Nate Hill had "it" from the start, and there was nothing the opposition could do about it. Hill tossed a complete game, 2-hit shut out Thursday night, as the Laramie Rangers dominated the Douglas Cats, 14-0 in seven innings, at the Wyoming State 'A' American Legion Baseball tournament in Gillette.

Nate Hill gave-up only a one-out double in the fourth inning and a two-out single in the sixth. He struck out seven batters, including the side in the seventh inning and threw only 81 total pitches. He went to a full count on only one hitter and got to two balls on a hitter just four other times. He improved to 5-0 on the mound this season and lowered his ERA from 3.33 to 2.86.

After his performance, Hill admitted that the key was his bullpen warm-up before the game, "Had everything going my way. Curve ball was down, and the change-up was there. A little different because the bullpen was dirt, and then you come onto the turf, but you've gotta just adjust. I like the turf because you don't get holes (on the mound). I felt pretty good. I would roll them over some times and had them worrying."

Rangers manager Rich Wilson said, "When Nate has that rhythm, that pop, he's feeling it. When he doesn't, he aims it a little bit, and the ball kind of floats in there. His breaker was good, as was his fastball to off-set that. Nate stepped up just the way wanted him to."

Laramie backed him with 13 total hits in the game, and they took advantage of five Douglas errors. Abel Casas led the way with four hits and an RBI, while Alex Jordan contributed three hits, which included a pair of doubles, and four RBI's. Tommy Johnson also added four RBI's on a 2-run sacrifice fly in the fourth and a two-run home run to left field in the sixth.

Wilson said of the offensive attack, "We just want to keep that up. The boys feel confident. It's a quiet confidence. I hope they just embrace that, and bring that to the ball field tomorrow (Friday)."

It was a slow start for the Rangers offensively, as they held a 1-0 lead through the first two innings. They broke the game open with a four-run third, highlighted by an RBI single from Drew Burman and a two-run double from Jordan. Laramie added three more runs in the fourth on a wild pitch and the two-run sac fly by Johnson for an 8-0 lead.

Then Johnson hit the long ball in the sixth, which made 10-0, before the Rangers capped it off with four runs in the seventh. An RBI single by Casas was followed by Jordan's two-run single and an RBI single from Kacey Bernaski.

Laramie moves on to the championship semifinal Friday night against the Cody Cubs. They haven't faced the Cubs since they beat them 11-1 at last year's state tournament in Casper.

Wilson said, "We've just got to go right at them. They're a good team, well-coached and a good program."

Hill said what it will take is, "It's games like that (referring to the win over Douglas). It's error-less baseball. Everyone was hitting the ball, the pitching performance was good, and we just have to play our game."

The Rangers take on the Cody Cubs with a spot in the state championship game on the line. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in Gillette.

Laramie Rangers baseball can be heard on KOWB (AM 1290), on-line and on your mobile device with our radioPup app. The broadcast will begin at 6:45 p.m. David Settle will call the game.

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