TORRINGTON – The Torrington Tiger junior Legion team swept the Wheatland Lobos on Monday evening at Jirdon Park to open the 2020 season.
The Tigers won game one 7-6 and run-ruled game two 15-0 in four innings.
“You can tell it’s our first games. We had a few bumps in the roads,” Tiger coach Bryce Hill said. “That’s expected. We’ve had how long off, and only a month of practice. All in all, the kids had great confidence. They know their jobs and did pretty well.
In game one, Torrington struck first with an RBI single by Nolan Long, driving in Matthew Hellus in the bottom of the first inning.
The Tigers left the bases loaded in the frame, and that’s when the visiting Lobos took over the game.
Wheatland was issued five base on balls and a double to take a 4-1 lead heading into the third.
“Bryce (Hager) pitch really well,” Hill said. “I mean, it just wasn’t his night,”
The Lobos plated one more run in the fourth inning before Torrington mounted its comeback.
In the bottom of the fifth, Ayden Desmond led off the inning with a walk and later scored on a squeeze bunt by Long.
“There were several times some of the kids just wanted to hit, and they expanded the zone,” Hill said. “Once we got in the bullpen, and just kind of settled down got into our game rhythm.”
A two-RBI double and a throwing error put Bodie Moffat at third, drawing the Tigers back within one, 5-4.
An ensuing wild pitch scored Moffat, tying the game.
In the sixth, an error by the Tigers handed Wheatland the lead back, but it proved to be short-lived.
In the home half of the inning, Matt Moore led off with a walk and later scored on a Desmond single.
Two batters later, Desmond put the Tigers up for good, crossing home plate on a Wheatland throwing error.
Desmond put the finishing touches on the win for the Tigers, recording the save. Long earned the win.
“Nolan pitched really well for us,” Hill said. “It just shows you throw strikes, and you just see what happens. There wasn’t a single guy that didn’t throw bad.”
At the plate, Moffat went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk.
Game two belonged to Torrington from the opening pitch.
Brady Cook, making his first Legion start, allowed a lead off walk to open the second game but promptly struck out the next three batters he faced in the inning.
Cook went on to fan 10 Wheatland batters over the four innings he worked in the run-ruled, 15-0 victory.
“Our discipline was a lot better that second game it shows on the scoreboard,” Hill said.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday, at a triangular in Casper. Torrington will play at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m.
