A difficult opponent and errors led to a pair of season opening losses for the Powell Pioneers, as they fell to the ‘AA’ Sheridan Troopers 8-1 and 9-4 in Sheridan on Saturday.

SHERIDAN 8, POWELL 1

Kicking off the season in Sheridan the Pioneers (0-2) took on the ‘AA’ Troopers (2-0).

After a 1-2-3 first inning for both teams, the Pioneers followed with a second straight inning without a baserunner before the Troopers got on the board.

“I think we came out in the first game and they were nervous. Not scared necessarily but it was [a] big [game] to them,” manager Jason Borders said. “I think they’ll settle in as the year goes on.”

A solo Sheridan home run led off the second inning, but the Pioneers were able to prevent any further damage.

Dominik Bieber walked to lead off the third, and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

He advanced to third after a ground out by Talon Nuss, before scoring on another wild pitch to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the third.

It took until the bottom of the fourth for the Troopers to regain the lead, when a one out single followed by an errant Pioneers play allowed runners to advance to second and third with one out.

A single coupled with an errant throw scored two for the Troopers, as the baserunner advanced to second. 

A wild pitch advanced that runner to third before a fly out allowed the runner to score after tagging up.

Sheridan then got another runner on after a hit batter, and the runners advanced on an error.

“We just haven’t been outside enough to get the quality practices in that we needed to,” Borders said. “I think those errors will go away as the season comes along.”

A single scored one more run and made it 5-1 in favor of Sheridan.

In the bottom of the fifth, a walk followed by two straight bunts loaded the bases for Sheridan with no outs, and a single followed to score one run and make it 6-1.

The Troopers added another with a fly out after the runner tagged up, and a ground out capped off the scoring at 8-1 in the bottom of the fifth.

Powell got its lone hit of the game on a Brenton Henke single in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t muster more offense in the 8-1 loss.

Ben Ostermiller pitched three innings, giving up four hits, one earned run and four strikeouts, while Kolby Gates and Christian Love combined for three innings in relief for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers committed six errors in the loss while Sheridan had none.

SHERIDAN 9, POWELL 4

The Pioneers had a similar start in the second game with the first three batters not getting on base, while Sheridan had a quicker start than the first contest.

A hit batter and a walk put the first two on for the Troopers, before both runners advanced on a ground out to get in scoring position.

Another walked batter loaded the bases for Sheridan, before a wild pitch on the next batter scored the first run for the hosts.

That batter was walked to reload the bases, before a pop out followed by an error scored two runs to make it 3-0 after the first.

Powell had a chance to respond in the second, loading the bases with one out after a single by Cole Fauskee, a walk to Trevion Solberg and a walk to Bieber, but a line out and a strikeout stopped the Pioneer scoring threat and it remained 3-0.

Sheridan added another run in the bottom of the second, getting a runner on through an error.

He advanced to second on a wild pitch but was eventually caught trying to go home on a single.

The new runner found his way all the way home on a deep single, and the Troopers led 4-0 after the second.

In the third, Ostermiller got on via a walk for the Pioneers, and he advanced to second on a steal.

Ryan Barrus joined him with a one out walk, before a strikeout made it two outs.

Ostermiller and Barrus advanced on a steal, with Ostermiller rounding home and scoring on a subsequent error at third base.

The offense stalled for both teams until the bottom of the fourth, when walks coupled with strong Troopers baserunning got them in scoring position, and an error with two outs allowed a runner to score and make it a 5-1 game.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Troopers got a one out walk, followed by a double and another walk to load the bases.

Another walk scored one, before a hit batter and a single brought in three total runs and made it a 9-1 contest.

“We had a couple innings that hurt us for the most part in both games,” Borders said.

Powell had to wait until the top of the seventh to get its final runs, as Decker Engesser got on with a single, but Rowan Diaz hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Engresser out at second but put Diaz on at first.

Ostermiller followed with another single, and the runners advanced after a ground out by Nuss.

Barrus walked to load the bases, before two separate wild pitches allowed a pair of runs to score and Barrus to advance to third.

Fauskee walked, before Barrus scored on another wild pitch, but the Pioneers were unable to find any more runs as the game finished 9-4.

Ostermiller, Barrus, Fauskee, Bieber and Engesser each had a hit for the Pioneers, as each team recorded five hits in the contest.

Booka Fazen gave up two hits and two earned in two innings, while Love pitched two innings and gave up one hit and Nuss pitched the final two innings in relief.

“For the most part I was pretty happy with the pitchers in general,” Borders said. “We’ll get better, that’s the first time we’ve thrown to live batters … Never like getting beat twice, but I saw a lot of good.”

The Pioneers committed less errors with three while forcing two out of the Troopers.

HOME OPENERS

The Pioneers will return home this weekend for their home openers on Saturday, taking on the Lockwood Razorbacks (0-0) at 1 and 3 p.m.

Games that were scheduled for Easter weekend against Riverton have been moved up to this Sunday in Powell, as the Pioneers will take on the Raiders (0-0) at 1 and 3 p.m.

“We’re just going to have to gradually get better and figure out playing at this level,” Borders said. “These four games will help us a lot with getting a feel for who can play where and our best lineup.”