Richard Anderson photo
The Laramie Rangers hope to do a lot of celebrating after scoring runs this week at the Wyoming AA State American Legion baseball tournament in Gillette.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
Going into last weekend’s Western Conference Tournament, the Laramie Rangers AA team had played as well as it had for much of the season.
Laramie didn’t fare as well as it had hoped, placing second with a 2-2 mark. If there is a time to get hot, it needs to be now as the Rangers look to finish strong at the Wyoming AA State Tournament in Gillette.
“I think these last three or four weeks, we’ve made a lot of good progress with our team,” Laramie manager Sean McKinney said. “I think we’re continuing to get better. We won the Scottsbluff tournament and won a few games here and there. We wanted the Number 1 seed in conference, but we didn’t get it. We’ll take the number 2 seed.”
The Rangers (23-24) hit well enough in Rock Springs last weekend, scoring 65 runs in four games. It might take that type of effort at state, which begins Wednesday and will run through Sunday if needed.
“I think, especially in a game like baseball, the team that gets the hottest at the very end will win the tournament,” McKinney said. “You look at Fresno State, they didn’t have very good pitching all year and all of the sudden they come out with guns blazing and win the College World Series. We all have good players and each team has one or two guys who can really throw it and the rest are up in the air. The hitters, when they get hot and can start scoring runs, that’s when good things can happen.”
Laramie, the No. 2 seed form the West, faces Torrington, the No. 3 seed from the East, at noon. Longtime conference rivals, the Rangers and Tigers are in different league’s this season. This will only be the second time the two teams have faced each other this season, the first coming at the Firecracker Tournament in Laramie, an 8-0 Rangers win.
“We knew it was going to be a battle between them and Sheridan for that No. 3 spot. Torrington came out top," McKinney said. “They have three good pitchers in (Austen) Wisroth, (Brock) Murphy and (Beau) Youtz. We’ll face Wisroth, I’m sure. We’ll throw Coley (Wilson), so it will be a battle of No. 1s.”
The Rangers played in the smallish Rock Springs ballpark last weekend where home runs were plentiful. Roughrider Stadium is much larger, like Cowboy Field. McKinney said it will be more about execution, moving runners on the ground.
“We’re going to have to have a great effort by Coley and our defense behind him,” he said. “Torrington is a different team with Wisroth on the mound, just like I think we’re a different team with Coley on the mound. It will be fun. I think that kind of competition and that kind of expectation is what it is all about.”
A win over the Tigers and the Rangers will face the winner of the Gillette-Evanston contest Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Gillette won the East and is 46-9 on the season.
That’s fine with McKinney, as he said you have to beat everybody some time to win the tournament.
“It what the kids really look forward to, as do the coaches,” McKinney said. “This is the best time of the year for us, the weather is beautiful. We’re just excited to see what we can do at the state tournament.”
If Laramie loses, it will face the Gillette-Evanston loser Thursday at 12:30 p.m.
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