The Powell Pioneers finished 1-4 over a difficult, rainy Memorial Day weekend at the Kirby Drube Memorial Tournament in Gillette. Missing several starters due to graduation the Pioneers lost to ‘A’ Evanston 9-7 and the Gillette ‘AA’ Riders 8-1 on Saturday before defeating Laramie ‘AA’ Rangers 4-3 and losing to ‘AA’ Jackson 7-2 on Sunday, finishing the tournament with another loss to the Sheridan ‘AA’ Troopers 8-0 on Monday.

“For going 1-4 it was not a bad weekend,” manager Jason Borders said. “They competed … To hang with those ‘AA’ teams I was pretty happy with the weekend.”

EVANSTON 9, POWELL 7

Kicking off the tournament after a rain-delayed start on Saturday night the Pioneers (9-14) got an early preview of an ‘A’ West opponent in the Outlaws (10-9).

Evanston got on the board in the top of the first, getting runners on through a pair of errors, before a ground out scored a run and made it 1-0.

Powell had an answer in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a one out walk to Talon Nuss.

Nuss stole second and then advanced on a Ryan Barrus single, before eventually scoring on a wild pitch during Abel Teten’s at bat.

Teten reached on an error and put runners on the corners.

Kolby Gates drove in Barrus on a ground out, and Teten was out advancing to third in the same sequence and the inning ended with Powell leading 2-1.

After three strikeouts by the Outlaws the Pioneers added to their lead, starting with Christian Love reaching on an error.

Love stole second before Decker Engesser hit into another error and scored Love to make it a 3-1 game in favor of Powell.

Evanston got its answer in the top of the third, starting with a one out single.

After a second out, Evanston scored three runs after a double followed by three straight singles to make it a 4-3 contest.

Following a 1-2-3 inning by the Pioneers the Outlaws extended their advantage, starting another rally with two outs.

A walk followed by a single got runners on, before another single and an error allowed the Outlaws to score two runs and make it a 6-3 game.

Evanston added one more in the top of the fifth, starting with a single before advancing the runner on a sac bunt.

A single scored that run, before Powell finally got on the board again in the bottom half of the inning.

Ben Ostermiller hit a leadoff double and stole third before Nuss grounded out to score him and make it 7-4.

The Pioneers continued their comeback in the bottom of the sixth, starting with a Dakota Erickson single with one out on the board.

Love doubled and put two runners in scoring position before Engesser grounded out, scoring Erickson to make it 7-5.

Ostermiller singled and scored Love, before strong baserunning found the tying run.

Ostermiller stole second, third and eventually home following an error by the third baseman to make it a 7-7 contest after six innings.

Evanston got the winning runs in the top of the seventh, starting with a leadoff double followed by an error to score the first run and make it 8-7.

A sac bunt advanced that runner further, before another error allowed a second run to score and make it 9-7 Evanston.

Powell got out without more damage, but the Pioneers were unable to get a baserunner in the bottom of the seventh and fell 9-7.

Evanston outhit Powell 10-5, and the Pioneers committed more errors 6-5.

Five different Pioneers recorded a hit and four recorded an RBI, as Kolby Gates pitched to all but one batter, giving up four earned runs with six strikeouts on the mound.

GILLETTE 8, POWELL 1

In the second half of the doubleheader the Pioneers took on the ‘AA’ Riders (20-12) late Saturday night.

Gillette got on the board immediately, starting with a walk and hit batter in the bottom of the first.

A single scored both runners, and a walk followed to put another run on.

After a pop out another hit batter loaded the bases, before another hit batter made it 3-0 in favor of the Riders.

A fielder’s choice scored a fourth run and Powell trailed 4-0 after the first.

Powell got on the board in the top of the second, when Teten hit a lead off double, later advancing to third on a passed ball before a ground out by Erickson scored him and made it 4-1.

In the bottom half of the inning, a walk followed by a series of steals and an error allowed for another run to score, before another walk and hit batter put two on with no outs.

August Teten took the mound in relief for the Pioneers, striking out the first batter before the Riders found more offense in the inning.

“August gave us a chance,” Borders said. “He threw strikes and our defense made plays behind him.”

A walk followed by a single scored another run, and then a fielder’s choice scored another runner to make it 7-1 after the second.

Gillette got its final run in the bottom of the fourth, when a single, walk and hit batter loaded the bases to lead off.

A passed ball scored the run, but the Pioneers got out without more damage.

Powell had a chance for some offense in the top of the sixth, loading the bases but failed to score a run as the game was called after the sixth due to tournament run rules.

Ostermiller and Abel Teten recorded the only two hits for the Pioneers, as Powell was outhit 6-2 and committed the lone error in the contest.

