Rangers blast Lobos; fall to Powell

By Wyoming Sports.org

ROCK SPRINGS -- It was a hit or miss day for the Laramie Rangers Friday at the Wyoming State American legion baseball Tournament.

Unfortunately for Laramie, a loss to Powell means the Rangers will miss out on further postseason play.

Laramie opened the day in consolation play and thumped Wheatland 17-7 in seven innings, blasting five home runs, including four in the third inning.

The Rangers, however, saw their season come to a close a few hours later as Scotty Jameson stymied the Laramie bats as the Pioneers tolled to a 15-5 victory.

Powell, 48-14 on the season, will face Gillette Saturday at 1 p.m. for the chance to play for the state title against Cheyenne, which beat the Roughriders 9-6 Saturday night.

The win also guarantees Powell at least a trip to the A Regional tournament in Ogden, Utah, as the top A team in the state. The Pioneers could still qualify for the AA regional tournament if they win the state tourney.

Laramie finished the season at 28-16.

“Unfortunately, it only works out good for one team," Laramie manager Sean McKinney said on the KOWB post-game show. “The end comes the same for every team except one. It’s tough to end like that, but you have to take your hat off to the kids, they played hard and had a great year. I appreciate their work ethic and their dedication that they put in."

The Rangers just could not get going early against Jameson, who pitched eight innings and scattered 10 hits, giving up just two runs. He struck out eight.

“Jameson did a good job,” McKinney said. “He has a good fastball and he worked it in and out with good velocity behind it. He kept us off balance. He disrupted our timing, we never had a chance to get into rhythm.“

Powell had the early momentum, taking a 5-0 lead with a four-run third inning, as the Pioneers got to starting pitcher Coley Wilson for five hits in the inning. Gianluca Giarrzzo and Tyler Dahlgren had RBI singles in the inning and Colter Bostic added a two-run double for Powell.

Laramie cut the lead to 5-2 in the fifth on a two-run double by second baseman Rylan Harding, but Powell answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Laramie came back with three runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 8-4, highlighted by a two-run double by shortstop Skyler Joy. Once again, the Pioneers had the answer, scoring four runs themselves in the bottom of the inning to basically ice the win. Andrew Young hit a solo home run off of Jordan Rhodine and Grant Geiser blasted a two-run shot.

Joy capped an outstanding day and tournament with four hits, followed by Harding with three hits and Nick Armijo and Tyler Mitchell with two hits each.

Against Wheatland, it was all Laramie early, as the Rangers scored four runs off of four hits in the first inning, then went yard with a two-run home run by catcher Jon Sorenson in the second inning. In the third, Armijo, Mitchell and Sorenson all hit solo home runs and Harding added a two-run blast to put the Rangers up 10-0.

The Rangers finished with 22 hits in the game, led by Joy and Sorenson with four hits each, with Wilson, Rhodine and Brody Hilgenkamp with three hits each.

Nolan Carter got the win on the mound, giving up three hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings. Harding pitched the final 1 1/3 innings.

Despite the loss, McKinney is looking forward to the future. Wilson, Rhodine, Armijo and Joy used up their eligibility this season.

“We have some great kids coming back,” he said. “The kids who played on this team have a lot of innings in and they are all coming back. We have some great young kids coming back to be a part of the program.”