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Early season games have a way of teaching teams and coaches what they need to work on. The Pirates are still in the early season, and despite losing a few tough games and a couple of blowouts, they are still gaining the much needed experience they will need later in the season.

This past week, they topped a few familiar foes.

The Pirates hosted Breathitt County last Monday night as the Bobcats came to town. It was a chilly evening and the Pirate’s bats went cold as well after the first inning. Despite the cool start, Powell did scratch out a win over the visitors, 7-4.

Breathitt started out scoring early in the top of the first inning. Nate Skidmore gave up a walk to the Bobcat’s leadoff hitter, Andrew Combs. Combs then moved around the bases on a pass ball, a base hit by Lane Weddle, and scored on a pass ball. Breathitt held a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Powell took over from there.

The Pirates scored six runs in their half of the first. Nearly every Pirate batter in the lineup picked up a hit in the offensive outburst. Wyatt Clark picked up two hits. Skidmore, Trent Rogers, Braxton Anderson, Kyle Hale, and Bryce Merion each got a hit in the bottom of the first as well.  Powell took a quick 6-1 advantage.

Then the Pirates bats went cold. But Breathitt wasn’t able to catch fire at the plate either. Powell outlasted the Bobcats, 7-4.

Skidmore recorded the win going four innings.  He struck out eight, walked four and allowed four runs with three of those being earned.  Jon Brooks threw three innings in relief to get the save, shutting out Breathitt while on the hill for the last nine outs.

The Pirates ship then sailed to Owsley County last Tuesday night for a high scoring affair.  The game was never in question as Powell opened hot and was never challenged. The game ended mercifully after three innings. The Pirates shutout the Owls 20-0, in a big district win.

Trent Rogers got the start on the mound for the Pirates.  Rogers has pitched well this season with a loss against Perry earlier in the season, but went five innings while only allowing Perry to score four runs.  Against Owsley Rogers went three innings, striking out two and shutting out the Owls.

On the offensive front most of the starters had hits and five had multiple hits. Clark lead the team with four hits, two of those were doubles. Brooks, Merion, Poe and Jace Ware all had multiple hits in the game.

The Pirates then traveled to Morehead last Saturday to play Lewis and Rowan counties in the Anchor Classic. Powell took on Lewis County first, this time the game was much closer than the matchup a week ago. Powell fell behind 4-0 in the first inning before settling down. The Lions added another run in the fourth to make it 5-0. But then Powell struck back with three runs in their half of the inning.

Lewis answered quickly, tacking on two more runs in the fifth to make it 7-3. The Lions added three more runs for insurance in the seventh to take it to 10-3. But Powell was not quite done. The Pirates once again made a mad dash at their opponent. After scoring four runs in the final at bat, the Pirates ran out of gas. Lewis won the game, 10-7 Powell’s defensive woes, committing six errors in the game was a key factor in the loss. But on the other side, Powell did pick up 13 hits to Lewis’ 14 hits.

In the second game of the day the Pirates took on the host Rowan County Vikings. The Vikings picked up four runs in the bottom of the first and added two more in the second to grab a 6-0 lead. Powell never really got on track, being held to just three hits and committing three errors in the game. Rowan won the battle, 11-0 in six innings.

The Pirates ended last week with an overall record of 5-6 and a 1-0 record in district play. Powell was scheduled to host Lee County in another district game this past Monday. The Pirates were then set to sail to Clark County this past Tuesday and on to Letcher Central tonight (Thursday).

The road trip continues on Friday with a ride to Fleming County. On Saturday the team travels to Montgomery County to play McCreary Central and Prestonsburg. The Pirates return home to take on Estill County on April 17 and Knott Central on April 19.

(Some information for this story provided by Chad Poe)