GREEN RIVER — The Green River Knights fell just short of advancing to the Wyoming American Legion Baseball District II State Championship when they fell to the Lovell Mustangs Sunday afternoon.

The Knights opened the tournament with a 6-1 loss to the Jackson Giants. They battled back to win their next two games, topping the Wheatland Lobos 11-5 and the Riverton Raiders 6-5. 

After facing elimination from the tournament, the Green River Knights have finished their 2026 campaign with a 20-31 overall record.

JACKSON 6, GREEN RIVER 1

The Giants landed the first punch with a run in the bottom of the first. The teams struggled through the second, third and fourth innings of scoreless baseball before the Knights broke through with a run in the fifth to tie things at 1-1. Jackson pulled ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the frame, then tacked on four insurance runs in the next inning to clinch the victory.

Green River had just three hits in the game, provided by Oliver Akin, Corwin Paoli and Korbin Nielson. Manny Munoz scored the Knights’ only run of the contest, and he did it on a steal of home. Brylan Ginestar pitched the complete game, going six innings with 12 hits, five earned runs, no walks and two strikeouts.

GREEN RIVER 11, WHEATLAND 5

Wheatland got out to a 2-0 lead after the first frame. Green River scored one run in each of the third and fourth innings to tie it, then pulled ahead 5-2 after a three-run rally in the fifth. They added six more runs across the sixth and seventh frames for good measure.

The Knights outhit the Lobos 15-7, and all but one Knight in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Aiden Mandros, Nielson, Davy Puckett, Travin Brown and Ginestar each produced mullti-hit games and combined for seven of the team’s nine RBI in the game. Ginestar led the way in his 3-for-4 game with four RBI, and came around to score twice. Just one of the 15 Green River hits went for extra bases courtesy of Landon Smart’s RBI double.

Mandros got the pitching start against the Lobos and survived six full innings before being relieved. He allowed seven hits, three earned runs and two walks. Draiven Houchin entered in relief to close out the final inning, when he did not allow a baserunner and sat two batters down on strikes.

GREEN RIVER 6, RIVERTON 5

The Saturday victory over the Riverton Raiders was decided in walk-off fashion. Both sides went down without much of a fight in a scoreless first inning before Riverton broke through. They took the lead in the top of the second on an RBI single after a pair of walks put a runner in scoring position.

The Knights’ first run was identical to the Raiders, as Puckett and Brown took consecutive walks to set the table for Ginestar. He came through with the RBI single to tie the game at 1-1, then Brown stole home to make it 2-1 for the Knights.

Riverton answered with a run to tie it at 2-2 in the top of the third before holding Green River to a scoreless frame. The Raiders only built on their momentum from there thanks to a three-run home run by Brayden Baker that put Riverton on top 5-2.

Ginestar drove in Sam Dockter to cut into the deficit in the fourth inning, but the Knights could not tie the score until the sixth. Puckett and Brown led off the inning by drawing back-to-back free bases, then both moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Dockter. Ginestar and Akin drove both Puckett and Brown in to score, and the teams headed into the seventh and final inning tied at 5-5.

Puckett shut the Raiders down in the top of the seventh, only allowing one runner and ending the inning on a strikeout. When it was Green River’s turn to bat, Smart started the rally by reaching on an error. Nielson’s single only pushed him to second base, then he made it to third on a wild pitch. That allowed Smart to score the winning run on a squeeze bunt by Puckett, and the Knights survived to play another day.

Green River had six hits in the game, two each by Akin and Ginestar and one each by Nielson and Puckett. Ginestar was the offensive leader with three RBI, while Akin and Puckett contributed one each as well.

Houchin and Puckett split pitching duties, with Houchin getting the start. He went the first 3.2 innings while allowing three hits, two earned runs and three walks, and striking out four. Puckett finished the final 3.1 innings, ending with two hits, one earned run, three walks and five strikeouts.

LOVELL 6, GREEN RIVER 5

The contest against the Lovell Mustangs also ended in walk-off fashion, but with Green River on the losing side. Neither team scored until the third inning, when Dockter made his way around the bases on a couple of errors to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. They waited until the fourth inning to answer, but the Mustang lineup pushed through a four-run rally to put themselves in the lead.

Green River trailed 4-1 until the top of the seventh inning. Puckett, Brown and Dockter all reached on either walks or errors to load the bases for the top of the lineup. When it was Akin’s turn to hit, he capitalized on the opportunity and brought all runners around to score on a three-RBI double, knotting the game at 4-4. Paoli followed with an RBI hit of his own to score Akin, and the game headed into the bottom of the seventh inning with the Knights on top 5-4.

Thanks to a pair of errors by the Green River defense, Lovell tied the game at 5-5 and forced extra innings. Though the Knights were able to get a couple runners on, they could not get them across the plate to take the lead again. That let the Mustangs walk it off in the bottom of the seventh, when a wild pitch scored the runner from third after the bases were loaded with nobody out.

The Knights had just three hits in the game, courtesy of Akin, Paoli and Brown. Munoz did the bulk of the work on the mound, going six full innings and collecting seven hits, three earned runs, no walks, and three strikeouts. Evan Vendetti closed out the seventh inning and was on the mound in the eighth, allowing one hit, no earned runs and just one walk.

While the loss knocked Green River out of State Championship contention, the Wyoming American Legion Baseball DII winners were crowned on Monday, Aug. 3. Results were not available as of press time, but the championship game was slated to be between the Lovell Mustangs and the Cody Cubs.