By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
No coach likes to lose and Laramie Rangers A American Legion manager Jeremy Francom counts himself among those who play to win.
Yet, despite a tough season opener Wednesday night at Cowboy Field, Francom is upbeat about his young Rangers’ team. Wheatland, the defending Class A state champions that is loaded with experience (six 19-year-olds), took a pair from the Rangers 22-1 and 12-2.
“As far as the effort goes, I’m not disappointed,” Francom said. “You are disappointed after a loss. If you’re not disappointed after you lose, then you don’t need to be here. It was disappointing and also encouraging because you see so many good things and so much you can work on and improve on this early of the season.”
The doubleheader was the first two of a set 40-game schedule that has Francom and the Laramie coaches excited. Because of what lies down the road this season, the young Rangers A team is already ahead of last year.
“The great thing about this year compared to last year is we know we’re playing a full 40-game schedule and we’re only two games into it,” Francom said. “Like Coach (Sean) McKinney always says, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. As long as we continue to get better every day, we’ll be OK come the end of the year.”
The Rangers A team is comprised mainly of 15- and 16-year-olds and will compete in the A level in Wyoming. The roster will be set at about 12 players for the season, giving them a chance to bond as a team without much movement up and down from the A and AA teams.
“The team is great because we don’t have one set guy who is out that will stand out above everybody," Francom said. “We’re a true team. I think when we come together as one, we’re going to have guys who can step up and do great things for us. We’re a team and a group who likes to work hard. They are willing to do the extra work to get the job done.”
Francom said the strength of the team now is its work ethic. “These kids are willing to stay after practice and put in the extra effort that it takes to get the little details ironed out. In the long run, that will make us stronger as a whole,” he said.
Like the AA team, other athletic activities in the school level have made it tough to really go as a full squad. Now with the high school seasons complete, Francom said they can really get to work as a team.
“What is going to help us too is when you have a full team show up for practice, you can do a lot more, rather than with just six guys,” Francom said. “We’re going to see those 12 kids all year long. We’re going to form a bond and we’ll do good things this year.”
It was a tough way to begin the season on Wednesday against arguably the top A team in the state that age-wise should probably play in the AA level. In the first game, Wheatland broke a 1-1 tie with seven runs in the second and eight more in the third.
Laramie had just four hits in the first game and six errors. Tim Carpenter paced the Rangers with a double and single, with Brody Hilgencamp adding a double and Barry Thomas a single. Thomas, Hilgencamp and Carpenter worked on the mound.
The second game was much more competitive, with the Lobos breaking away with three runs in the fourth, four more in the fifth and a single run in the sixth. Laramie actually out-hit Wheatland 8-7 in that second game, but committed five errors to none by Wheatland.
Tyler Mitchell led the Rangers with three singles, with Thomas adding a RBI double. Hilgencamp, Nolan Carter, Nick Armijo and Derek Campbell all had singles in the game. Carter scored both Laramie runs.
Sri Sritharan, Josh Peterson and Lance McCartney all pitched for the Rangers.
“We played a very, very good team,” Francom said. “They’ve played five or six games already and this is our first and second games. It gave us a look at where we are at and where we want to be. I definitely saw some good things and some things that we need to work on.”
Francom said the positive about Wednesday night was the mistakes his team made can be fixed.
“We’re going to do good things this year, we just need to come together as a team and get a few more innings under our belts. We’ll be all right,” Francom said.
“The first game was rough. There were first-game jitters. It’s the first time half of these guys have put on a Rangers’ uniform and you open up at home. We were a little nervous,” Francom added. “In the second game, we were able to relax a little bit and it was definitely a little closer than the score showed. It just got away from us at the end.”
Other team members include Travis Scott, Kyle Alexander and Zack Kersey.
The Rangers A team will hit the road next Wednesday with a doubleheader at Rawlins.
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WHEATLAND 22, LARAMIE A 1
(First Game)
Wheatland 178 06 -- 22 13 1
Laramie 100 00 -- 1 4 6
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WHEATLAND 12, LARAMIE A 2
(Second Game)
Wheatland 301 341 -- 12 7 0
Laramie 101 000 -- 2 8 5
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Prep falls to Cheyenne
The Laramie Rangers prep baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Cheyenne Prep on Tuesday night at Cowboy Field, 14-0 and 18-4. The twinbill was moved up from the originally scheduled July 23 date.
In the first game, the older Cheyenne team chipped away with three runs in the first and third innings and four runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings. Laramie had just one hit in the game, a leadoff single by Tyler Loose. Dylan Watson took the loss on the mound.
In the second game, Cheyenne broke open a relatively close game (9-4) with nine runs in the fifth inning. The Rangers had seven hits in that game, led by Loose's single and double and one RBI and two hits and a RBI by Abel Casas. Also for Laramie, Taylor Boggess had a single, Casey Stangle had a single and RBI, as did Alex Jordan.
Sam Feldman took the loss on the mound for Laramie, which fell to 3-6 on the season.
The Rangers Prep team returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Rocky Mountain Titans in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
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(First Game)
CHEYENNE 14, LARAMIE PREP 0
Cheyenne 303 44 -- 14 9 0
Laramie 000 00 -- 0 1 4
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Laramie 000 00 -- 0 1 4
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(Second Game)
CHEYENNE 18, LARAMIE PREP 4
Cheyenne 522 09 -- 18 17 0
Laramie 211 00 -- 4 7 4
Laramie 211 00 -- 4 7 4
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