Rangers season ends; finish third

by Wyoming Sports.org

GILLETTE -- The Laramie Rangers clawed their way to one game away from the title contest, but had nothing left in dropping a wild 30-5 decision to Cheyenne Post 6 Saturday at the Wyoming AA State Baseball Tournament.

The loss ended the Rangers season at 26-26. Laramie was 3-2 in the state tournament and finished in third place.

Cheyenne, which went into the tournament as seven-time state champions, didn't get an eighth consecutive championship, as Gillette rolled to a 12-0 victory in the title game later Saturday night. It was Gillette's first-ever state Legion title.

Laramie earned a shot to play on Saturday with two elimination victories on Friday, 15-2 over Green River and a thrilling 10-9 triumph over Torrington.

After for a couple of innings, it appeared as if they would finally get themselves in a game with Post 6 this season. That is, until the third inning.

Laramie led 4-1 after the first inning and trailed just 5-4 going into the third. Post 6, however, crushed any Ranger hopes with a huge 14-run inning and never looked back. Cheyenne closed with eight in the seventh for the rout. Post 6 finished with 34 hits in the game off of five Laramie pitchers. Cheyenne was 4-0 against Laramie this season, outscoring the Rangers 80-12.

That eruption by Post 6 also put a silence to the Laramie offense after that first inning. The Rangers had 12 hits in the game, but only six after the opening frame.

Sean Gardea, Rylan Harding and Skyler Joy all had two hits in the game for Laramie.

In the championship game, Gillette continued its late season dominance over Post 6 by scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. That was more than enough for pitcher Ryan Iliff, as he went the distance with a six-hit shutout.

Offensively, Ryan Hutchison led the Roughriders with four hits, including two home runs, a triple and a double and five RBI.

Gillette, 50-9 on the season, will now compete in the Western Regionals Aug. 15-18 in Bozeman, Mont.