Laramie Rangers Pointed Back in the Right Direction
A victory at home and two to begin a tournament have helped the Laramie Rangers win three straight games and get back over five-hundred record-wise.
In their only home game on Tuesday, July 3, the Rangers defeated South Omaha Pace Post 331 12-2 in five innings. The game was stopped early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Laramie jumped out 4-1 in the second inning against South Omaha. An RBI-single by Blake Moore turned into two runs when an error was committed by the left fielder. The Rangers added four runs in the third on RBI hits from Ramon Gomez and Moore, plus four walks and a hit batter. A two-run triple by Logan Pickard made it 11-2 in the fifth. Matt Smith followed with the game-ending RBI-single for a 12-2 win.
Manager Brandon Ruckman said they took advantage of some walks and mistakes by their opponent.
“Anytime you have 10 walks (South Omaha pitchers), it’s real tough to win a game when you give up that many free bases. On the other end of it, I thought Albert Steiner had a great day on the mound. I thought he really pounded the zone and led the defense… They played with fire. (It was) a really good team win.”
Steiner went all five innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He walked three with one strikeout. Moore and Pickard led the offense with two hits and two RBI’s apiece.
Thursday, Laramie opened the Cheyenne Firecracker tournament with a pair of wins. They came back to beat the Poudre Impalas 6-5 and pulled away from Jefferson Academy for a 14-2 victory at Pioneer Park in Cheyenne.
After a slow start against Poudre and trailing 5-1, the Rangers took advantage of three errors by the Impalas and trimmed it to 5-3 in the fifth. An RBI-single from Caleb Eaton in the sixth made it 5-4. Ramon Gomez led off the seventh with a single. After a strikeout, Albert Steiner reached on an error. Will Yates followed with an RBI-single that tied it before Reid Baty came through with the game-winning RBI-hit.
Baty led the offense with three hits, including his seventh home run of the season, and two RBI’s. His solo shot in the fourth got Laramie on the scoreboard. Gomez got the win in relief on the mound.
Ruckman said what allowed them to rally was, “We just stayed focused and had good approaches at the plate. Earlier in the season, we had a bunch of those (type games), where we’d end up losing in extra-inning games, and we actually came through. It was nice to be on the other side of that.”
Game two Thursday saw the Rangers score six times in the second and pull away for a 12-run victory over the Jaguars.
Laramie had three hits and took advantage of three Jefferson Academy errors in the frame. They stretched the lead to 7-2 in the fourth. A four-run sixth and three more in the seventh created the final margin.
Five Rangers had two hits in the second game versus the Jaguars. Yates led the offense with two hits, including a triple and four RBI’s. Baty got the win as starting pitcher. He went three innings and allowed only one run on three hits. David Coulthard threw a solid four innings in relief. He also threw out a runner at the plate when he was in right field that ended the third inning on a 9-2 double play.
Ruckman added, “Jefferson Academy had a couple of errors there. You know, calls were close and could have gone either way, a couple of those. We were just on the good-side of ‘em today but took advantage of the errors (four). I thought it was a solid performance overall.”
Laramie’s win streak has them at 22-21 on the season. The Rangers finish pool play with a game at the Cheyenne Hawks Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Pioneer Park. KOWB (AM 1290) will provide live coverage at 6:45 p.m. You can also listen online or take the game mobile. David Settle will call the action.
Laramie will also play Saturday and Sunday with opponents and times to be determined.