Laramie Rangers Begin Postseason

The 2013 post-season for American Legion baseball is here. The Laramie Rangers host the Single A South District Tournament Thursday through Saturday at Cowboy Field. Laramie takes on Green River in a best two out of three series for the top seed from the South at the state tournament next week.

Laramie (29-16-1) earned a spot in the championships series by winning the Southeast Conference title, while the Green River Knights (26-15) did the same in the Southwest.

Rangers manager Rich Wilson admits he likes the new format. He said, "It takes the pressure off. You can just go play the way baseball should be played. Leave the nerves behind, and just have fun. Baseball's meant to be played and have fun. The more you can do that, the more successful you'll be."

While pressure to qualify for state is off, the goal is still to take the top seed.

Veteran Shortstop Tommy Johnson said we're looking at it as let's, "Just win it! Go out there and win it. Win every pitch, win every ground ball and win everything basically. Do our best, and we should be good."

Laramie didn't face the Knights in the regular season, but as Johnson said that doesn't matter. He said the focus is on us, "We haven't done anything towards Green River. Not knowing what they have or what they do, we really have to focus on what we do. We've got to come out playing our best baseball, and that should take care of the rest."

Wilson also likes the fact they're playing at home and is hoping they can take advantage of it. He also says, "I think we're rested (going in), which is an advantage. Even compared to to last year, we're more rested than we were then. The boys are just feeling it. I feel it from them, and it's a good feeling."

Outfielder and Pitcher Drew Burman said they want to keep the momentum going, "We just came off of two big wins, and we got a couple of days off, so our arms should be good. We should come in here with all the momentum in the world and get the job done."

Laramie faces Green River at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, with only an if necessary game on Saturday at 3 p.m.

You can listen to Laramie Rangers baseball on KOWB (AM 1290). Our coverage will start at 6:45 p.m. both Thursday and Friday. David Settle will call the action from Cowboy Field.

With just 11 teams at the Single A level of legion baseball in Wyoming, they adopted a new District Tournament format this year. The teams that win their conference automatically qualify for state and just play for the top seed. The rest of the teams in a district battle for the final two seeds to state. In this case, Riverton, Rawlins and Evanston will play in a three-team double elimination bracket to determine the third and fourth seeds from the South District.

Here's a look at the complete Single A South District Tournament schedule:

Thursday, July 25

Noon                           Riverton vs. Rawlins (Game #1)

3 p.m.                         Evanston vs. Riverton/Rawlins Winner (Game #2)

7 p.m.                         Laramie vs. Green River (best of 3)

Friday, July 26

Noon                           Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Game 3)

3 p.m.                         Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 (Game 4)

7 p.m.                         Laramie vs. Green River (best of 3)

Saturday, July 27

Noon                           Game 5 (if necessary – if Loser of Game 4 first loss)

3 p.m.                          Laramie vs. Green River (if necessary)