Richard Anderson photo
Laramie outfielder Jesse Tierney slides in safe at third Friday against Cheyenne before the rains came to postpone the matchup to Sunday at 4 p.m.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
Mother Nature turned on the Laramie Colts once again … literally.
What was appearing to be a decent Friday night for baseball, changed in a hurry when the weather system that was south of Laramie moved east, then bounced back, returning with vengeance for a good 25-minute rainstorm that proved to be too much for Cowboy Field to handle. It was called with two outs in the top of the sixth and Cheyenne lead Laramie 5-3.
The game will pick up Sunday at 4 p.m. before the regularly-scheduled 6:35 p.m. matchup again with the Grizzlies.
Laramie manager Ryan Goodwin has not only been frustrated with some struggles with his team, but with the uncharacteristic weather that has plagued them in this early going. The Colts (3-3), have played just one game -- the season opener at Cheyenne -- where there hasn’t been a rain delay or rain out.
“It’s always been something every single time,” Goodwin said. “It has just been horrendous so far. I’m actually telling the guys, ‘wait until July.’ We need July to get here a lot sooner.”
Goodwin has also been a little displeased with the way things have turned against the Colts, who dropped a weather-hampered doubleheader to Greeley on Wednesday.
The Colts seem to be in an early funk, for whatever reason. The team’s struggles are on the mental side, Goodwin said.
“There is a lot of stuff going on that maybe to the naked eye, you don’t understand or see what is going on,“ he said. “Those little small things. We’re not doing well right now. We’re trying to get by on pure talent and I think we are starting to realize that you can’t do that. We have to pick it up with the mental aspects of the game. If and when we do, we’ll be a talented team. Right now we’re going through that funk and hopefully the lights will pop on here pretty soon.”
Typically, Goodwin said that the Colts, in his previous two years at the helm, have gone through a little funk at about Jubilee Days in early July.
“Usually, we have gone out to a big lead and everybody gets comfortable. I don’t know if we just aren’t comfortable, but it is a situation where we aren’t playing very good,“ Goodwin said. “We’re trying to figure it out. To me, it is not am physical effort thing. I believe the physical effort is there. The mental aspect has to turn on sometime. When it does, we’ll be a really good team.”
Friday against Cheyenne, the Grizzlies seized the momentum in the sixth on a RBI triple by Kaleb Browner and a run-scoring single by Sam Radhill. Browner also had a two-run double in the fourth.
Laramie, which had just three hits, scored twice in the third and once in the fifth to tie the game. Second baseman Eric Cain ha a two-run double in the third for the Colts.
Laramie pitcher Nathan Hardy was struggling with his control, as he had four walks and four hit batters to go along with the 10 Cheyenne hits.
“Nathan Hardy is a guy, with his fastball, who tries to live on the inner third (of the plate),” Goodwin said. “The umpire we had behind the plate tonight doesn’t give the inner third. When the umpire doesn’t give him the inner third, he is going to struggle. We’re going to have to finds a way for him to adjust.”
The Colts will try again on Saturday at Greeley with a doubleheader (3:30 p.m.), before resuming their matchup against the Grizzlies on Sunday.
Despite their struggles, Goodwin said that if they can get locked in mentally, they can come back and win this game.
“If we can get that first guy out, then we will have 12 outs to play with. Our lineup is explosive enough where we can easily do that,“ he said.
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