One Bad Inning Leads To The Rangers Demise

Cheyenne scored 10 runs in the fourth inning and beat the Laramie Rangers 13-0 Monday night at the Wyoming ‘AA’ American Legion Baseball State Tournament.

The game was scoreless through the first three innings before it turned quickly. The game was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Rangers’ manager Brandon Ruckman liked the way things played out early.

“We held ‘em there, to begin with, and it had all the appearances of a great pitcher’s duel. They got a couple of runners on, and we knew a bunt was coming and couldn’t field that bunt. It kind of just went downhill from there.”

Post 6 capitalized on three Laramie errors in the frame that led to all 10 runs being unearned. The first run came in on an RBI-sacrifice fly. After a walk and a strikeout, Cheyenne scored nine times with two outs. There was a two-run double followed by a two-run single. After a bases-loaded walk force in a run, Finley Hastings hit a grand slam just inside the left field foul pole that made it 10-0.

Post 6 added three more in the fifth. A wild pitch, a hit batter with the bases loaded and another bases-loaded walk created the final 13-0 margin.

Laramie was limited to two hits in the game. Cheyenne right-hander Cody Brooks was perfect for three innings until Blake Moore led off the fourth with a single to center field. Will Yates followed with an infield single. The runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but a fly out, a strikeout and a groundout ended the threat.

Albert Steiner started and took the loss on the mound. He tossed 88 pitches over four innings and gave up all 10 unearned runs. Steiner surrendered only five hits. He had four walks and six strikeouts. Logan Pickard and Reston Morehouse also threw in the loss.

The Rangers will face an elimination game Tuesday in Cheyenne. They will play Evanston for the first time since the 2016 state tournament in Jackson. Game time is 1 p.m. from Powers Field.

Ruckman added, “We’ve just to forget it (the loss to Cheyenne) and move forward. It is tough to do, but we want to remind the guys, it’s been a while since we’ve won two games in the state tournament. I don’t want it to end tomorrow (Tuesday). I really want to get after Evanston. We owe ‘em from when they beat us in Jackson a couple of years ago. Evanston’s got some big hitters. We can’t overlook them.”

KOWB (AM 1290) will provide live coverage of the game. David Settle will have the call beginning at 12:45 p.m. You can also listen online or through the KOWB app.