Starting off June the Powell Pioneers competed hard against Billings opposition at home, winning three of four against the Blue Jays and Cardinals on Saturday and Sunday. Powell lost to the Blue Jays 13-8 before winning 8-5 in the second contest and sweeping the Cardinals on Sunday 10-0 and 8-5.

BLUE JAYS 13, POWELL 8

Competing at home for the first time since May 12, the Pioneers (17-8) took on the Blue Jays (7-14), looking to carry momentum after a second place finish in Gillette the weekend prior.

Billings got the scoring started in the top of the second with a walk with two outs.

Two straight doubles each scored a run, giving the visitors the early 2-0 lead.

Powell was unable to answer in the bottom half of the inning despite loading the bases with two outs.

The Blue Jays extended that early lead in the top of the third, getting on through a single and error, before a bunt into a fielder’s choice scored a run and put another runner in scoring position.

A passed ball allowed another run to score, and a sac bunt advanced a runner to make it 4-0.

A single and a double followed, scoring two more and making it 6-0.

Cade Queen finally got the Pioneers on the board in the bottom of the third, leading off with a solo home run — kickstarting a strong weekend at the plate for Queen to make the score 6-1.

Powell couldn’t chip away at the lead any further in the inning, before the Blue Jays scored another in the top of the fourth and made it 7-1.

In the bottom of the fourth the Pioneers got one back, after Brock Johnson walked and stole second, with Queen walking to put two on with two outs.

Trey Stenerson hit a single to bring in Johnson, making it 7-2 heading into the fifth.

An error and a walk put two on for the Blue Jays, and a double brought in one run to make it 8-2.

A ground out allowed another Blue Jay to score, making it 9-2.

The Pioneers found some offense in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a walk to Cole Fauskee.

He stole second, before an error allowed for Aiden Greenwald to reach and advance to second on the same error, while Fauskee rounded from second to score.

Jordan Loera singled to get on and advance Greenwald to third, stealing second during Ethan Welch’s at bat which led to an error and allowed Greenwald to score.

Loera stole third during the same at bat, and scored on a Welch single to cut the lead to 9-5.

Johnson singled to get on, and both runners advanced on a sac bunt by Jacob Gibson.

Queen stepped back up and in similar fashion from earlier hit a second home run, a three-run shot that cut the lead to 9-8.

After cutting into the lead, the Blue Jays found a way to respond, after a series of errors and wild pitches allowed the visitors to score three more and extend the lead to 12-8.

A double in the top of the seventh and a single scored one more for Billings, making it 13-8.

Powell was unable to find any more runs, falling 13-8.

“It was ugly baseball for both teams,” manager Jason Borders said. “We played those two bad games on Monday in Gillette and followed that up on Saturday. We just didn’t play good.”

Queen finished 2-4 at the plate with four RBIs, Stenerson went 3-4 with one RBI while Welch went 2-4 with one RBI.

Both teams had 10 hits, Powell committed seven errors compared to five for the Blue Jays.

POWELL 8, BLUE JAYS 5

Heading into the second contest the Pioneers hoped to get back on track, but it was once again the Blue Jays who struck first.

This time it took until the third inning, when a single followed by a home run gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.

Powell answered with a home run of its own in the bottom half, as Johnson led off with a solo shot to make it 2-1.

Loera followed with a single, and scored on a single by Queen to make it 2-2.

Powell was unable to find another run, and Billings reclaimed the lead in the top of the fourth.

A walk and a passed ball got a runner on second, and a single scored him to make it 3-2.

Powell finally claimed the lead in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a two out walk to Welch.

Johnson and Loera followed with singles to load the bases, and Queen walked to score one and tie the game 3-3.

Stenerson hit a single and brought in a pair, making it 5-3.

He stole second, Worstell was walked and Fauskee hit a double to score three and make it 8-3.

“We’ve kind of had those games all year where we have that one inning that gets us going,” Borders said.

A double and an error put a runner on third, before a ground out scored one to make it 8-4 after the top of the fifth.

Billings got one more in the top of the sixth, but Powell held off the visitors to win 8-5.

“I thought we played a better baseball game than the first one by far,” Borders said.

