Laramie Falls Short Against Evanston at State Tournament

Mistakes in the field and on the base paths led the Laramie Rangers losing to Evanston, 3-2, in the first round at the state tournament on Wednesday.

Laramie (27-25) scored first but Evanston tied it and took the lead the next inning. The Rangers had the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh but scored only one run.

Rangers’ manager Aaron Lozano said they made too many mistakes.

“We weren’t sharp in the field. We missed signs and had way too many base-running errors.”

Laramie had two runners caught stealing and a third was picked off. They also had a runner thrown out at the plate.

An RBI-single by Garrett Dodd scored Riley Hogsett in the second and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Evanston came right back. A two-out RBI-double tied it at 1-1 after two innings. The Outlaws took the lead for good in the third. After a double and a walk, an RBI-single and pick-off throwing error scored two runs for a 3-1 advantage.

Laramie had the bases loaded in the sixth but failed to score. A strikeout and a double play ended the threat. The last two outs came on a fly ball to leftfield and with a runner tagging from third, he was thrown out at the plate.

The Rangers got one back on an RBI-single by Calvin Webb in the seventh. They had the bases loaded with one out but a strikeout and a ground out finished the game.

Laramie had six hits but left 10 runners on base. They also committed four errors defensively.

“I thought we got solid pitching but we didn’t do much else right. All of those mistakes will cost you in a tight game, particularly at this time of the year (at the state tournament),” said Lozano.

The Rangers try to bounce back but they face an elimination game on Thursday at 10 a.m. against the Casper Oilers. Laramie went 3-2 versus Casper during the regular season. The two teams haven’t played since July 4 in Cheyenne at the Post 6 Firecracker Tournament. That was a 9-5 Rangers victory.

KOWB (AM 1290) will have live coverage of the Laramie-Casper game starting at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday. David Settle will call the action. You can also listen online or through the KOWB app.

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