A weekend of key conference games wrapped up the regular season for the Powell Pioneers, defeating Lovell 14-6 and 14-7 on Thursday before a heartbreaking 3-2 loss Saturday followed by an 11-6 win over Cody. Powell finished as runners-up in the ‘A’ Northwest.

POWELL 14, LOVELL 6

Important games to cap off the regular season greeted the Pioneers (39-18 overall, 8-4 ‘A’ Northwest) as they welcomed the Mustangs (19-22-2 overall, 7-5 ‘A’ Northwest) to Powell on Thursday night.

Powell got the scoring started early on senior night, when Ethan Welch and Cade Queen each singled to get on base.

Trey Stenerson stepped up, hitting a single of his own to score Welch, starting a big night at the plate for Stenerson.

Cole Fauskee followed with another single, loading the bases with one out.

Dalton Worstell hit a sac fly to score one, while Jacob Gibson walked to reload the bases.

Aiden Greenwald singled to score two, and Trevion Solberg singled to score another and cap off the strong first inning, with the score at 5-0.

“I think we came out focused and ready to play,” manager Jason Borders said. “I didn’t feel like we were going to lose either one of those games … We went to that Cheyenne tournament and came back refocused.”

Lovell got a couple back in the top of the second, when two hit batters and a single loaded the bases with two outs.

Another hit batter scored one run, and a walk scored another to make it 5-2.

In the bottom half, Powell re-extended the lead, starting with a Welch single, who advanced to second on an errant throw.

Queen hit it into play, with Welch thrown out at home and Queen advancing to second on the throw.

Stenerson walked to join Queen, before both runners advanced on steals to get into scoring position.

Worstell singled to score both, and Powell led 7-2 after the second.

Two straight doubles got another run back in the top of the third for Lovell, before Powell pulled away for good.

Brock Johnson singled and stole second before Queen joined him on a walk.

Stenerson stepped up, and powered a ball deep over the wall, hitting his first home run of the year to make it 10-3.

“That was good to see Trey get his long ball swing back,” Borders said.

Lovell got one run back in the top of the fifth, when a double and a walk put two on, before a single scored a run and made it 10-4.

Stenerson reached in the bottom of the fifth on a dropped third strike, stealing second before a single from Fauskee brought him in to make it 11-4.

A hit batter and a long hit scored a run for Lovell, with the second batter advancing on a series of passed balls to make it 11-6 in the sixth.

Solberg singled and Johnson walked to put two on, and after two straight outs Stenerson stepped up once again and hit a home run deep over the wall to make it 14-6.

“Anytime  you put up 14 runs you’re playing pretty good baseball,” Borders said.

Powell outhit Lovell 15-10, and committed no errors while the Mustangs committed two.

Stenerson finished 3-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs, Worstell had three RBIs, Greenwald had two and Fauskee and Solberg each had one RBI.

Greenwald gave up eight hits, four earned runs and had seven strikeouts in five innings, Gibson gave up two hits and had one earned against him in two innings.

POWELL 14, LOVELL 7

Powell’s scoring did not come easy in the second game as Lovell got a quick start.

A walk and a double scored one, but Stenerson threw out the runner trying to get a triple.

The early runs continued, when a triple followed before an out, and a home run hit over the left field fence gave Lovell a 3-0 lead.

Three singles with one out loaded the bases for Lovell in the top of the second, before a wild pitch scored one run.

Powell escaped with minimal damage, and got runs back in the bottom of the second.

Fauskee walked and Worstell got on after a fielder’s choice when Lovell couldn’t find the out, but Gibson’s hit led to a fielder’s choice that got Fauskee out at third.

Devin Kokkeler walked to load the bases, before Greenwald singled and brought in a pair to make it 4-2.

A single and two walks loaded the bases with no outs for Lovell in the top of the third, and a hit batter scored a run to make it 5-2.

Johnson caught a lineout, but an errant throw to Queen at third gave the Mustangs an opportunity to steal home.

Queen turned and fired, and Fauskee got the tag to save a run as Powell got out with only one run for Lovell to keep  the 5-2 score.

“I thought he (Fauskee) did a great job behind the plate,” Borders said. “It’s not easy to watch a ball coming in from the outfield and getting the tag down … I thought it was one of his best games of the year behind the plate.”

Fauskee hit into an error and Worstell singled to give Powell two on with one out in the bottom of the third.

Kokkeler walked to load the bases, before Greenwald also walked to score a run and make it 5-3.

A balk scored another run, and Powell trailed 5-4.

Lovell answered back, when a walk, a fielder’s choice that didn’t find an out and a walk loaded the bases with no outs, before a double scored two and made it 7-4.

Powell finally found the lead in the bottom of the fourth, when Welch doubled to lead off and Queen singled to join him.

Stenerson singled to score one, before Fauskee singled to load the bases.

Worstell grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw Queen out at home, before Gibson singled to score Stenerson and Fauskee was thrown out at home.

Kokkeler walked to load the bases, and Greenwald walked to bring in the tying run.

Johnson singled and scored a pair, Welch singled and scored a pair before Queen singled to score one to give Powell a 12-7 lead after the eight-run fourth.

In the fifth, Fauskee walked and Worstell singled before Kokkeler walked to load the bases with one out.

Greenwald walked to score another, and Johnson walked to make it 14-7.

