Rangers still have one goal in mind at state

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The Laramie Rangers didn’t get a break with their side of the bracket of the Wyoming State American Legion Baseball Tournament that features Casper and Cheyenne. Then again, the other side of the bracket features defending AA champion Gillette, defending A champion Wheatland and current North District Champion Powell.

The Rangers will just have to settle for the old sports cliché, “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”

Laramie, 26-14 and the third seed from the South District, opens the state tournament Wednesday in Rock Springs at 12:30 p.m. against Casper.

“It’s one of those things that the bracket is set up how it is set up and we have no control over that,” Laramie manager Sean McKinney said. “We’ve talked all year about playing against the ball and not worrying about what the other team is doing. We’ll worry about what we can control and our own game, and Coach (Kyle) Deck and I can worry about the other team and how they are going to play us.”

Casper, 25-36 on the season, is the No. 2 seed from the North, as the Oilers fell to Powell 6-5 in the North District title game. Laramie faced the Oilers twice early in the season and won both games, 13-9 and 12-2.

“They are going to be tough," McKinney said. “What we saw earlier this summer wasn’t their full team because of graduation, so they are going to have some more guys.”

From the Rangers' standpoint, McKinney said they won’t change anything, starting No,. 1 pitcher Coley Wilson against the Oilers.

“He’s very comfortable, he has done a great job at the beginning of tournaments,” McKinney said of Wilson.

Laramie finished 3-1 last weekend in the district tournament, beating Riverton twice by a combined 36-12 score and Green River, but fell to Cheyenne 16-5 in a game that was 6-5 heading into the sixth inning.

”I think the kids are ready,” McKinney said. “The kids had a good week of practice last week and played well in the district tournament. Today’s practice was good; it was light and kind of fun for the guys, to keep them loose and motivated for the weekend.

“We get to spend another week at the state tournament. There are good teams there. It is just a fun atmosphere. I love being able to go to the state tournament. I’m happy that we are there.”
With the smallish Miner field in Rock Springs susceptible to giving up home runs, McKinney said they need to play situational baseball.

“(Tuesday) we tried working on keeping our swings level and forget about the home run because we all know that the home runs come when you are not trying,” McKinney said.

Defense will also be important in the state tournament, McKinney said.

“We’re going to try to position our guys in the right spot,” he said. “ It’s all about the defensive aspect of it and how we expect our plays. We did a great job of playing defense last weekend. We had one error in four games, so that is pretty good at this level.”

With the tournament AA and A combined this season, the highest placing A team, which includes, Laramie, will get a chance to compete at the A regional as well. Cheyenne, Casper and Gillette are the three actual lone AA teams.”

McKinney, however, said their goal is to still win the AA title.

“The guys are ready. I’m happy for them, I’m proud of them and we’re excited to get going,” he said. “We’re going to try to win the whole shooting match and we’re going to do everything we can to get to that championship game and see where it goes from there.”