Rangers AA split with Rock Springs

By Wyoming Sports.org

ROCK SPRINGS -- The Laramie Rangers AA American Legion AA baseball team returned to action on Monday after an eight-day absence and looked rested, rolling past Rock Springs in the first game of a doubleheader.

Not so much in the second game.

The Rangers easily won the opener, 15-5 in five innings, before falling in a second-game shootout, 17-16. With the split, Laramie is 12-4 on the season.

In the first game, it was all Laramie, as the Rangers used a six-run third inning to break the game open, adding seven more runs in the final two frames.

Jordan Rhodine led the way with three hits and six RBI, including a two-run home run in the fourth inning and a three-run double in the fifth. Coleton Wilson added a pair of hits and two RBI, while Nick Armijo finished with two runs batted in.

Wilson, Armijo, Skyler Joy and Brody Hilgenkamp all pitched for the Rangers.

It appeared the Rangers would feed off of that momentum, but couldn’t hang on to any advantage they had in that second game. Laramie had an 8-1 lead going into the bottom of the third, only to see the Mustangs strike for five in the same inning. Laramie again went up 14-6 before Rock Springs exploded with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 15-14 advantage.

The Rangers regained the lead with two runs in the seventh, but again couldn’t hold on. An error led to a two-run game-winning hit for the Mustangs in the bottom of the seventh.

Laramie pounded out 14 hits in the game, but also gave up 14 hits. Hilgenkamp led the way with three hits, with Rylan Harding, Armijo and Tim Deibert adding two hits each.

The Rangers will return to action on Thursday when they face Watertown, S.D., at noon to begin the four-day Rich Hinseth Agency Tournament in Rapid City, S.D.