Rangers complete regular season
Jul. 24—The good is the Laramie American Legion baseball team held on to its No. 2 East Conference seed for the upcoming Wyoming AA State Tournament.
The bad is the Rangers had a bit of a rough road trip to end the regular season at 38-23 overall and 5-7 in the conference.
The Rangers swung through Sheridan and Gillette on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, for a pair of doubleheaders and were swept by the league foes. Laramie lost 4-0 and 10-7 (in nine innings) against Sheridan. The Rangers then lost in nearly similar fashion against Gillette, 4-0 and 11-7.
Sheridan starting pitcher Hunter Stone limited the Rangers to two singles by Billy Jenkin and Diego Medina in a complete-game effort in the first game. Stone had five strikeouts and one walk.
Brandon Chavez pitched all six innings for Laramie, giving up 10 hits and four runs (three earned) with seven strikeouts and no walks.
The Rangers bounced back for a 7-0 lead in the second game with four runs in the first inning and three more in the second. But Sheridan held Laramie in check the rest of the way and rallied with four runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game.
Garrett Dodd's two hits in four at bats were home runs for Laramie. But the deciding home run came from Sheridan's Cody Kilpatrick, who knocked a three-run walk-off for the win in extra innings.
Ryan Chamberlain pitched the first six innings for Laramie, giving up two hits, three earned runs with five strikeouts and two walks. The Rangers' bullpen struggled when Billy Jenkin walked three batters, who all later scored, and Tayton Moore took the loss in 2 1/3 innings with three hits and four earned runs with one strikeout and three walks.
On Wednesday, Gillette's pitching duo of Brody Richardson and Dalton Martin combined for a no-hitter against Laramie with Richardson doing most of the work. Richardson pitched the first 6 1/3 innings for 15 strikeouts and two walks before his pitch count hit 105. Martin finished the final two outs with one walk.
Dodd went 5 1/3 for Laramie with 101 pitches, nine hits, four runs (three earned), three strikeouts and five walks. Ben Malone also recorded the final two outs for Laramie with a walk.
The Riders jump out to a 9-0 lead in the second game with four runs in the first, two in the second and three in fourth. The Rangers answered with six runs in the fifth and a run in the top of the sixth to close the gap to two. But Gillette added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth for the final 11-7 score.
Laramie had eight hits, including a triple from Aidan Morris. Mason Branch (two innings) and Jenkin (four innings) combined for 12 hits and 11 runs (eight earned). Each had a strikeout and Branch had five walks.
Laramie, and Cowboy Field, will host the state tournament with play starting on Monday — opening ceremonies will be at 6:30 p.m. after three earlier games.
The Rangers will begin the tournament at 7 p.m. against West No. 3 Jackson.
