CHEYENNE – Laramie survived its mistakes for three innings.
Cheyenne American Legion Post 6 made the Rangers pay for them during the fourth.
The Sixers broke open a close ballgame by scoring 10 runs on four hits during that frame in a 13-0 victory at the Wyoming Class AA state baseball tournament at Powers Field.
“We knew we had to keep it clean defensively,” Rangers manager Brandon Ruckman said. “We made some mistakes early, but were also making some good plays in between to keep it close.
“Then, we had some routine plays we couldn’t make and it fell apart. We just have to come back (today) and play a cleaner game.”
Cheyenne (60-17) scored nine of its 10 fourth-inning runs with two outs. It drew four walks and took advantage of two Laramie errors.
The Rangers committed two errors in the first three scoreless innings.
Post 6 first baseman Max Pedroza led off the fourth by doubling down the left field line. Ryan Andren and Finley Hastings followed by reaching on errors to load the bases.
Senior right fielder Mat Semler gave the Sixers a 1-0 lead when he hit a sacrifice fly to left field.
Cheyenne had two outs when senior center fielder Braxton Inniss rifled a two-run double to left field for a 3-0 advantage. Junior second baseman Nico Vite followed with a two-run single up the middle for a 5-0 lead.
Andren drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-0 before Hastings belted a grand slam down the left field line for a 10-0 lead.
“We were pressing a little bit, and we just needed to relax up at the plate,” said Hastings, who spent this past season at Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado. “We had people getting frustrated after at-bats when they didn’t need to. Yeah, it’s the state tournament, but it’s also just another baseball game.”
Cheyenne manager Ty Lain wasn’t happy about his team’s approach early, but said Rangers right-hander Albert Steiner deserves a lot of credit for keeping his team off balance through the first three frames.
“(Steiner) just threw the ball very well,” Lain said. “He is a low- to mid-80s arm and kept us off balance with his changeup. I’m going to give more credit to him and less blame to our hitters.
“(Steiner) worked ahead and pitched well. We were able to take advantage of some defensive mistakes and break it open with some big hits.”
Sixers starter Cody Brooks allowed only two hits while striking out five hitters in 4⅓ innings.
The Rangers didn’t get their first hit until Blake Moore dropped a single into shallow center field to lead off the home half of the fourth.
“(Brooks) was unbelievable,” Lain said. “That is the best I have seen him throw in a while. He was dialed in, working ahead, not walking anyone and throwing his first pitches for strikes.
“We kept him under the pitch limit so we could bring him back to pitch if we need him again in this tournament.”
Cheyenne added three runs in the fifth for the final margin.
Hastings finished with five RBIs, while Vite had three. Inniss drove home two runs for Post 6, which faces Gillette (56-25) at 6 p.m. today.
Laramie will try to keep its season alive when it faces Evanston (23-17) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. today.
CHEYENNE 13, LARAMIE 0
Cheyenne…… 000 (10) 3 – 13 5 1
Laramie…....... 000 0 0 – 0 2 4
Cheyenne pitching: Brooks, Onisto (5) and Hastings. Laramie pitching: Steiner, Pickard (5), Morehouse (5) and Eaton.
W: Brooks (11-2). L: Steiner (4-3).
2B: Cheyenne 2 (Pedroza, Inniss). HR: Cheyenne 1 (Hastings).
Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on Twitter at @jjohnke.
Let the news come to you
Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.
Explore newsletters
