the Star-Tribune staff | Posted: Friday, August 4, 2006 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - After losing to Laramie in a first-round upset on Wednesday, the Casper Oilers responded with a blowout win over Evanston in loser-out action Thursday morning at the State AA Legion Tournament.
The Oilers scored 11 runs in the first three innings to put away Evanston with a 19-3 victory.
"We took it to them and got out of there," assistant coach Kelly O' Brian said.
Dexter Bryant led the Casper offensive attack, going 3-for-3 with a home run and a triple.
Kiefer Russell started on the the mound for the Oilers and didn't allow a run in three innings of work.
Casper's road to a shot at the state championship got a bit longer with the first-round loss, but manager Orion Jones said his team has to take it one game at a time.
"Whoever's arm can go will go," he said of his pitching staff. "We have four games to go if we want to get there but we have to do whatever it takes to win each one."
Matt Elliott will get the nod on the mound for the Oilers in loser-out action at 12:30 p.m.
"(Matt) gives us a guy who can throw all three pitches," O' Brian said. "He'll keep us close and give us a shot."
The Oilers will play the loser of the Cheyenne/Sheridan matchup which concluded after the Star-Tribune's early press deadlines.
"It will be a test whichever team we face," Jones said.
n TORRINGTON 27, RIVERTON 6: Austin Wisroth went 4-for-6 with four runs scored and Dane Servantez went 3-for-6 with four runs scored to help Torrington stave off elimination and knock Riverton out of the tournament.
n LARAMIE 20, GILLETTE 6: With 40-50 mph winds gusting out to left field, Laramie's Josh Warren homered and drove in five runs and Paul Geesy added a home run of his own as Laramie beat Gillette and moved into the semifinals.
n CHEYENNE vs. SHERIDAN: This game concluded after the Star-Tribune's early press deadlines.
NORTHWEST REGIONAL
Qualifiers to play at Casper Aug. 10-14
n IDAHO: At Boise, the Boise Gems got a complete game from Mike Hobgood, who scattered five hits, and a home run from Caleb Mintz to pound the Lewis-Clark Twins 12-2 in the championship game Tuesday.
n MONTANA: At Great Falls, Cris Rogers struck out 13 batters in a complete-game five hit performance for the Billings Scarlets against the Missoula Mavericks to help his team to a 6-2 state championship win Wednesday.
n NEBRASKA: At Omaha, Pinnacle Bank's Ian Dike pitched 8 1/3 innings with seven strikeouts and three walks, while Zach Lovell hit a solo home run to lead the Lincoln-based team to a 6-3 victory Tuesday over the host Primetime Patriots.
n WASHINGTON: At Longview, Lakeside Recovery of Bellevue got a run after Trent Henderson beat out an infield single and came around to score later in the eighth inning for a 2-1 victory in the state championship Wednesday.
n OREGON, ALASKA: State tournaments in Oregon and Alaska will each conclude with championship games scheduled for Sunday.
State A
At Laramie
n CHEYENNE 8, CASPER 0: The Casper Drillers offense was nearly non-existent in the second round of the State A Legion Tournament and the defense was even worse.
The Drillers, whose defense highlighted a 4-3 win Wednesday with zero errors, committed seven miscues in an 8-0 loss to Cheyenne on Thursday afternoon.
The offense for Casper was shut out and nearly shut down managing only two hits - compared to 13 hits for Cheyenne.
"We played flat and it showed on the scoreboard," Drillers manager Pat Frost said. "We got great pitching from our guys, but our defense and bats didn't show up."
Casper will take on Laramie at 10 a.m. today in a loser-out game.
n WHEATLAND 15, WORLAND 0: In loser-out action, Wheatland got a complete-game shutout from David Castle, who struck out three and only gave up three hits to beat Worland in five innings.
n LARAMIE 11, LANDER 3: Laramie staved off elimination with a victory over Lander, getting a complete game performance from Gavin Sanchez, who scattered 11 hits over seven innings.
n JACKSON vs. CODY: This game concluded after the Star-Tribune's early press deadlines.