Two Laramie Girls Softball Teams Win A State Championship
A pair of Laramie Girls Softball teams brought home a title from the Wyoming State Softball Championships in Casper last weekend.
Laramie won the 8U Pitching Machine and 14U Rec division championships Sunday in Casper. The 8U squad defended a title won last year.
After winning both their games in pool play last Friday by a combined score of 18-6, Laramie won twice on Saturday to reach the title game yesterday. They topped Green River 11-7 and then defeated Wheatland 11-6. In the championship game, Laramie rallied for a 9-6 victory over Wheatland. They were coached by Nick Hauser, Marc Hungerford, and Matt Lehning.
The 14U Rec squad split their two pool play games last Friday, although their victory was a blowout, 29-0. The Laramie All-Stars opened bracket play with some revenge. They beat the Casper Rebels 12-5 and atoned for a loss in pool play. That advanced them to a game versus Lander, in which Laramie prevailed 4-2. Sunday began with a 9-7 victory over the Casper Cobras. That put Laramie in the championship. They out-slugged Lander in the title game, 19-11. This team was coached by Randy Welniak and Mark Wade.
Four more Laramie teams took third place at the tournament. Those results were from the 10U B and 10U Rec division teams, the 12U B division squad, and 14U B.
At 10U B, they split their pool play games. Then, Laramie lost 12-0 in their opening bracket game but staved off elimination with a 14-13 win over Cody and a 14-11 victory over Gillette. The 10U B team lost to Wyoming Fearless (Cheyenne) 18-4 in a game that saw the winner go to the championship.
The 10U Rec team also split in pool play. They defeated the Casper Rebels Lime 16-11. After a 10-4 loss to Lander, Laramie fought off elimination with a 9-8 victory over the Casper Rebels Blue. In their second elimination game, Laramie beat Buffalo 10-9 before their run came to an end with a 15-12 loss to Lander. That was also a game in which the winner moved on to the title tilt.
The Laramie 12U B All-Stars won their pool and took the top seed into bracket play. They won 12-4 over Wicked 307 from Gillette. Laramie lost to Rock Springs 16-2 and then fell in a tight game, 10-9, to Wyoming Fearless. Again, Laramie was one win from the title game.
At the 14U B level, Laramie split in pool play and battled in bracket action. They knocked off the Casper Voltage, 14-11, before a 9-3 setback to Gillette. In a game to reach to the championship, Laramie fell to Cody, 17-5.
The final team at this year’s state tournament was the Laramie 18U All-Stars. They endured a tough weekend. Laramie lost both its pool play games and then went 0-2 in bracket play.
Laramie had the most teams that represented one organization at the 2019 state tournament.