Rangers A opens state against Wheatland B

Richard Anderson photo
Laramie A manager Brandon Ruckman, center, congratulates pitcher Lance McCartney last weekend in a game at the Kleppinger Klassic.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Laramie Rangers A American Legion baseball team is playing its best baseball of the season … just in time for the State B Tournament in Sheridan.

The Rangers, 12-18 on the season, open the tournament on Thursday at 3 p.m. against the Wheatland B squad.

Rangers A manager Brandon Ruckman likes the way his team is playing, especially coming off of last weekend’s 2-2 showing at their own Kleppinger Klassic at Cowboy Field.

“We had a good tournament here at the Klep Klassic. We’re looking to take what we did at the Klep Klassic and apply it to this tournament,” Ruckman said. “We have a middle seed, which is no surprise there. I feel like we are a middle seed.”

The young Rangers, Ruckman said, are beginning to gel as a squad, learning from their mistakes.

“If we keep doing that, we should do well,” he said.

Ruckman especially likes his team’s execution on offense.

“They’re moving guys over, bunting in good situations. We have executed a lot of hit and runs lately. If we can keep that up, we’ll do fine,” Ruckman said.

Defensively, if they make two or less errors a game, the Rangers are in most games, Ruckman said.

“If we can do that, and if our pitchers can throw strikes and do what we ask them, pitching and defense will be the key to our victories,” he said.

Ruckman said as of Wednesday morning that he wasn’t sure about his pitching rotation, but he thought that he would either go with Alex Jordan, Dylan Watson or Kevin Dooley against Wheatland.

“One of our weak points when we started the season was pitching,” Ruckman said. “Now, I think it is one of our strengths. We have a lot of guys who throw and throw strikes.”

If they get past the Lobos, he would then turn to either Abel Casas or Lance McCartney on the mound.

The Rangers haven’t faced the Wheatland B team this year, but did face the Lobos varsity squad a couple of times. While he is anxious for another shot at the Cheyenne Hawks, Ruckman said they can’t look past the Lobos.

“We have to play our best and we have to make it to Cheyenne,” Ruckman said. “We can’t underestimate Wheatland. We have to bring our A game. Hopefully, we’ll swing the sticks like we did this weekend. Last weekend was the best that we played all year. If we can do that, we should surprise some teams.”

Cheyenne received a first-round bye and will face the winner of the Laramie-Wheatland game Friday at 3 p.m.

The other first-round games on Thursday will pit the Gillette Rustlers against the Cody B team at noon and the Casper Drillers against the Sheridan Jets at 7:30 p.m.