CHEYENNE – The Torrington junior American Legion baseball team knew they would have their hands full last weekend in Cheyenne.
The Tiger squad, made up of predominantly 14U players, stepped up and went 2-2 at a 16U tournament.
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CHEYENNE – The Torrington junior American Legion baseball team knew they would have their hands full last weekend in Cheyenne.
The Tiger squad, made up of predominantly 14U players, stepped up and went 2-2 at a 16U tournament.
“We bit off more than we can chew,” Tiger head coach Ben Desmond said. “I knew going down there, it was a 16U tournament, playing with pretty much a 14U team expect when we bump up Ben (Firminhac) and Kirk Kay.”
Both wins came against Laramie.
On Friday, the Tigers opened the tournament with a 6-2 win. The game was tied at one until the fourth when Torrington managed to grab a 2-1 advantage.
“We were tickled to death,” Desmond said.
Nolan Long tallied a 64-pitch outing before Austin Short came in to close it out.
“He did a super job,” Desmond said of Long. “That’s the first time he’s thrown that long.”
Torrington collected seven hits for the game, the coach attributed the win to defense and team speed.
The team went back Saturday and played Gillette and Cheyenne, falling in both by the 10-run rule.
The Tigers fell to Gillette 12-0 in three innings and Cheyenne 14-4 in five.
“We threw everybody to try to save pitchers,” Desmond said.
In the Cheyenne game, the Tigers struck first in the top of the first.
Cheyenne tied the game in the home half of the first and took a 2-1 lead in the second.
On Sunday, the finished off the tournament the same way it began – with a win over Laramie.
This time it was a 14-9 victory which ended in sixth inning due to the two-hour time limit.
“We got four in the first, three in the third, two in the fourth and five in the fifth,” Desmond said. “We were about out of pitchers. We threw Kirk out there first and Ben second.”
Despite the 2-2 record, Desmond feels it was a great weekend for the experienced gained by the team.
“It was a good weekend for experience and a great weekend for playing on really nice, fancy fields,” he said. “Saturday was tough because we were playing with basically nine players.”
Now the Tigers turn their attention back to teams of their own age.
They will host Wheatland on Sunday, June 16. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
