After multiple weeks on the road, the Pioneers returned home to the Basin this week, as Powell opened up conference play against Lovell on the road on Wednesday and played a doubleheader against AA Sheridan on Saturday.

CONFERENCE OPENERS

A road contest on Wednesday started the week for Powell (11-13 overall, 1-1 A Northwest) as the Pioneers were looking for a strong start to conference play against Lovell (9-6 overall, 1-1 A Northwest).

In the game the Pioneers had one new face behind the mound, as Cole Fauskee took over the catcher’s glove in place of Jhett Schwahn, who was unavailable for the contests.

“I thought he [Fauskee] did awesome,” Pioneers manager Jason Borders said. 

Neither team found any offense early in the contest, as the teams remained tied 0-0 after the first two innings.

After Powell continued the scoreless trend, Lovell broke the deadlock in the bottom of the third.

The Mustangs got a double, coupled with two walks to load the bases with two outs.

A bases-clearing double brought in three runs, as Lovell took a 3-0 lead after three innings.

A lead-off single at the top of the fourth by Brock Johnson helped the Pioneers settle down, as Powell tried to make up a road deficit.

Coupled with a Trey Stenerson single and a pair of walks, Johnson scored as Powell made it 3-1 midway through the fourth.

Things did not get easier for Johnson on the mound.

In the bottom of the fourth the Mustangs wracked up four hits, and extended the lead out again to 7-1.

After a scoreless fifth inning for both teams, Powell tried once again to cut into the deficit, as a Fauskee double brought in two runs, and a Keaton Rowton single brought in another to make it 7-4.

The Mustangs added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on an error and a fly out, making it 9-4 heading into the seventh.

Cade Queen brought in a run on a sac fly and Aiden Greenwald brought in another, but the Pioneer offense could not produce enough run support in a game one loss 9-6.

In the first game the Pioneers had six errors, which led to extra bases and runs for Lovell, as Powell tried to clean things up before the second half of the doubleheader.

Powell came out swinging in the second game as the Pioneers tried to attack the fastball early from the Mustangs.

A leadoff double from Ryan Cordes, followed by a Johnson double, gave the Pioneers a quick 1-0 lead. Queen brought in Johnson on another double to give the Pioneers a 2-0 lead, and produced four hits in the first inning.

Lovell got on the board in the second, as Powell maintained a 2-1 edge.

The Mustangs took a 4-2 lead in the third. Three errors helped the Lovell baserunners advance as Powell again searched for answers.

Leading off the fourth, Nathan Feller found his way around on a triple, and Fauskee brought him in on a single as Powell found its groove offensively.

Borders said the Pioneers took advantage of the first pitch fastball from the Mustangs, as Powell took the lead in the inning.

Two walks coupled with an error helped the Pioneers bring in two runs to give Powell the lead back for good.

“I think we changed our approach at the plate in the second game, we were better attacking that first-pitch fastball they were throwing,” Borders said.

Powell was not done, as Stenerson brought in a run after he was hit by a pitch, Queen drove in another on a single and Stenerson scored on a passed ball as Powell took an 8-4 lead.

Lovell brought in three runs in the fourth and fifth, narrowing the gap to 8-7 heading into the sixth.

Needing insurance, Powell loaded the bases with one out early in the inning.

A long string of walks, singles and errors helped Powell put the game to bed, as the Pioneers scored 10 in the inning to make it 18-7.

Lovell added two in both the sixth and seventh, and Powell added one more to make the final 19-11.

Johnson finished the game 3-5 with five RBIs and Fauskee finished 3-4 with three RBIs to help Powell salvage a road split to open the conference season.

SHERIDAN DOUBLEHEADER

After splitting conference openers on Wednesday, the Pioneers finally returned home on Saturday to square off against AA Sheridan (17-5 overall).

A scoreless first inning had Powell coming out confident, but the second inning swung the contest in favor of Sheridan.

A string of runs in the bottom of the order saw the Troopers put up seven runs, as Powell trailed early.

Powell scored one in the bottom half of the inning, but left the bases loaded after three straight strikeouts ended the inning 7-1.

Sheridan added a run in the top of the third to make it 8-1, before Powell again left the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning.

In the top of the fifth Sheridan added four more runs, as the contest was put out of reach. The game  ended via mercy rule 12-1 after five innings.

In the second half of the doubleheader, the Pioneers tossed Kaden Diaz onto the mound to see what he could produce at the varsity level.

Diaz started slow, as Sheridan produced two runs early to make it 2-0 after the first. 

In the second inning he forced three batters out in a row, as Borders said the coaching staff was able to get a good grasp of how Diaz is pitching.

“It was good for him to go up against one of the best teams in the state so we could find out where he is at,” Borders said. “He threw in Green River and now we know he can move up with us and throw for us when we need him.”

Sheridan was strong again in the third, as the Troopers took a 6-0 lead after the early part of the game.

The Troopers added two more to end the contest, as Sheridan ended the road trip with a sweep of the Pioneers.

Powell had one hit in the contest, as Cordes had the only hit for the Pioneers to lead off the seventh inning.

One more set of home contests greeted Powell, as the Pioneers hosted Buffalo on Monday.

Borders said he hoped to have a younger group pitching against Buffalo along with the return of Schwahn, as the Pioneers prepped before heading to Billings this Thursday through Sunday.