The Laramie Rangers picked up their first win of the 2016 season after they split a pair of games Sunday at Cowboy Field in Laramie.

Laramie lost their first game to North Platte, NE 9-4 and remained winless on the season. That changed just a few hours later, when the Rangers defeated the Douglas Cats, 16-6.

Laramie manager Brandon Ruckman reflected on the split and stated they needed the feeling of a win.

“North Platte is a good team. The story of that one is, you have to play good, sound baseball. You can’t beat yourself. We beat ourselves the first game. The second game, Douglas played five games in three days, so they’re short pitching. You just need to take advantage of that, when you’re given it, and we did today.”

In the opener, North Platte built an 8-3 lead after two innings, and Laramie wasn’t able to rally. The Rangers were held to five hits and committed four errors. Taylor Dodd took the loss on the mound. He also led the offense with a two-run double in the first. North Platte had 11 hits and took advantage of four walks and four hit batters.

The Rangers scored 10 runs in the first inning in their victory over Douglas. They won the game in the sixth inning when the 10-run mercy rule came into play. Laramie sent 14 hitters to the plate in the first inning. They had six hits and took advantage of five errors and six wild pitches by the Cats in the frame.

The lead was built to 12-2 before Douglas extended the game with four runs in the fifth inning. The Rangers closed it out with two runs in both the fifth and sixth.

The 14-hit attack by Laramie included five extra base hits. David Coulthard and Taylor Dodd both had three hits and an RBI. Albert Steiner started and got the win on the mound. Overall, the Rangers took full advantage of nine Douglas errors and nine wild pitches.

Laramie (1-3) is off until May 31 because of finals in school, state soccer and graduation. The Rangers schedule really begins to pick-up with a doubleheader at Green River next Tuesday. The twin bill against the Knights is slated for a 3 p.m. start.

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