Laramie Prep splits with Rawlins

By Wyoming Sports.org

RAWLINS -- The Laramie Rangers Prep American Legion baseball team and Rawlins exchanged a pair of 10-run innings on Thursday night.

Rawlins got the best of Laramie in the first game 12-2 before the Rangers came back with a 16-6 victory in the nightcap.

With the split, the Rangers Prep squad is now 13-15 on the season.

“We are slowly learning what it takes to compete each time out at this level,” Laramie manager VerDon Hoopes said. “We were down and hurting after game one and responded well with no where to go but up. I'm proud of them for the way they came back in the second game. We have a bunch that hate to lose and want to be their best. Lately, we are very good or very bad. We need to continue to learn how to stay solid throughout innings, games and doubleheaders.”

Things were looking pretty good behind the pitching of Hunter Wick in the first game, with the score tied at 2-2 after four innings. Rawlins, however, took advantage of some Laramie mistakes and scored 10 times against three Laramie pitchers in the bottom of the fifth for the 10-run rule win.

Sam Feldman and Taylor Boggess also pitched for Laramie in the fifth inning.

“We came out flat with the exception of Hunter pitching,” Hoopes said. “He gave up one hit through four, then two hits to lead off the fifth. Sam and Taylor weren't sharp and we were not sharp behind them.

“We were solid through four and then it just got away, similar to our two previous games, where we let it get away in one inning. We hit the ball hard but at people. To their credit, Rawlins made the plays and took advantage of us with their big inning. It was a game we should have won by adding on each inning. When we didn't, they took advantage of us by letting them hang around.”

Abel Casas, Alex Jordan and Brady Olson had the three singles for the Laramie offense.
The Rangers made sure that didn’t happen in the second game by turning the tables on Rawlins with 10 runs in the first inning. Laramie also closed strong with two runs in the third, three in the fourth and one more in the fifth.

Hoopes said they had a different attitude in the second game.

“After hitting what felt like was rock bottom, we responded with six hits and 10 runs in the first,” he said. “We were sharp all through the game. Abel pitched well against a good-hitting Rawlins team. We made plays behind him and he had a couple of nice pickoff moves where we executed the rundown well. Dylan Watson made solid plays at third before closing it out in the fifth.”

Casas scattered nine hits, walking three and striking out five for the victory. Watson pitched a scoreless fifth.

Watson had a pair of doubles for Laramie and two RBI, with Boggess adding a single and triple and three RBI. Tyler Loose also had a double and three RBI, Wick a triple and two RBI, Olson a single and one run knocked in, Feldman a single and Jordan one RBI.

Laramie had no errors in the game after five miscues in the opener.

The Rangers Prepsters return to action on Tuesday with a doubleheader against the Wheatland B team, beginning at 2 p.m. at Cowboy Field.