Laramie Little League Wins State Tournament Opener

On Wednesday night in Green River, the Laramie Little League All-Stars opened up the State Little League Tournament with a four inning win over Riverton.

Seeking their seventh consecutive state title, Laramie came into the state tournament having won three straight games by a total of 34 runs, and Laramie continued that dominance by defeating Riverton 13-3. With the win, Laramie will play Cody in the second round Thursday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Online coverage will begin at 3:55 and can be heard online by clicking here.

After a dominant effort in the District 2 tournament, Laramie came out swinging in their state tournament opener. Blake Moore led off the game with a single, Zachariah Aguilar brought him home with a triple, Nathan Burman scored Aguilar on a sacrifice fly into center. Laramie never looked back.

After two innings, Laramie led 6-3, and in the third, they connected for 8 hits, batted around the order, doubling their score and tripling their lead to 12-3. One more run came in for Laramie in the fourth inning, and with a ten-run lead, they went to the bottom of the side, needing 3 outs for a first round victory.

Riverton made the bottom half very interesting by getting two runners aboard, but in the end, it was defense that won the game for Laramie. With one out, Riverton's Kyren Higgs hit a soft foul near third base and Laramie's Will Yates made a spectacular diving catch for the out. Yates then had the presence of mind to throw the ball almost immediately to second base where a Riverton baserunner had failed to tag up.

While Laramie's defense was huge in the win, their pitching played a large part in the victory as well. Moore, Reid Baty and Albert Steiner all were on the mound in the winning effort, combining to give up only 6 hits and 6 strikeouts. Due to the efficient appearances from all three pitchers, they will all be available to pitch again in the tournament.

Laramie will have a tough opponent tomorrow in Cody, a team who defeated Gillette on Wednesday 15-0.

Wednesday was not as successful a day on the diamond for the Laramie 9 and 10 year old squad who faced their toughest postseason test yet, falling in their tournament opener to Cody's 9 and 10 team 9-3. The defending champions will play Thursday at 10:00 a.m. against Lander.