TORRINGTON – Six days after dropping a pair of ‘A’ Southeast Conference games to the Cheyenne Hawks on the road, the Torrington Tiger senior Legion baseball team picked up two wins over the same Hawk team on Tuesday evening at Bullock Field.
The Tigers swept the evening 11-2 and 9-5 in the non-conference battles.
In game one, Cheyenne was the first on the scoreboard in the top of the second.
The Hawks had bases loaded with no one out, but starting pitcher Dylan Drieling shut Cheyenne down, allowing only one run to score on a sacrifice fly.
“Dylan came out and really set the tone on the mound for us. It took him an inning or two to get into it,” Tiger manager Rob Mortimore said. “He was on a pitch count, and he’s still working on getting his arm into shape. He didn’t even come close to it and got us where we needed to be. He got settled in and got the off-speed working and kept Cheyenne off balance.”
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third when the Tigers got the bats going.
Torrington’s Tristen Kingsley was hit by a pitch and Nick Sherbeyn reached base courtesy of an error. An RBI single from Cameron Murphy plated the Tiger’s first run.
It was the start of a five-run frame.
“We got the offense rolling in the third and fourth innings and got five late to put the game out of reach, but to carry that over into the second game with a five spot is big,” Mortimore said.
Cheyenne managed to get at least one runner on base each of the next three innings, but none advanced past second base.
Tiger Sam Firminhac drove in Torrington’s sixth run of the game with an RBI single in the fifth before Torrington put up another five runs in the sixth to pull away for the nine-run victory.
“We threw it well. We played defense and swung it well,” Mortimore said. “Top to bottom, we did what we needed to do.”
Murphy went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and three runs scored, while Deagan Keith went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Drieling was credited with the win, striking out seven over six innings.
Torrington carried the momentum of the win into the second game.
In game two, the Hawks plated two runs in the top of the first, but the lead was short-lived as three Cheyenne errors aided a five-run inning.
“We preach getting down the line. It adds pressure to the defense to hurry up and get the throw off,” Mortimore said. “It was nice to, not only force those errors, but take advantage of those errors and push runs across.”
Torrington added two more in the second and sixth to complete the sweep.
Firminhac and Murphy collected two hits apiece, combining for four runs scored.
Firminhac also picked up the win, working two innings, striking out two. Caeden Riley, Jackson Jones and Murphy also spent time on the mound for the Tigers in the win.
“We went with a bullpen day for our starters,” Mortimore said. “Each one went a couple innings outside of Cameron, who just went the seventh. It was nice to see them get out there and have some success.”
The two teams will meet again in Torrington in July to complete the home-and-home conference portion of the schedule.
“The biggest thing is confidence for our guys. It’s been several years since these guys have been able to beat Cheyenne,” Mortimore said. “It’s one of those things that is in the back of your mind, ‘Why can’t we get over the hump?’ They proved it last night they can get over the hump.”
The Tigers (13-7 overall and 2-2 in the Southeast Conference) return home Friday to host a triangular with Douglas (9-8 and 2-0 in the Northeast Conference) and Rocky Mountain. Torrington will face Douglas at 3 p.m., while the Cats and Lobos battle at 5 p.m. The night cap will feature Torrington and Rocky Mountain at 7 p.m. The next day, Torrington will host the Laramie Rangers (11-7 and 0-2 in the ‘AA’ East) at 1 and 3 p.m.
