Rangers Fizzle to Finish the Firecracker

Three straight losses made it a difficult end to the Cheyenne Post 6 Firecracker Tournament for the Laramie Rangers over the holiday weekend.

Laramie (16-20) finished 1-4 in the tournament and in eighth place.

Manager Brandon Ruckman said to finish this tournament with that mark is tough to see.

“Definitely not heading the direction that we wanted to head to. You know, I’d like to get back on a winning streak. We’ve have a little bit of a break here; hopefully we can gain some confidence, get some rest, heal some injuries and come back.”

The Rangers lost their final two pool play games Saturday, which placed them fourth in their pool. That meant a match-up for seventh/eighth on Sunday.

Last Saturday’s first game against Denver Baseball 18U resulted in a 6-3 loss. Eli Bryant’s two-run double gave Laramie a 2-1 lead in the second. Denver answered with a two-run double of its own in the third and never trailed after that. Eight walks, two hit batters and four errors hurt Laramie in defeat. Blake Moore took the loss on the mound.

In the nightcap, Laramie fell to the Cheyenne Hawks by a final score of 6-1. The Rangers managed only six hits, while the Hawks had 11. Cheyenne capitalized on six walks, four wild pitches and three stolen bases. Harrison Yates was the losing pitcher. David Coulthard’s RBI-single in the fourth produced Laramie’s only run.

Ruckman felt his squad took a step back Saturday.

“We didn’t have the mentality to just put ‘em away, and didn’t have the energy in the dugout that we usually have, and couldn’t get it done.”

Sunday’s match-up action pitted the Rangers against the Casper Oilers.

Laramie built a 7-1 lead through four innings behind six RBI hits. They failed to hold it. Casper scored three runs with two outs in the top of the seventh and claimed victory. The final was 9-8. The Rangers left 14 runners on base. Blake Moore led the offense with three hits and two stolen bases. Reid Baty suffered the loss on the mound.

Ruckman added, “You have to have hard focus there at the end, especially when it’s tight like that. We just relaxed for a minute, but there was a lot before that.” Ruckman referring to Casper’s rally in the seventh and missed opportunities with the runners left on.

Now Laramie has some time off. They don’t return to action until Monday, July 11 at home against Gering, NE. The doubleheader is set for 3 p.m. at Cowboy Field.