Rangers A get forfeit wins over Rawlins

Richard Anderson photo

Laramie's Ryan Spiker, left, and the Rawlins first baseman await the pitch Thursday in an American Legion A baseball game at Cowboy Field.

By Bobby Abplanalp

Wyoming Sports.org

They played … just to play.

Due to a shortage of players, the Rawlins Generals had to forfeit a pair of games against the Laramie Rangers A team, as the Generals were accommodated by a couple of older players to fill out their roster. Laramie outscored Rawlins 5-2 in the first game Thursday at Cowboy Field, with the second game called in the fourth inning because of rain and the Generals up 6-1.

With the wins, Laramie is now 5-3 on the season.

Ranger’s pitcher Dylan Watson picked up the first-game win on the mound, only allowing two runs off of four hits through seven innings.

Rawlins led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, when Laramie reeled off four straight runs over two innings for the final margin. Three of the four runs were off of stolen bases caused by Generals pitcher Dustin Haag’s wild pitches.

“I think they did okay,” Rangers A coach Brandon Ruckman said. “Rawlins came out and they put a run on the board and then we played small ball and got it done. We put a couple runs up and Dylan (Watson) threw strikes, he came out and did what we wanted him to do and the defense did their work.”

The first pitch of game two was thrown by Laramie pitcher Ryan Spiker at 7:20 p.m. Like the Rangers other games this year, they would come out slow in the second game, while Rawlins started out hot jumping out to a 6-1 lead before the game was called in the fourth due to rain.

The Rangers A squad will be in action again on Saturday for a doubleheader against Gering Post 36, beginning at 2 p.m., in Gering, Neb.

“The kids are excited,” Ruckman said. “They’ve done well so far this season, so I think they have the confidence to go in there (Gering) and put up a couple victories. I told them they need to come out for two games and not just one; every game we have this year is a doubleheader, so they need to come out and win the first one and get excited, get confident, and get on top of the second game right off the bat.”
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Rangers 5, Generals 2

Rawlins A 100 010 0 -- 2 5 0
Rangers A 000 122 x -- 5 7 1
Laramie hitting -- Tyler Loose (1b), Kevin Dooley (1b,1b), Lance McCartney (1b), Abel Casas (RBI), Dylan Watson (1b), Alex Jordan (1b). Laramie pitching -- Dylan Watson (W, 7in., 5h, 2r, 2er, 6bb, 4k).
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Generals 6, Rangers 1 (4)

Rawlins A 105 0 -- 6 3 0
Rangers A 001 0 -- 1 5 4
Laramie hitting -- Kevin Dooley (1b), Lance McCartney (1b), Kyle Alexander (1b, RBI), Travis Scott (1b), Ryan Spiker (1b). Laramie pitching -- Ryan Spiker (2in., 2h, 5r, 4er, 5bb, 2k), Tyler Loose (1 1/3in., 1h, 1r, 1er, 3bb, 1k).