The Laramie Rangers won their final three games and captured the championship of their own Dooley Oil Classic at Cowboy Field.

Laramie (12-14) lost their opener, but rallied with two big wins and thanks to a tie-breaker reached the championship game as the top seed.

The Rangers defeated Rock Springs Archie Hay Post 24 by a final score of 4-2 to earn the title.

Manager Brandon Ruckman said,

“It was a good, full circle, tournament for us. We had a rough one the first, and then had a few good ones there toward the end to wrap it up.”

Last Friday began with a 6-2 loss to Colorado Blue Chip Red in the tournament opener. Four early errors contributed to a quick 6-0 deficit. Laramie pulled within four runs, but left 11 men on base.

In their second game Friday, the Rangers rolled past Torrington 11-0 in only three-and-a-half innings. Joseph Legerski tossed a two-hit shutout on the mound. He struck out three and threw only 45 pitches. A nine-run third inning was the difference. Laramie took advantage of six Tiger errors and had three RBI hits. They sent 14 men to the plate.

Saturday night saw the Rangers rally for a 12-4 win over Colorado Rawhide baseball club. Laramie trailed 4-0 after the first inning. They got three back in the second highlighted by Albert Steiner’s two-run single. The Rangers took the lead for good with five runs in the third. They capitalized on six walks and a hit batter in the frame. Laramie plated two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Kacey Bernaski was the winning pitcher. He also led the offense with three hits and three runs scored. Laramie’s patience at the plate was key, as it led to 10 walks.

The Rangers topped Archie Hay 4-2 in the Dooley Oil Classic championship game Sunday afternoon. A three-run fifth inning was the difference. Harrison Yates tripled to left and scored on a wild pitch. With runners at second and third, a Bernaski RBI-sacrifice fly scored the go-ahead run. Four Rock Springs’ errors aided the Laramie victory. Nate Hill tossed three shutout innings in relief and got the win on the mound. He and Marshall Stuart had two hits apiece to lead the offensive charge.

Ruckman added it was a full team effort.

“I knew it was going to be close. Rock Springs is a tough team, so we had to produce, and we did. Harrison led us off with that triple; we had a couple of hits to move runners around and got a sac-fly to help us out. That was good.”

Laramie has won three in a row for the first time this season.

Ruckman said it’s great to see, “Our main goal was let’s to get to .500 (record-wise), and then from there we’ll make some new goals… they’re progressing.” Ruckman went to say he’s seeing nice improvement from his young players.

There’s about one month left in the season before the legion baseball state tournament in Sheridan.

Ruckman adds, “I think we’re just looking to get more consistent. I think we achieved that this weekend. We’ve been riding a roller coaster; win one game; lose a game; to string three together, have a bunch of hits and minimize the errors in the field; it’s been a good one for us.”

The Rangers return to action Wednesday with a doubleheader against Douglas at Cowboy Field. It starts at 5 p.m.

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