Queen and Stenerson each went 2-3 with two RBIs, while Fauskee went 1-3 with three RBIs. Johnson had the final RBI.

Powell outhit Billings 9-5, but committed more errors than the Blue Jays at 2-1.

Greenwald had five strikeouts while giving up five hits and three earned runs in six innings.

POWELL 10, CARDINALS 0

Heading into Sunday the Pioneers were hoping to keep things rolling, looking to avenge two losses earlier in the season to the Cardinals (20-5).

Early on neither team found any offense, before the Pioneers got on the board in the bottom of the third.

Greenwald was hit by a pitch, Welch singled and Johnson walked to load the bases with no outs.

Greenwald was caught stealing home, before Loera hit a single to score one and make it 1-0.

Queen grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Johnson and making it 2-0.

That was all the damage the Pioneers could deal, before another strong bottom half of the fourth extended the lead.

Worstell walked, Greenwald singled and Welch walked to load the bases with one out.

Johnson walked to score one, before a passed ball allowed Greenwald to score on Loera’s at bat and make it 4-0.

Loera then singled to score another and make it 5-0.

A fielder’s choice on a Queen hit scored one more and Powell led 6-0 after four innings.

In the fifth, four successive walks with one out to Worstell, Greenwald, Welch and Johnson scored a run and made it 7-0.

Queen was hit by a pitch, and Jhett Schwahn hit a single to bring in two and end the game 10-0.

Queen finished with three RBIs, while Loera, Johnson and Schwahn each had two.

Johnson had seven strikeouts, one walk and only gave up two hits on the mound.

“We’re a lot more relaxed (with Brock on the mound),” Borders said. “He’s going to hold most teams down where if we get him a few runs we think we’ll win.”

POWELL 8, CARDINALS 5

Looking for the sweep in the second contest, the Pioneers got things started early in the bottom of the first.

Queen hit his third home run of the weekend, a solo shot that gave Powell a 1-0 lead.

“He was crushing baseballs — he’s been seeing the ball well,” Borders said.

Powell wasn’t done, as Schwahn was hit by a pitch, and Fauskee got on through an error that allowed the runners to advance to second and third.

A Greenwald single brought in both and made it 3-0 after the first.

A difficult third inning gave the visitors life, as three walks loaded the bases with one out.

A double scored two, and a wild pitch scored another to tie the score at 3-3 after three.

The Cardinals claimed the lead in the top of the fourth, after a walk and a double scored one.

A walk and a single followed, scoring another and making it 5-3.

Powell regained its footing in the bottom half of the inning, as Worstell, Trevion Solberg and Welch all walked.

A single by Johnson scored a pair, before a ground out led to an error and scored a pair that made it 7-5 in favor of Powell.

In the bottom of the fifth the Pioneers added one more, with Fauskee leading off with a single and then scoring on a Greenwald double to extend the lead to 8-5.

Billings was unable to find any real threat late, as Powell ended with an 8-5 win.

“It was a good weekend,” Borders said.

Greenwald went 2-3 and had three RBIs, Johnson had two RBIs while Queen and Loera each had one.

Worstell got the win after coming in in relief, giving up one hit with two strikeouts over the final 3 1/3.

BWW TOURNAMENT

The Pioneers will now head out on the road over the next two weekends, beginning with the Buffalo Wild Wings Tournament in Billings.

Play for the Pioneers will begin on Thursday, taking on the Billings Post 4 Red ‘B’ (9-5) at noon.

Powell will then take on a ‘A’ East opponent in the Gillette Rustlers (10-13) at 12:30 p.m. on Friday before taking on the Helena Reps (7-15) at 5:30 p.m.

The Pioneers will get a preview of a ‘A’ West opponent to wrap up pool play, taking on the Green River Knights (8-6) at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

“I understand that it’s baseball and we’re going to lose games here and there. As long as we keep being consistent and play clean baseball every week and improving, that’s where we’re at,” Borders said. “We should be able to come out of pool play pretty well set up (in Billings).”

If Powell is one of the top two seeds in the 10 team tournament, they will play in the championship game at 3 p.m. on Sunday, any other placement will have the Pioneers playing at 10 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.