Rangers' dominate in doubleheader against visiting Travelers

May 6—The Laramie Rangers American Legion baseball team hosted their first games against the Colorado Travelers on Sunday inside Cowboy field.

The Rangers dominated Game 1 winning 11-1 and totaled 10 more hits than the Travelers helping ease the burden of four defensive errors. Laramie's six-run fifth inning ended the second game with a 12-2 win.

"(Today) I wanted to see the offense click and see more line drives," coach Aaron Lozano said. "(And) being aggressive on the base paths. We've been working a lot on that."

In Game 1, Laramie exploded for nine runs over the first three innings. Ben Malone crushed a ball to the center field fence and zipped around the bases for a first-inning two-run inside-the-park home run.

"(The home run) gave us a lot of juice," Malone said. "This year, we haven't gotten a lot of momentum in that first inning. That was big for the team and got us going."

Added Lozano: "Not only the swing, but the hustle around the base paths (helped set the tone)."

Colorado took advantage of a leadoff walk and scored their only run of the game in the second inning. The Travelers recorded one more hit in the game coming in the fourth inning.

An inning later, the Rangers' batted around tallying seven knocks. The big blow in the inning came as a result of a base clearing double from Will Harris scoring Malone and teammate Mason Aragon.

"(The Travelers') pitcher leaned on his fastball and that worked in our favor," Malone said. "We're a good fastball hitting team and that's how we got on him early."

Laramie added a pair of runs in the third inning, but not without adversity. Aragon short-hopped the center field fence for an RBI double, but limped into second base with an apparent injury to the lower half.

"It's to early to tell (how significant the injury could be)," Lozano said. "Hopefully he's back soon because that was one of the best hits he's had as a varsity player."

Carson Moniz entered the game as a pinch runner and batted in Aragon's spot in the lineup. After a scoreless fourth, the Rangers added two in the sixth inning to complete the 10-run win.

Three-of-four batters reached base before a sac-fly from Kaige Schriner brought home the final run. Diego Herrera led the inning off being hit by a pitch and scored after TR Richardson followed with a double.

Richardson advanced to third on a passed ball to Malone and scored during Schriner's at-bat. Three Laramie pitchers combined for the three-hitter.

Jace Moniz started on the mound spanning 1 2/3 innings, allowing a run on one hit while striking out one and walking three. Moniz was credited with the win after finishing his day at 41 pitches.

"We took him out because of pitch count," Lozano said. "We got Cheyenne on Tuesday, that's a conference game."

Lozano called on Sam Hoyt in relief who lasted 2 1/3 innings surrendering a pair of hits with three strikeouts and a walk. Malone was the final arm to see the hill, tossing a clean fifth inning including a strikeout.

Herrera, Richardson, Aragon and Harris had two hits each to pace the team. Malone, Richardson and Harris each had two RBI.

Malone's patience shined at the plate with a three of the team's four walks. The Rangers struck out five times through 26 at-bats.

"(The second and third times through the lineup) nothing really changed," Malone said. "You stick to your approach and know good things will happen. Colorado is comparable to teams we'll see.

"Even when we don't see teams that are tops in the state, we need to keep the same level of intensity."

In Game 2, the Rangers spotted the Travelers a run in the second after a pair of walks led to an RBI single. However, a four-run outburst in the bottom of the frame put Laramie back on top.

Colorado could've avoided the damage but two errors and a balk allowed three runners to reach base. The Rangers' Will Arens doubled and later scored on a passed ball to put Laramie back on top.

The Travelers scratched one back in the third after the Rangers' allowed runners to reach by error and walk. Laramie responded in the fourth adding eight runs over the next two innings.

Colorado was unable to record an out during the Rangers' six-run fifth inning. The inning saw a hit by pitch, four errors, three hits and a passed ball to finish.

Tripp Looney earned the win on the mound spanning three innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits while striking out two and walking four. Carson Moniz struck out three over two innings of relief work while allowing no hits or walks.

Laramie (3-3) travels to Powers field in Cheyenne for a doubleheader against Post 6 (13-1) at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Austin Edmonds covers Laramie High, University of Wyoming and community athletics for WyoSports. He can be reached at aedmonds@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @_austinedmonds.