August Teten gave up five hits and one earned in 4-1/3 innings of relief.

POWELL 4, LARAMIE 3

Looking to get a win against a ‘AA’ team the Pioneers took on the Rangers (10-14) to kick off Sunday.

Powell got on the board first in the bottom of the second, starting with an Abel Teten leadoff single.

He stole second and third before scoring on an error on Dominik Bieber’s contact to make it 1-0.

Offense was hard to come by for both teams from that point on, before Laramie found a tying run in the top of the fifth.

A one out walk put a runner on before he advanced to second base on a passed ball.

A single scored the runner, but the Pioneers got out without relinquishing the lead.

Powell recaptured the lead in the bottom half of the inning, starting with a leadoff single by Bieber.

He advanced to second on a passed ball, before Ostermiller singled and scored him with two outs.

The Pioneers couldn’t add to their lead before the Rangers took the lead on the top of the sixth.

A single was followed by two strikeouts, before a walk put two runners on.

A single scored one, before a pickoff attempt at second base allowed runners to advance, and another error on the play allowed another run to score and give Laramie a 3-2 lead.

Powell had an immediate answer, as Barrus doubled to lead off the sixth and advanced on an error on Abel Teten’s contact.

Teten was caught stealing second, before a sac fly by Gates scored Barrus and tied the game 3-3.

After three strikeouts in the top of the seventh, the Pioneers set up for a walk off finish against the Rangers.

Bieber doubled to lead off, and eventually advanced to third on a ground out by Engesser.

Ostermiller singled to drive in Bieber and the Pioneers earned the 4-3 win.

Powell finished with more hits 7-5 while Laramie committed more errors 2-1.

Ostermiller led going 2-4 with two RBIs, also leading on the mound.

He pitched the complete game, giving up five hits, two earned runs, three walks and 14 strikeouts.

JACKSON 7, POWELL 2

The Pioneers hoped to carry momentum into their second matchup of the day, this time against the Giants (4-10).

Powell jumped on the board early against Jackson, getting three straight walks to Nuss, Barrus and Abel Teten.

Nuss scored on a wild pitch, before Gates walked to keep the bases loaded.

Bieber walked, and gave Powell a 2-0 lead, but the Pioneers were unable to score another runner but led 2-0 after the first.

That lead held until the bottom of the third, when Jackson walked to lead off.

After two straight outs the Giants added two more runners with walks, before a single scored a pair and made it 2-2.

An error on a hit made it 3-2 Jackson, but the Pioneers escaped without further damage.

In the bottom of the fourth the Giants extended their lead, starting with a hit batter.

That batter advanced on two straight ground outs before scoring on an error to make it 4-2.

In the bottom of the fifth Jackson again extended the lead, starting with a one out single followed by a double to put two runners in scoring position.

A ground out scored one, and Jackson led 5-2.

The final two runs came in the bottom of the sixth, after a single and walk put two on, with a runner advancing on a steal to put runners on the corners.

A ground out scored a run, before a single scored another and Jackson finished with the 7-2 win.

“I felt like we were in every game for the most part,” Borders said. “Jackson, Evanston and Laramie felt like we were in those … We were missing some big dudes in our lineup.”

Jackson outhit Powell 6-2 while Powell had more errors 2-1.

Nuss gave up five hits, four earned along with four walks and strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings. Bieber gave up one hit, one earned, one walk and one strikeout in relief.

SHERIDAN 8, POWELL 0

Wrapping up the tournament the Pioneers took on the Troopers (18-12) for the fifth time this season.

Sheridan got things started in the bottom of the first, scoring three runs, and adding two more each in the third and fourth innings.

One final run came in the bottom of the sixth and made the final score 8-0 as it was called in the sixth due to the tournament run rule.

The Troopers outhit the Pioneers 8-2 while Powell committed six errors compared to one for Sheridan.

Bieber and Engesser each gave up four hits and two earned runs in 2-2/3 innings each on the mound.

“We were a little worried about pitching when we went. It really worked out well,” Borders said. “Our pitchers were able to stay in games and go the distance.”

SUMMER KICKS OFF

The Pioneers have been in action following the Gillette tournament, having lost to Lovell 9-7 and 12-3 on Friday before splitting against the Billings Expos with a 4-1 win and 8-2 loss on Saturday.

Catch full recaps of those games in Thursday’s Powell Tribune.

With the summer in full swing Borders is hopeful that the Pioneers can clean things up as playing becomes more consistent along with more practice.

“Once we get behind we aren’t a team that can make up a lot of runs. We’ve gotta clean stuff up still,” Borders said. “Hopefully now that school is out they can focus on baseball.”

Powell will open its conference schedule at Riverton (11-10) at 3 and 5 p.m. on Wednesday.