Rangers Win Three of Four on the Weekend
The Laramie Rangers have matched their win total from the 2019 season after a 3-1 weekend in Legion baseball.
Laramie (15-11) swept a doubleheader at Torrington on Saturday and then split a twin bill at home on Sunday against the Westco Zephyrs from Scottsbluff, NE.
On Saturday, the Rangers were without their seniors, who were out for graduation from Laramie High School. Laramie held off the Tigers, 12-9 in the opener, and 19-13 in game two. The Rangers had 33 hits in the two games, including seven extra-base hits.
The offense was led by Aidan Morris, who had four hits, two of them doubles, and drove in two runs in the opener. Jake Vigen had a four-hit game, including a double, in the second game of the twin bill, and drove in one.
“It was nice to go up there and grind out a couple of wins,” said manager Aaron Lozano. “One, without our seniors who were graduating; congratulations to them; and two, a team that had beaten us pretty badly earlier in the season. I think that just goes to show the potential this club has to grind out a win and play with a little bit of heart.”
The scores were identical in the split against Westco on Sunday afternoon at Cowboy Field. The Zephyrs took the opener, 14-4 in five innings. Laramie returned the favor, 14-4 in six innings in game two.
A seven-run second was the difference in game one for Westco. They also took advantage of four errors by Laramie, as well as, four walks and five hit batters.
Game two saw Laramie jump out 7-0 and then pull away with a 5-run sixth inning that finished the game. Caleb Eaton had three hits, including a triple, and two RBI’s. He was also the winning pitcher.
Lozano said, “What’s frustrating is I think we’re a 14-4 winning team on both of those games, but we just don’t play well in game one. That’s the challenge to these guys is to come out and do that two games in a row, and I’ve said it all year long, they’re a gritty team, even when they’re down, they’re going to come back and fight. You saw that today (Sunday) in the second game.”
Of note, Lozano pointed out that the Rangers have matched their win total from last season.
“This 15th win equals our win total for all of last year, and we did that in the month of June. That gives these guys something to build on, and to see that, hey, we can do this. We are a good ball club.”
Lozano mentioned again that doing it two games in a row is his team’s next step.
Laramie returns to action on Tuesday at home with a doubleheader against the Rock Springs Sand Puppies. It’s scheduled for 4 and 6:30 p.m. at Cowboy Field. KOWB (AM 1290) will broadcast game two on Tuesday, starting at approximately 6:15 p.m.