Rangers Finish Second in Home Tournament

The Laramie Rangers lost in the championship game of the 2016 Dooley Oil Classic Sunday afternoon at Cowboy Field.

Blue Chip Black from Colorado completed a perfect weekend with a 6-1 victory over Laramie. They went 5-0 in the Gem City.

Nate Simianer limited the Rangers to one unearned run on four hits. He struck out eight and threw 100 pitches for the victory on the mound.

Laramie manager Brandon Ruckman said it was a tough day at the plate for his squad.

“He’s a good pitcher; tip your cap to him. They were a tough team, I mean, they swept the tournament and didn’t lose a game in five games. They were just a tough team and a tough pitcher.”

The Rangers had lost to Blue Chip Black Friday during the pool portion of the event, 11-8. This loss was during match play between the top two seeds Sunday.

Blue Chip Black used an error in the field and a two-run single by R.J. Barnes for a 3-0 lead. Laramie fought back on an Albert Steiner RBI-single in the fourth that plated Harrison Yates. He had reached on an error to start the inning. Blue Chip Black answered right back with three more runs on a pair of RBI-singles and a wild pitch.

Marshall Stuart led the Rangers with two of their four hits. Yates started and took the loss on the mound.

Ruckman said he thought it was a good tournament for Laramie.

“Even though we split (four games record-wise), we only lost to the winning team twice. I thought the pitchers threw well. There wasn’t a whole lot of walks from what I saw this tournament, and that’s one thing we’ve been focusing on.”

Another positive from Ruckman was his squads’ defense.

“If we’re going to have a chance at winning the state tournament, you’ve got to play clean games. That’s one of our goals is to keep it under two errors (per game). If we can do that, I’m happy.”

Laramie had two or less errors in three of the four games. They had three in one of their wins.

The Rangers opened the tournament with an 8-3 victory over Wheatland last Thursday.

Friday afternoon they lost to Blue Chip Black 11-8. Laramie led that game 6-2 after one inning. Blue Chip Black rallied with a seven-run fourth inning and took the lead for good.

Saturday night, Laramie rallied for an 11-6 victory over Spearfish, SD. They trailed 6-2 in the fourth inning. The Rangers exploded for seven runs. Treyven Armijo had the go-ahead three-run double for 9-6 lead. Yates added a two-run single in the fifth for the final margin. Steiner was the winning pitcher.

Laramie (11-11) returns to the diamond at home Tuesday. They host Rock Springs Archie Hay Post 24 in a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. from Cowboy Field.