Powell saw out the rest of the game and finished with the 14-7 win.

Greenwald finished with five RBIs, Johnson added three, Welch had two while Queen, Stenerson and Gibson each had one RBI.

Worstell gave up nine hits in four innings with seven earned runs, Welch gave up one hit with three strikeouts in relief.

Powell outhit Lovell 12-10, while committing one less error, 2-1.

CODY 3, POWELL 2

Heading into the most important regular season game of the season to date the Pioneers and Cubs (34-18-1 overall, 9-3 ‘A’ Northwest) battled it out for the conference crown.

A pitching dual ensued, with both teams getting some runners to second and third but unable to find a run until late in the contest.

Johnson had a no-hitter rolling until the bottom of the fifth, when a stumble in right field allowed a ball to get down as the Cubs recorded their first hit against Johnson in over a year.

Cody was unable to find a run, as the fireworks came late in the contest.

Powell struck first in the top of the seventh when Greenwald was walked and Solberg singled to put two on with two outs.

A contested balk advanced both runners, before Ben Ostermiller singled into left field and drove in a run to make it 1-0.

Ostermiller got caught up in a rundown attempting to steal second, allowing Solberg to steal home before Ostermiller was out to make it 2-0.

Ostermiller served a key role for the Pioneers behind the plate, as the top two options on the team were unavailable. The ‘B’ player stepped into the role having never caught an ‘A’ game.

“Huge effort from Ben,” Borders said. “I can’t say enough about that kid coming in in a big situation.”

In the bottom of the seventh, a walked batter before an error on an attempt to turn a double play put two on with one out before Johnson was pulled due to the pitch count and Welch stepped onto the mound.

“If we turn that double play, we’re talking totally differently today,” Borders said.

A hit batter followed to load the bases, and a single scored one to make it 2-1.

Two separate passed balls in the next at bat allowed for two runs to score and Cody finished with a 3-2 win.

“We were just in a situation where I had to make a choice,” Borders said. “Ethan had been closing the last couple of games and throwing really well. He was my choice and it didn’t work out. Sometimes you have it and sometimes you don’t. I told him I felt terrible for putting him in that situation.”

Johnson finished with 15 strikeouts in 6-1/3 innings, none earned and walked four while giving up one hit.

Cody’s Trey Schroeder gave up six hits in seven innings, while striking out 11 and walking two.

“We’re talking about two of the top pitchers in the state going head-to-head,” Borders said.

Ostermiller had the lone RBI for the Pioneers, going 2-3 at the plate.

POWELL 11, CODY 6

Heading into the second matchup the Cubs had wrapped up the conference title, but Powell had to win the contest in order to avoid tiebreakers with Lovell heading into the postseason.

Powell came out strong, when Johnson and Welch singled.

Stenerson walked to load the bases, and a sac fly scored one run as Powell led 1-0 after the first.

In the second, Gibson walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Ostermiller walked to put two on.

Johnson doubled to score Gibson, and Welch grounded out to score Ostermiller to make it 3-0.

Powell once again added to the lead in the third, when Stenerson singled, Jordan Loera walked and Worstell was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.

Gibson walked to score one, and Johnson walked to score another and make it 5-0.

“Bouncing back after a tough loss like that was awesome to see,” Borders said. “Baseball is one of those games where you’ve gotta flush it and move on.”

Cody got runs back in the bottom of the fourth, when a pair of singles, hit batter, a walk and an error led to three runs for the Cubs to make it 5-3.

Powell responded, when Ostermiller and Johnson walked, before a Welch single scored one and made it 6-3.

Queen walked to load the bases before Stenerson singled and scored a pair to make it 8-3.

Worstell followed with a double that scored one to make it 9-3 in favor of the Pioneers.

Cody responded with a lead off home run in the bottom of the fifth, before a walk and an error scored another to make it 9-5.

Yet another error scored one more and made it 9-6.

Powell added some insurance in the top of the seventh, when Queen walked and Stenerson singled, before Worstell singled to score one and make it 10-6.

Stenerson stole third before an errant throw into center field allowed him to score and make it 11-6.

Powell finished with the win and earned the second seed at the district tournament.

Johnson, Welch, Stenerson and Worstell all had at least two hits and two RBIs, while Loera had the other RBI.

Queen gave up three hits over 4-2/3, giving up one earned with six strikeouts.

Loera gave up no hits in relief and struck out two.

Powell outhit Cody 10-3 but committed more errors 4-1.

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Powell will now make the trip down to Green River this weekend to take part in the Class ‘A’ West District Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

In the first round the Pioneers will take on the Rawlins Bandits (4-23 overall, 3-9 ‘A’ Southwest) at 1 p.m. on Friday.

If Powell wins, it will take on the winner of the No. 3 seed Lovell and No. 2 seed Green River (19-17-2 overall, 9-3 ‘A’ Southwest) at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

If Powell loses, the Pioneers will take on the loser of that contest at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

The Pioneers will not have any pressure to make the top four to advance to the state tournament, as they will host the state tournament next weekend in Powell and have an automatic bid.

That doesn’t mean Borders and the Pioneers don’t want to head into the state tournament on a high note.

“I’m going to talk to the boys about playing loose. We want to go in and win,” Borders said. “It’s not as important as it would be in a normal year, but we want to go in and represent, go into state with a good feeling.”