell two baserunners.

Queen was later tagged out at home, but Greenwald scored on a hard hit ball by Keaton Rowton — tying the game 3-3 after four innings.

Neither team found a winning run, and even one extra inning was not enough — resulting in a 3-3 tie as the tournament time limit was reached.

Heading into the afternoon on Thursday the Pioneers searched for a win as a matchup with the Idaho Rebels loomed.

Powell got the scoring started in the top half of the second, with Dalton Worstell bringing in a run on a sac fly to left field to make it 1-0 early.

The game remained close, until Powell found its stride in the top half of the fourth.

Ryan Cordes, Rowton and Jhett Schwahn all hit singles in a row to bring in three runs, and Johnson capped off the inning with a fielder’s choice to make it 5-0 Powell.

The Pioneers added some insurance in the seventh inning, as Cole Fauskee and Worstell drove in an RBI a piece to make it 7-0.

Rowton brought in one last run on an error, making the final score of the second contest 8-0.

After starting the tournament 1-0-1, the Pioneers set out on Friday to take on an unfamiliar instate opponent, as Powell was set to battle the Wheatland Lobos (9-12 overall).

A strong start loaded the bases with one out; a single by Schwahn accompanied with two walks to Johnson and Stenerson gave Powell an opportunity to strike first.

Queen was hit by a pitch to get one run on the board, but a double play ended the first inning at 1-0.

Wheatland took the lead in the third on an error, scoring three runs on a line drive to right field.

A sac bunt brought in another run, giving Wheatland a 4-1 lead after three innings.

“The wheels came off and the ball started flying around,” Pioneers Manager Jason Borders said. “It was crazy, it felt like we were in control for the most part but could not punch anything through.”

The Lobos extended the lead in the fourth on a single, and again in the sixth — leaving the Pioneers in search of answers.

Powell made it a contest in the bottom half of the sixth, scoring three runs on good baserunning by Nathan Feller, who reached base on a leadoff walk. A single by Johnson and a Greenwald Walk made it 6-4 heading into the seventh.

Wheatland added insurance, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to help put the game away.

A ground ball by Cordes scored one run, but it was not enough for the Pioneers — dropping the game 10-5 and moving the pool play record to 1-1-1.

On Saturday the Pioneers looked to regroup and came up against another Idaho opponent, the Pocatello Razorbacks.

Neither team found offense early on, until Pocatello scored three in the bottom of the third.

Powell finally got its run in the top of the sixth, with Johnson getting on base to leadoff the inning and Queen drove him in to make it 3-1. Those hits were two of the Pioneers’ only three hits in the contest.

Pocatello extended out the contest to 8-1 in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Heading into one final contest on Sunday the Pioneers again matched up with Wheatland.

Trying to get revenge for the previous loss on Friday, Powell came out and took the lead early in the contest, scoring on a Cordes sac fly to make it 1-0.

Powell scored again on an error in the third after a hard hit ball by Rowton to make it 2-0.

The Pioneers made it 4-0 in the fourth, scoring runs on an error from a Jacob Gibson hit and scoring on an error by the center fielder that brought in Cordes, who reached on a single earlier in the inning.

Wheatland got a run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 4-1.

The game was called due to constant rain throughout the contest. The Pioneers received the win thanks to playing more than half of the game.

Following the tournament Borders continues to hope for consistency as the Pioneers reach the middle part of the season.

“Every game was different,” Borders said. “We played really well against the Cardinals, beat Idaho and played well, then outhit Wheatland and lost because of errors.”

The Pioneers continue to battle injuries throughout the season, as Greenwald was struck with a ball during batting practice on Saturday and was unable to play.

HOME CONTESTS

Powell returns home on Tuesday (today) to play a doubleheader against the Sheridan Jets (9-5 overall) at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Heading into the contest Borders is hoping his team can find consistency in all three phases of the game, in preparation for the Pioneers Father’s Day tournament this upcoming weekend.

Borders said the team always struggles with one aspect in different games, whether it be batting, defense or pitching.

“We need to be more consistent,” Borders said. “This will be a good test for us to figure out where we are at before our tournament.”