The Jackson Giants scored in eight of nine innings and beat the Laramie Rangers 21-14 Tuesday in the opener for both teams at the state tournament.

Jackson never trailed in the game. A five-run second inning put the Giants in control 7-1. Trailing 9-1, Laramie scored three time in the fourth thanks to an RBI-double from Logan Pickard and RBI-singles from Blake Moore and David Coulthard.

The Rangers faced the 10-run mercy rule in the seventh, but scored four runs on a pair of hits, three walks and a hit batter. Moore came through with a two-run single. It was 14-8 after the seventh.

Jackson added seven more runs in the last two innings before Laramie rallied by six runs of their own in the ninth for the final margin.

The Rangers scored 14 runs on 16 hits, but issued 11 walks and committed seven errors defensively.

Laramie manager Brandon Ruckman looked right at their pitching and defense after the loss.

“Too many walks and too many errors, and we’ve got to keep those errors to a minimum. We didn’t today (Tuesday night) and right from the get-go, the first couple of plays. That kind of set the tone… We didn’t produce until we had two outs… Look at Jackson, they got the lead-off runner on seven out of nine innings.”

Coulthard and Marshall Stuart had three hits apiece. Moore added a pair of hits and three RBI’s. Harrison Yates started and took the loss after three innings pitched. He was one of five pitchers the Rangers used.

Laramie faces elimination Wednesday against Evanston. The Rangers and Outlaws have not played this season.

Ruckman knows it’s a dangerous situation.

“Evanston, I have a feeling they could have one good pitcher, if they saved their ace for the second game. It’s going to be Marshall (Stuart) versus they’re good pitcher, and we’ll see how it goes.”

First pitch is set for 1 p.m. from Giants Field. KOWB will provide live coverage at 12:45 p.m. with David Settle calling the game.

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