Rangers dominate Green River

Richard Anderson photos
Laramie manager Sean McKinney, center, talks things over with pitcher Max Schoen, left, and catcher Nick Armijo Thursday night against Green River. At bottom, Sean Gardea rounds second and heads to third. Laramie swept the Knights to move to 22-23 on the season.


By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Wednesday and Thursday were like night and day in several ways for the Laramie Rangers.

After the disappointing split against Sheridan the night before, the Rangers bounced back in a big way to sweep the Green River Knights 9-2 and 17-3 Thursday at Cowboy Field.

The Rangers stopped short in saying that they played against Green River like they probably should have in the second game against Sheridan. They didn’t have to say it … their faces and blissful manner in working on the field after the game said it all.

“We had a goal of finishing up 10-3 and now that we have lost three games, we have to win out,” Laramie catcher/third baseman Jon Sorenson said. “When we play well and work as a team, we score a lot of runs.”

Other than the early going against the Knights, the Rangers (21-22) were in total control. Green River opened the second inning with a solo home run, but Laramie bounced back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and never trailed the rest of the day.

Laramie manager Sean McKinney said that it is funny how winning makes everything better -- especially in his world.

“I think the kids are starting to understand that, too, how important winning is and losing is not OK,” McKinney said. “I think we learned that lesson (Wednesday night) and it transitioned into today.”

Green River came into the contest with a lofty record (29-14) against mostly A teams. Although Laramie dominated the Knights for much of the day, McKinney came away with nothing but respect for the team and their manager, Willie Montoya.

“I like Willie Montoya and I like his boys,” McKinney said. “I like their kids probably as much as any team that we’ve played this year. They didn’t talk trash, they didn’t say anything and they just played the game. They just tried to play hard. That reflects on Willie.”

On the day, the Rangers finished with 24 hits, to just 13 for Green River.

“We did what we were supposed to do against Green River,” McKinney said. “The Sheridan game, we just let the first two innings go and that was it. Sheridan deserved that win Wednesday night and we look forward to seeing them again when we get to state.”

As McKinney stated earlier this week, everything starts with pitching. Laramie 15-year-old Max Schoen had his third straight impressive start, as he picked up the win, scattering six hits in six innings. Schoen has now given up just two runs in his last 20 innings.

“Max Schoen did a great job again,” McKinney said. “He’s pitched two shutouts and a two-run game. For a 15-year-old, that’s pretty special. We’re going to use him a lot. He’s going to be our No. 2 guy going into this thing. He has a good approach to the game, he plays the game hard and he wants to win.”

In the second game, Jordan Rhodine picked up his first win of the season and his first victory as a Ranger.

“It’s been a while, I guess since Junior Babe,” Rhodine said with a smile “Things haven’t been working for me and I got a good chance to do it tonight. I got the sticks behind me.”

Rhodine was 0-8 this season with a 14.00 earned run average going into the game. On Thursday, he scattered seven hits and walked just one batter in five innings.

“Not that I am going to try to give up runs, but I knew I had some backup,” Rhodine said. “I think my last game might have been a little bit better, but I think these kids were better hitters. I was just trying to keep it away from them. I ended up giving up a few hits, but my defense was behind me all day, which is what I like to see.”

Sorenson, meanwhile, enjoyed the return to metal bats this week after playing three straight weekend tournaments with wood bats. Sorenson hit a pair of home runs on Thursday, a two-run shot in the sixth inning in the first game and a solo dinger in the second inning of the second game.

“It felt good to get my swing back,” Sorenson said.

While McKinney admits he enjoys the game with wood bats, the Rangers obviously like to hit with the ping sound. In the four games this week, Laramie had 50 hits, scoring 45 runs.

“Wood slows the ball down and makes it more equal and metal helps on the ground or in the hole. Those are caught with wood, but with metal, it’s a base hit,” Sorenson said.

For the day, second baseman Rylan Harding led the way offensively, going 4-for-7 with 3 RBI and scoring four times. Coleton Wilson and Sorenson both had three hits, with Sean Gardea, Skyler Joy and Rhodine all chipping in with two hits each.

The Rangers have this weekend off and will now set their sites on Cheyenne’s Post 6 Wednesday in a single nine-inning game at Cowboy Field. Post 6, the seven-time defending state champions are 3-0 against Laramie this season, outscoring the Rangers 50-17.

The Rangers, however, feel like they are due against their long-time rival.

“I feel like we’re really prepared for them,” Sorenson said. “We’ve been playing really great teams and winning close games that we weren’t winning earlier. I think we’re ready to play them. Now, if it comes down to the last inning, we can pull it out.”

The two teams haven't faced each other since May 21.

“We’re definitely a better team and I’m sure they have gotten better since then,” McKinney said. “We’re going to go right at them. We want to beat Cheyenne and we’re going to try to do that. We’ll see how they have progressed throughout the season and they will see how we have progressed through the season.”