Laramie Colts Embark on a New Season
Summer collegiate baseball makes its Laramie debut Wednesday, as the Laramie Colts host the Rough Riders at Cowboy Field.
The doubleheader is part of Rocky Mountain Baseball League (RMBL) action and starts at 5 p.m.
The Colts went 14-20 last season. They made a run in the RMBL postseason tournament with a 3-2 mark and fell to the Black Bears in the semifinal round.
Ryan Hargrove takes over as the new manager. An assistant coach at North Arkansas College in Harrison, AR, Hargrove describes himself as a blue-collar guy.
“We want to work hard. We want to play as hard as we can, leave it all on the field every single day. If we do that and we get beat, we get beat, but more often than not, give yourself a chance to win if you’re playing harder than anybody else and leaving it all out there. We want to be smart. We want to be baseball smart. We want to make the right play, the smart play and not run ourselves out of innings or games.”
As for why he took the Colts job, Hargrove said its part of the process to moving up in the coaching ranks.
“I’ve been in the collegiate game for couple years, and I know summer collegiate is usually a big thing on resumes and a stepping stone to getting a head coaching job in the collegiate level, and that’s kind of what my goal is.”
Hargrove also spent a year in North Dakota coaching at the college level. Prior to that, he was a high school baseball coach in Arkansas.
Now in the Gem City, he’s hit the ground running, as Laramie readies for the new season.
The Colts return four players from last year’s squad in Alex Bline, Stryker Davies, Tommy Gleason and Harrison Yates. Hargrove says he’s got personal knowledge of four of the players, but that’s just a fraction of the roster.
“It’s very hard (to put together a roster from afar)… You have to take the coaches’ words on it. It’s different, but also we have some returners, so that’s nice. You can get the feedback from Mr. Kleppinger (Colts owner) and other people and you know what they’ve done in the league in the past, and you kind of get an idea of what kids are like. I just think it gives us a good chance.”
Hargrove said it’s been a good surprise with the guys that are on the team. They’ve been working hard and come together well after what he called a good week of practice. He added he doesn’t have too many concerns now, except for a little lack of depth at catcher to start, but it’s about getting ready to go. Hargrove certainly wants to go after an RMBL title.
“They’ve never won it, and that’s my goal. I told the guys from day one, we want to win it. If we’re not here to win it, why be here?”
The rest of the 2018 home schedule is comprised of four home tournaments. The Western State Bank Tournament is June 9 and 10, with the Colts hosting the Gameday Saints for a twin bill Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by another doubleheader Sunday versus the Boulder Collegians also at 1 p.m.
There are three more tournaments June 16 and 17, June 30 and July 1, plus July 4, and 6-8 at Cowboy Field. The road games feature trips to Denver, Boulder, and Sterling, CO.
Tickets for individual games at $5 for adults and $3 for kids and seniors.