Pioneers punch ticket to the Final Four

The Powell Pioneers remained alive at the 2009 Northwest region Legion baseball tournament in Salt Lake City with a wire-to-wire 10-7 victory over Roseburg, Ore., on Sunday afternoon. In doing so, they accomplished something no previous Pioneer team had managed to do -- namely win two games while at the regional event.

After grabbing a 3- 1 lead in the top of the second inning, the Pioneers held on to their slim lead throughout the remainder of the day. Tyler Dahlgren, frustrated at the plate for much of the game, delivered a huge two-run single late to help push Powell's lead to 10-5. Roseburg plated a pair in the bottom of the eighth, but went 1-2-3 in the ninth to exit the tournament.

Grant Geiser, 4-for-5 at the plate today, went the distance on the hill for Powell. The complete-game victory was valuable for a reason other than Powell's tournament survival. The nine-inning performance provided valuable rest for the rest of the Pioneers' pitching staff. Pitchers at the regional tournament are restricted to 12 innings over a three-day period of time.

Powell's next opponent and game time have yet to be determined. The pairings will be established after the remaining final four teams are identified. Two of those teams will be Kennewick, Wash., and Laurel, Mont. Those two teams meet at 6 p.m. tonight. The remaining member of the final four will be the winner of the Fairbanks, Alaska-Box Elder, Utah, matchup, which just started.

Diamond notes:
* The Pioneers survived a potentially unnerving moment when the top of the ninth inning was brought to a premature halt by the umpiring crew. After a dropped third strike, the Pioneers' Grant Geiser was called out due to the presence of a runner on first base. With fewer than two outs, the call would have been correct, but with two outs, Roseburg was obligated to throw the ball down to first base, something the team did not do. Despite the protest of Pioneers skipper Mike Jameson, the umpiring crew stood by its call, depriving the Pioneers of a chance to bring up Gianluca Giarrizzo with runners on first and second for a possible insurance run. As it turns out, Geiser turned a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the ninth to render the call moot.

* While Powell's 24-7 loss to Kennewick on Saturday may appear to have been lopsided, it was actually the second-closest game of the day. Laurel shelled Fairbanks by a 23-3 final count in Saturday night action while Roseburg eliminated Bear Creek in a 9-8 extra-inning game.

* While the regional tournament is supposed to provide participating teams with unfamiliar foes, it also presents those in attendance with unfamiliar situations. With night games on Friday and Saturday, the Fairbanks, Alaska, team experienced baseball under lights for its first time this season. The city's northern latitude and the earth's angle toward the sun during the summer months means even night games occur under natural lighting conditions.