Pioneers off to state tournament

Open against No. 2 seed Cheyenne

Posted 7/30/19

Gearing up for their first appearance in the Wyoming Legion Class A State Tournament in three seasons, the Powell Pioneers will have their hands full in today’s (Tuesday’s) opening round. …

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Pioneers off to state tournament

Open against No. 2 seed Cheyenne

Posted

Gearing up for their first appearance in the Wyoming Legion Class A State Tournament in three seasons, the Powell Pioneers will have their hands full in today’s (Tuesday’s) opening round. The local baseball team will square off against the No. 2 seed out of the east, the Cheyenne Hawks, at the state tournament in Douglas.

Pioneers manager Joe Cates said he doesn’t know a lot about the Hawks, who haven’t played against Powell this season.

“They’re the No. 2 team in the east, so they’re going to be a good team,” Cates said. “But I think they’re definitely a beatable team, depending on who shows up. I think we have a shot to win some ball games and play later into the week.”

After ending the regular season last week with a split at home against Lovell, the Pioneers (7-27, 5-11 in Class A West play) had a week of practice to prepare for state. That said, with everything going on during Park County Fair week, Cates said it was difficult to get the entire team on the practice field at the same time.

“I think we were missing four or five guys every day,” Cates said. “There was always something going on last week. I didn’t have one day where we had a full practice with all my kids, so that’s been a little disappointing.”

Cheyenne posted a 33-20-1 regular season record, going 9-7 in Class A East conference play. Cates said the Pioneers have it in them to win that first game, if they play like he knows they can. With the defending state champion Cody Cubs no longer in the mix, this year’s title is up for grabs; most of the teams in the tournament are separated by just a few games when looking at the conference records.

“It will depend on if we throw strikes and have the confidence at the plate that we’ve had here and there,” he said. “The biggest thing, as always for us, is pitching. With defense, errors happen, mistakes happen, that’s part of the game. But if we can pound the zone with our pitching and force weak contact, we’ve got a shot to win. But we can’t go in there and walk 14 guys.”

The Pioneers have been getting it done at the plate in recent weeks, and Cates said that will need to continue on the state’s biggest stage.

“We need to stay confident at the plate, put swings on good pitches. That’s what it always comes down to,” he said. “I hope I get the guys that I know can show up. If that’s the case, we have a shot. If not, we’re gonna go home early.”

Cameron Wentz will get the start on the mound for the Pioneers against Cheyenne; Cates said the right-hander has been throwing well of late.

“We’ll get him [Wentz] working on that curveball in the morning before we start,” the coach said. “If he throws that curveball for strikes, he’s effective. He has a shot to do some good things.”

At the plate, Cates said he’ll need the top of the lineup to set the tone early; players like Kobe Ostermiller, Colin Queen and Jesse Brown have been hitting well.

“I need Kobe [Ostermiller], my lead-off guy, to be effective this week,” he said. “He doesn’t need to just get on base — he needs to have good at-bats. I need us to be able to hit-and-run, to lay down bunts. Colin [Queen] has been consistent all year at the plate. And I think what would really help out this team this week is for Jesse [Brown] and Cameron Schmidt to get hot. That would help out a lot.”

Cates will continue to be creative in the field, depending on who’s on the mound in a given game. With Brown at shortstop and Ryley Meyer at third base also expected to see time on the mound, Cates needs to be able to trust the guys who will fill in.

“It’s still up in the air as far as what I do with guys in the field,” he said. “I have worked out Cameron Wentz a little bit at third base this week, so he might get a chance to see what he can do. It’s late in the season, but it might be a necessity.”

Cates is keeping his expectations realistic for the tournament, though he thinks the Pioneers have a shot at making a run. If the Pioneers beat Cheyenne, they’ll face the winner of Riverton v. Torrington on Wednesday; a loss and they’ll square off against the loser of that game.

“I’d like to see us go in there and win the first two or three games,” he said. “I really don’t want to drive down to Douglas just to turn around two days later. I’d love to stay until Thursday or Friday, and making it to Saturday would be awesome. That’s always the end goal. We’ll see how it all works out.”

Powell Pioneers

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