Laramie Rangers Struggle In Home Tournament

They squandered a pair of leads, finally broke through and were shut down by a quality pitcher. That added up to a 1-3 weekend for the Laramie Rangers.

The Rangers lost to McCook, NE 8-6 Friday night and the Cheyenne Hawks 9-5 Saturday night, before a split of their action on Sunday. Laramie defeated Green River 11-3, but lost the tournament finale 10-1 to Douglas.

Rangers’ manager Rich Wilson said,

“We’re disappointed, absolutely, with being 1-3. We really feel like we could have been 3-1, just as easy… That’s the way it happened; and we’re going to learn from it, be positive and just keep going forward.”

In the loss to McCook, Laramie scored five runs in the second inning for an early 5-0 lead. It was highlighted by Taylor Dodd’s three-run double to right-centerfield. The difference was a six-run sixth inning by McCook. They took advantage of five walks and a hitter batter in the frame and rallied for a 7-6 lead. An insurance run in the seventh inning provided the final margin of 8-6.

Saturday saw the Rangers hold an early 4-0 lead against the Hawks, but Laramie failed to hold it. Cheyenne rallied with two runs in each of the final three innings for a 9-5 victory.

After six straight losses, Laramie needed something positive. They got it with an 11-3 victory Sunday afternoon over the Green River Knights. The Rangers took advantage of six walks, five hit batters and five Green River errors. They scored six runs in the first two innings. The Knights were able to get a run in the fourth and another in the fifth. In the bottom of that inning, Laramie added five more runs that put the game out of reach.

Nate Hill tossed six innings for the win on the mound. He allowed three runs on six hits. Hill walked three and struck out eight Knights. He also went 2-3 at the plate with a pair of RBI. Reid Baty added two hits and three RBI.

In the last game of the tournament, the Rangers ran into a good pitcher in Douglas’ Marvin Malone. He limited Laramie to one run on four hits with 12 strike-outs. The Cats scored in five of the seven innings and steadily pulled away for the 10-1 win.

Despite the loss to Douglas, Wilson was encouraged by what he saw from his squad during and after the game.

He added, “I’m pleased that they had that effort (against Douglas) or show that kind of pep (in their step). It’s a good sign for me.”

The Rangers are now 13-22 this season. They return to action Tuesday with a doubleheader at the Wheatland Lobos.