After nearly a decade of playing second fiddle to their cross-county rivals the Powell Pioneers swept the Cody Cubs on the road Friday to win the ‘A’ Northwest regular season title — paced by a Brock Johnson no-hitter in a 6-0 victory in game one before winning a slugfest 16-11 in game two.

POWELL 6, CODY 0

The second half of the Park County rivalry kicked off on Friday night in Cody, with the only strip of rain in the sky hanging over the Pioneers (39-17 overall, 12-0 ‘A’ Northwest) and Cubs (31-19-1 overall, 8-4 ‘A’ Northwest) with the ‘A’ Northwest title hanging in the balance.

Knowing they needed a win to secure the title without tiebreakers coming into play, the Pioneers came out early led by Johnson on the mound.

“I don’t think we ever go into a game feeling like we are going to lose with him on the mound,” manager Jason Borders said.

Powell got on board first in the top of the second, after Aidan Wantulok was hit by a pitch and advanced on a bunt single by Ryan Cordes to put two on with no outs.

That was followed by a Dalton Worstell bunt that advanced both runners and gave Powell two in scoring position with one out.

Aiden Greenwald singled to bring in Wantulok and give Powell the lead 1-0.

Powell was unable to add to the lead, but for Johnson it was plenty, as he struck out eight of the first nine batters.

“When we play better teams we are more focused and into the game,” Borders said.

The Pioneers got another run in the fourth to extend the lead, starting off with a Cordes single.

Cordes stole second during Greenwald’s at bat and then advanced on a single to get in scoring position.

A line out by Ethan Welch to left field allowed Cordes to tag up and score to make it 2-0.

After extending the lead in the fourth, the Pioneers gained full control of the game in the top of the fifth.

Cade Queen walked to lead off, followed by singles from Trey Stenerson and Wantulok to load the bases with no outs.

Cordes continued his strong play and hit a single that drove in two runners and doubled the lead to 4-0.

Worstell grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw Cordes out at second but put runners on the corners for Powell.

Greenwald singled to bring in Wantulok and extended the lead.

Powell got its final run of the game when Johnson hit to right field, leading to an error that brought in Wantulok to make it 6-0 in favor of the visitors.

With an established lead, Johnson continued to dominate on the mound despite the perfect game being lost in the fifth on an errant catch.

The Cubs only managed one walk, in the seventh, and then Johnson finished the no-hitter and secured Powell the ‘A’ Northwest title.

Johnson finished with 13 strikeouts in the complete game on only 83 pitches, while Powell outhit the Cubs 10-0 in the contest while each team committed one error apiece.

“Brock throws his best when the pressure is on,” Borders said. “He comes out and deals every time … that’s what he’s dreamed about since he was a kid.”

The victory ensured the No. 1 seed out of the ‘A’ Northwest at the district tournament this week, the first top seed the team has earned in a decade since 2013.

POWELL 16, CODY 11

After the Pioneers secured the No. 1 seed for the first time in a decade, they came out searching for a first conference sweep of Cody since 2012.

Neither team wanted to end the season on a loss, and both came out swinging in the second game of Cody’s senior night.

Powell struck in the top of the first, after Johnson led off with a single but was caught stealing second during Jhett Schwahn’s at bat.

Schwahn popped out, and Powell appeared to be heading out without a run in the first.

Then Queen singled and was driven in on a Stenerson double to give Powell the 1-0 lead.

Wantulok followed that with a single to bring in Stenerson and make it 2-0.

Cody had an answer this game, which started with a one-out triple.

A single scored that run and Powell led 2-1 after the first inning.

The offense continued in the second, when Welch got a two-out double and was eventually brought in on a Johnson single to extend the lead back to 3-1.

Cody again kept the offense strong in the bottom half, getting on with a single and an error.

A single scored one, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with two outs.

A grand slam to left field cleared the bases and gave Cody the 6-3 lead.

“We had some errors and he [Jacob Gibson] had a couple of walks and it was bad timing,” Borders said. “You can play the game right all the time and things will happen.”

The marathon continued in the third inning, when Powell got two on through a walk and an error that saw Stenerson advance all the way to third but Wantulok was out advancing to second on an error.

Cordes walked to give Powell runners on the corners, and Worstell singled to score Stenerson and cut the lead down to 6-4.

Greenwald was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out.

Welch was hit by a pitch to bring in another run, and Johnson singled to tie it 6-6. Unfortunately for Powell, Greenwald was out advancing home and Powell was unable to claim the lead on the play.

Fortunately for Powell, Schwahn was hit by a pitch to get on and load the bases, and Queen doubled to score a pair and reclaim Powell’s 8-6 lead.

Once again, Cody had an answer in the bottom half of the third.

A single followed by another two-out home run tied the game 8-8.

Queen came in to replace Gibson on the mound, but Cody did not slow down in the third.

An error put a runner on, and a triple scored another run to give Cody the lead 9-8.

Another single scored a runner and Cody held a 10-8 lead.

Both teams settled down in the fourth, which ended scoreless on both sides, before Powell tied the game in the fifth.

Once again with two outs, Schwahn singled and Queen followed with a home run to left field to tie the game at 10.

The Cubs regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth, after a single and double scored a run to make it 11-10.

Powell answered in the top of the sixth, when Wantulok walked to lead off, and stole second during Worstell’s at bat advancing to third on a single.

A fielder’s choice on Greenwald’s hit scored Wantulok to tie the game at 11.

Welch and Johnson walked to load the bases.

Greenwald scored on a passed ball and Schwahn singled to score Welch and advance Johnson to third — that run extended the lead to 13-11.

A balk by the pitcher scored Johnson and gave Powell a 14-11 advantage.

Powell held Cody at bay, and found a way to expand the lead in the seventh.

Stenerson hit a single that fell in between three Cody players to lead off, and Wantulok followed with a walk.

Wantulok was picked off at first, and Cordes was out at first on a dropped third strike that advanced Stenerson to third.

A Worstell double brought in Stenerson, and a Greenwald double scored Worstell to make it 16-11.

In the bottom of the seventh Cody got on with a double, but Queen finished the game and gave Powell the 16-11 victory.

Queen finished with six strikeouts over the final 4 1/3 innings, while finishing 3-5 at the plate with four RBIs.

Johnson, Worstell and Greenwald each had two RBIs while Schwahn, Stenerson, Wantulok and Welch each had one.

Powell finished with 18 hits to Cody’s 14 while the Pioneers had two errors to the Cub’s one.

That victory gave Powell the conference sweep over Cody, the first time since 2012 that the Pioneers had swept their rivals — which was also the last time Powell went undefeated in conference play in the regular season.

“That was our goal at the beginning of the year was to be conference champions,” Borders said. “Our second goal is to win districts and our third goal is to win state.”

DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

Postseason play kicks off this week for the Pioneers, with the district tournament set to take place in Cowley.

The tournament kicks off Wednesday, but due to having the No. 1 seed, Powell will have the first day off.

The Pioneers will play the winner of host ‘A’ Northwest No. 3 seed Lovell (18-22 overall, 4-8 ‘A’ Northwest) and the ‘A’ Southwest No. 2 seed Evanston (20-19 overall, 6-2 ‘A’ Southwest) at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Evanston and Green River were tied with a 6-2 record in the ‘A’ Southwest and split the season series 2-2. Green River won the “runs scored against” tiebreaker after only giving up 39 runs and claimed the No. 1 seed while Evanston conceded 43 runs in conference play. “If Lovell comes out ready to go they can beat them (Evanston),” Borders said.

Unlike last year, the Pioneers will only need to get one win to advance to the state tournament and they are the only team with a bye on the first day.