Nothing easy to start for Rangers

The Laramie Rangers will open the season this weekend in Cheyenne against Post 6 and Gillette. They won't open their home schedule until June 4 against Scottsbluff, Neb.

In between, it will be a tough slate for the American Legion AA team, with several strong opponents. Of course, this weekend the Rangers will face the seven-time defending state champions for a pair of games and last year's state runner-ups for a pair.

Laramie will then hit the road for a twinbill at Scottsbluff on May 18, face Post 6 again on May 21 and then compete in the Riders Spring Classic May 24-26 in Gillette, where it will face Rapid City, S.D., Gillette and Spearfish, S.D.

On May 29, Laramie will travel to Greeley, Colo., to face the Greeley GoJos.

It might be an understatement to say that Rangers manager Sean McKinney isn't backing down. To get your program back up to a strong level, you have to play a strong schedule. The Rangers are doing just that.

The Rangers will have a nice home schedule once they can finally get to it. Laramie will host two AA tournaments this year, the Dooley Classic on June 26-29 and the annual Firecracker Invitational on July 3-6.

There is a change in the conference slate, with Casper dropping its American Legion team this season. In case you haven't heard, the Casper Baseball Club has moved what was the Oilers to Connie Mack, instead of Legion. The Legion originally was to field a team, but has since decided not to. With that, the new state AA format will have Laramie, Rock Springs, Green River (moving up from the A level) and Evanston (which didn't field a team last year) in the East Conference. The West Conference will be Cheyenne, Gillette, Sheridan and Torrington.

Laramie will face Post 6 several times this season, but it is going to seem strange not playing its rival in a conference matchup.

Regardless, I'll be looking forward to June 4. In my opinion, there's nothing better than spending a few hours at the ballpark. This season will mark my 19th year in covering the Rangers. Although my work situation has changed for my 19th season, my desire to give local fans the best Legion baseball coverage hasn't.

So let's play ball.

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