A Key Road Date For The Laramie Rangers

Riding a three-game win streak and with the return of two players, the Laramie Rangers play a significant conference doubleheader in Torrington today at 5 p.m.

Laramie is 16-23 on the season and 6-2 in the ‘A’ Southeast Conference of American Legion baseball in Wyoming. Torrington leads the division with a perfect 10-0 mark and is 24-11 overall.

The Tigers swept the first conference twin bill against the Rangers in Laramie on June 11. Torrington won game one 11-2 and rallied from an early deficit for a 19-12 victory in game two.

Thinking back to those games, Laramie manager Rich Wilson said, “They did surprise me; after taking a year off and coming out and playing the way they did… I mean it sure seemed like they’d been seasoned and ready to play. They sure put it on us.”

These two games are important for a couple of reasons. If Laramie wants to have a shot at the conference title and the top seed from the Southeast at the District Tournament in Rock Springs July 24-26, the Rangers must sweep tonight. Then, it would come down to a tie-breaker.

Laramie is going with two veteran pitchers to start the games. Nate Hill and Marshall Stuart will get the ball according to Wilson.

The Rangers will also benefit from the return of two players. Drew Burman and Noah Hammontree are back after a school-related trip took them away for nearly three weeks. Their return adds depth in the line-up and on the pitching mound.

Wilson knows his squad would like to have the first two against Torrington back, but they can’t, so they’ll move on.

“Hopefully, we’ll go over there and sweep them back in their yard. I think we’re going over there with a little different attitude.”

After this doubleheader, the Rangers head to Billings, MT for a tournament Thursday through Sunday.