Richard Anderson photos
At top, Laramie third baseman Nick Armijo tags out a Sand Creek player in a steal attempt on Saturday. At left, Brody Hilgenkamp, 3, signals manager and third base coach Sean McKinney, with first base coach Kyle Deck looking on.
by Bobby Abplanalp
Wyoming Sports.org
After scoring just three runs in two previous close wins at the Dooley Oil Classic, the Laramie Rangers had plenty to spare Saturday night against Sand Creek, Colo., at Cowboy Field
The Rangers AA American Legion squad trailed for the first time in the tournament, 1-0 to the Scorpions after the top of the first inning. However, Sand Creek's lead would be short lived as the Rangers would send 18 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning to score 12 runs and Laramie pulled away for a dominating 25-2 win that was called in the fifth inning due to a mercy rule.
“Sand Creek just didn’t have it tonight, but they’re a good ball club,” Rangers manager Sean McKinney said. “They win ball games and they just didn’t have it tonight.”
The Rangers got five hits that accounted for six RBIs in the first inning, the rest of the scoring came off of RBI-walks by Sand Creek pitcher’s Brad Perez and Matt Ninemire.
The first two wins of the tournament for Laramie were pitchers duels, but Saturday was certainly not, as the bats were flying for the Rangers, with Sand Creek pitchers, Perez, Ninemire and Sean Anderson having no answers. Laramie catcher and center fielder Jon Sorenson was 2-for-2 in the first inning and 3-for-5 overall with six RBIs, highlighted by a three-run home run over the left field wall in the fourth inning.
“I think all the hard work throughout the season comes back and shows on the field like it did tonight,” Sorenson said. “We’re on our rise up, and we’re peaking. “We don’t want to peak down, but we’re getting to the summit I think.”
“Sorenson has been pulling off a little bit, so we’re trying to get him to stay on pitches a little more and he finally did a good job of that,” McKinney added. “For him to come out and have success today, that’s going to help him mentally.”
Laramie finished with 13 hits in the game and also took advantage of 13 Sand Creek walks, five errors and three hit batsmen.
Jordan Rhodine got the win for the Rangers on the mound, with four strikeouts, while allowing just three hits through four innings. He also hit 2-for-2 with a double and a single for three RBIs.
“It’s good to win the close ball games 1-0 and 2-1, but it’s also great to know that you can completely get a good team like that,” Rhodine said. “We’re classy, but we’re not going to let up and let them (Sand Creek) get back into it.”
“I’m proud of the guys for getting up by 12 runs and then getting up by another 12 runs and not letting down,” McKinney added.
Reliever Tyler Mitchell would close things out in the fifth.
Laramie, 17-7, will face the winner of Colorado Springs and Fort Morgan Colo., Sunday for the championship at 7 p.m. at Cowboy Field.
“This late in the tournament, it’s going to come down to pitching. Pitching is the back-bone of the game,” Rhodine said. “We have a strong pitching staff for getting deep into tournaments, so that should help us out tomorrow.”
McKinney said winning the Dooley Oil Classic would definitely put his team in the right direction.
“Our ultimate goal is to win a state title,” he said. “Winning the (tournament) championship would give us a taste of what it’s like to win a championship. This can get us to our ultimate goal.”
Colorado Springs and Fort Morgan will face off at 9 a.m. on Sunday in the final game of pool play.
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