Foxes stop inconsistent Colts

by Bobby Abplanalp
Wyoming Sports.org

Consistency continues to plague the Laramie Colts, as they fell to the Fort Collins Foxes 7-4 Tuesday night at Cowboy Field. The loss came a day after the Colts swept a doubleheader over the first-place Grays in Greeley, Colo.

Laramie, 12-13, failed to get over .500 and continues to sit in third place of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League standings.

Through the first three innings, the Colts would have two players caught on steal attempts and center fielder Josh Warren would be tagged out at home plate in the first inning to get Fort Collins out of the threats with only giving up one run. The Foxes certainly did not help their case with four errors through the first three innings setting up the Colts base runners.

“That was a pretty bad baseball game,” Colts manager Ryan Goodwin said. “If I was a fan, I’d be a little pissed off if I spent money on that both ways, because they (Fort Collins) played lazy and we matched them laziness for laziness. They tried to give us the game early by giving us base runners off of walks and errors, but of course we’re mistiming and we’re not paying attention. That’s just a terrible effort on our part.”

Both teams were locked 1-1 heading into the fifth inning until Fort Collins shortstop Edder Morales singled home third baseman Michael Garza home.

Fort Collins, only 8-12, but 4-2 against the Colts, would get some breathing room in the sixth inning as Laramie starting pitcher Branden Jamison gave up three hits and three earned runs as the Foxes took a 5-1 lead.

Jamison was replaced in the sixth inning by Marco Mejia after ix strikeouts and giving up five hits.

The Colts would hang in there with a big seventh inning as Warren brought right fielder Kolt Browder with an RBI double. Two batters later, Warren would score off of an RBI single by Tyler Kipke to cut the lead to 5-3.

However, the Foxes would close the door on Laramie in the ninth inning, highlighted by catcher Matt Collins's two-run triple for a 7-3 lead. Pitcher Jared Hopper would close it out in the bottom of the ninth, but not before Warren got his second RBI double of the day that scored Colts shortstop Eric Cain for the final margin.

Warren was 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI doubles.

“We had a lot chances and we weren’t coming up with the big hits when we needed it,” Warren said. “When we get those opportunities with the bases loaded, we need to find a way to score them.”

Pat O’Donnell got the win for the Foxes, with four strikeouts, while allowing four hits.

“The guy throwing didn’t have great stuff, but he threw strikes and they made plays behind him,” Warren said of O’Donnell’s pitching.

The Colts had won three out of their last four games coming into tonight, but failed to capitalize on recent success. “We’re not ready to turn the corner,” Goodwin said. “We’re a lackadaisical lazy team and that reflects me as a coach, too.”

The two teams will face off again on Wednesday with a doubleheader in Fort Collins that begins at 3:30 p.m.