After struggling through June which ended on an 11-game losing streak, the Douglas Cats Legion “A” baseball team needed a spark going into July – the final three weeks of the season. They got a boost that was more like fireworks and ended the drought by taking down Gillette 7-6 to start the new month with new momentum.
The Converse County boys have returned to a much familiar look and won four of their first five games to start July. The boost carried the team into its annual Bolln Wood Bat Tournament where another win was notched against a competitive group of foes July 4-6 at Nida Field.
Douglas 11
Laramie 3
Just one day after sweeping Buffalo with forfeits and beating Gillette once in a double header, Douglas returned to Nida Field for the final home weekend of the season against a familiar Laramie Rangers ball club in the opening round of the annual Bolln Wood Bat Tournament. The momentum continued as the Cats scattered 11 hits and scored in every inning they batted to win for the fourth time in the last five outings with a convincing 11-3 decision.
Laramie did manage to lead before it slipped away. The group scored twice in the first inning with two outs to go up 2-0.
Douglas only needed one chance to erase that advantage and did so 15 minutes later thanks to lead-off singles courtesy of Caeden Robertson and Kash Lenzen. The squad made it three consecutive base hits when Bentley Carter ripped a shot to center field to score Robertson and cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
Noah Ohnstad grounded out but it was valuable as he scored Lenzen to make it a new game at 2-2 with one out. The Rangers got the final two outs to escape any more damage.
With Bodey Kejr pitching and the defense playing well, Laramie was locked down the rest of the way. The second inning ended quickly for the Rangers when Lenzen – at catcher – fired a dart to second baseman Colter Lewis for a pick off.
A double play didn’t stop the Cats from grabbing their first lead in the bottom half of the inning. Witten Meeks reached base on a two-out error and immediately scored when Robertson crushed a double to center to make it a 3-2 contest.
Douglas could have blown things open in the third inning where it littered the field with five base hits but only managed to score two of them. Carter had a lead-off single and later scored thanks to an RBI single via Malachy Lehnen, and Ohnstad singled as well and made his way home on a base hit courtesy of Jayson Freeburg to increase the lead to 5-2.
Laramie only had two base runners over the next three innings as Kejr kept the foes in check. Meanwhile, Douglas used a big fourth inning to put the game out of reach.
Robertson got it started by reaching base for the third thanks to an error this time around and made his way to third base on the miscue. He easily scored when Carter laced a single to left field to increase the advantage to 6-2.
Ohnstad was patient and drew a walk which was followed by Carter scoring on Laramie’s third error. Lew reached base on a bunt which set up a two-run single to center by Freeburg to push the advantage to 9-2.
Freeburg and Kejr later scored on another Ranger error to give the team commanding 11-2 lead to preserve the win.
On the hill, Kejr struck out four and only walked one.
Green River 5 Douglas 3
The Cats didn’t have the same offensive luck in the second game where they were held to just three hits. However, they did plenty with their chances to put a scare into the Knights before falling short 5-3.
Lewis had a great game on mound where he pitched five frames, had four shut out innings and only allowed one run. His effort also allowed the team to take the first lead which held for most of the contest.
After going down in order in the first stanza, Douglas made some noise in the second which started with a single via Lewis and Kejr drawing a walk. Lehnen smacked a grounder that was misplayed and allowed Lewis to score to make it 1-0.
Two outs later Kejr made his way home on balk to give the team a 2-0 edge that held until the fifth inning. That’s when Green River delivered three straight base hits and an error to score three times and take a slim 3-2 advantage.
Douglas didn’t go down without a fight and rallied in the fifth which started with back-to-back walks to Williams and Robertson. Carter delivered under pressure once again and smacked an RBI single to left which scored Williams and made it a new game at 3-3.
The Cats got two runners on base in the sixth inning but they were stranded. That left the door open for the Knights to go up and they did thanks to one hit, an error and a walk in their final at bat to score twice and take a 5-3 lead.
Douglas was unable to answer and went down in order to end the seventh.
Powell 12
Douglas 3
With a chance to reach the championship, both teams made big plays and even finished with seven hits each. However, Douglas had five errors and that was enough for Powell to lead early and often to take a 12-3 decision to reach the finals against Wheatland.
After falling behind 2-0 immediately, the Cats did made it close early. Consecutive base hits by Carter and Ohnstad set up an RBI single via Lewis which made it 2-1 after one inning.
It was a pair of fielding mistakes and a double that allowed Powell to storm ahead 6-2 after two innings. Douglas only managed two base hits after that and nine straight batters were retired as the deficit grew and the team could not pull any closer.
Ohnstad led the hitting with two of the team’s five hits and knocked in two of the runs. Robertson, Freeburg and Ohnstad took care of the pitching duties and combined to strikeout at batters and allowed just five earned runs.
Season wraps up
The final week of the regular season has arrived and it will come with more tough challenges. The Cats travel July 9 to Powell for an 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. double header, and get back on the road July 12 for the finale at Sheridan with games at 1 and 3 p.m.
The East Conference playoffs are set for July 17-18. If Douglas can grab one of the top spots, it could advance to State July 23-28 back in Sheridan.