Rangers Top Wheatland and Keep Streak Alive
The winning streak reached 10 for the Laramie Rangers Tuesday night thanks to a 13-7 victory over the Wheatland Lobos at Cowboy Field.
The Rangers took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never trailed after that. A six-run third inning broke the game open. Laramie nearly reached the 10-run mercy rule in the seventh, when they went up 13-4 before the Lobos scored last three runs of the game.
Assistant coach Tyler Mitchell said they’ve put a lot of work into the finer elements of the game.
“Better ball clubs in the state, they work on the little things, and I feel like we’re really improving on that, base-running, things like that. Anytime you can take a free base or get a steal or something like that, it helps us to engage more in the game. It gets our team more fired up, and we’re able to rally around things like that.”
The Rangers capitalized on eight Wheatland errors, five walks and two hit batters. There were also five wild pitchers, a passed ball, a balk and two stolen bases. Laramie won despite being out-hit in the game 12-to-9 by the Lobos.
Blake Moore led the offense with three hits and two RBI’s. Reid Baty add two hits, two walks, a stolen base and scored four times.
Laramie used four pitchers in the victory. Trevor Martin started and got the win. He went three innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Matt Smith, Michael Schutterle and Ramon Gomez also threw, but none of the four tossed more than 43 pitches. They combined for eight strikeouts and only two walks.
Mitchell said it was a game where they were able to try different things.
“We got up early and figured this could happen in state, so let’s try something new and see what guys fit in what positions. I thought it was a good win for us tonight.”
The ten straight wins has the Rangers at 19-11 on the season.
Mitchell said he feels like the team is coming together.
“They’re starting to rely on each other. They’re starting to click, you know, on and off the field… I feel like the vibe we bring to the field has greatly improved.”
The teams made a decision before the game to change what was scheduled as a doubleheader to the single, nine-inning game.
Laramie will host their annual home tournament, the wood-bat Dooley Oil Classic, Thursday through Sunday at Cowboy Field.