Rangers pound Oilers in state opener

By Wyoming Sports.org

ROCK SPRINGS -- Tuesday morning the Laramie Rangers worked on a special drill to hit line drives.

On Wednesday afternoon, they blasted four homes and five doubles in routing the Casper Oilers 17-2 in seven innings in the first round of the Wyoming State American Legion Baseball Tournament.

The Rangers, 27-14, face Cheyenne-Cody Thursday at 7 p.m. Casper, 24-36, takes on the loser of that game at noon.

Because of the smallish park in Rock Springs, Laramie manager Sean McKinney was a little concerned that his team might swing for the fences. With that said, he had each player try to level their swing by hitting line drives up the middle in an attempt to knock over three Gatorade containers stacked on a chair on the pitching mound.

“It goes back to the approach and the mindset,” said McKinney on the post-game radio show on KOWB. “We had a good mind-set in the district tournament and we tried to keep that going this week. We tried to keep the guys fresh. That played as big part of it. As you get later in the year, the more fresh your guys are, the better they are going to perform.”

It apparently worked, as the Rangers pounded out 23 hits.

“I think we did a good job of staying ahead pf the pitcher. He tried to come in and we did a good job of getting the barrel to the ball,” McKinney said. “When you score runs early, like we talked about, it let Coleton (Wilson) settle in a bit (on the mound). It was a good overall performance by our offense and I am happy we got those early runs.”

Second baseman Rylan Harding got things started with a two-run shot in the top of the first inning. It was a precursor of what was to come. In the third inning, third baseman Nick Armijo and shortstop Skyler Joy both hit a pair of two-run home runs. Laramie also had four doubles in the inning to plate eight runs for a 10-0 lead.

The Oilers, the No. 2 seed from the North, was never in the game from that point on.

Laramie added single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and three more in the sixth. Nolan Carter hit the fourth of four dingers, a solo shot in the seventh.

Joy and Harding both had outstanding dates at the dish with five hits each. First baseman Jordan Rhodine was 3-for-5 with two RBI, with catcher Jon Sorenson, right fielder Tyler Mitchell, center fielder Brody Hilgenkamp and Wilson all adding two hits.

Wilson picked up the win on the mound, throwing five scoreless innings, giving up three hits. He walked three and struck out two. Youngsters Kevin Dooley and Abel Casas each pitched one inning, both allowing one run.

McKinney said that he was extremely pleased with his team’s play on Wednesday, it’s just one win and they have a long ways to go to achieve their ultimate goal of capturing the title.

“This is just a stepping stone (to the state title), so I am glad we got through it and we had a good day,” McKinney said. “The guys are dialed in, they are ready to go. We’re excited about the outcome of this game, but we have another test tomorrow night.”