Rangers Prep splits in tourney

By Wyoming Sports.org

FORT COLLINS -- The Laramie Rangers Prep American Legion baseball team had an up and down first day of the Nothern Colorado Rookie League Tournament, winning its first game over the Longmont Vipers 6-1, before losing to the FC Hawks 5-2.

Laramie returns to action Sunday in the double-elimination tournament when it faces the Rocky Mountain Titans at 9:30 a.m.

Laramie manager VerDon Hoopes was especially pleased with his young team’s play against Longmont.

“It was one of the best games that we have played all year,” Hoopes said. “Alex (Jordan) pitched fantastic, giving up two hits in seven innings. It was just what we needed him to do. We made great defensively plays behind him everywhere, but particularly Taylor Boggess in center field. He made a couple of really nice catches.”

Abel Casas led Laramie with a pair of doubles, with Dylan Watson, Tyler Warren, Sam Feldman, Brady Olson and Jordan all contributing RBI hits. Tyler Loose also had a single for Laramie.

In the second game, Laramie committed six errors and fell to the Hawks, a team it had played well against earlier in the season.

“We just couldn’t get it going,” Hoopes said. “We got good enough pitching from Sam (Feldman) and Dylan (Watson), but we made too many errors and we struggled to hit the ball. We just couldn’t get it going for some reason. I don’t know if we overlooked them. We just weren’t sharp.”

Kevin Dooley had a pair of hits for Laramie, as did Warren. Loose had the lone RBI.

The Titans are the top seed of the tournament. If Laramie wins that game, it will have to beat the Hawks twice.