Green River hosts Knights Invite Wood Bat tournament

Last Thursday through Sunday the Green River Knights hosted the Green River Knights Invite Wood Bat tournament. This tournament is the largest varsity baseball tournament in the State of Wyoming. This year over 10 teams came from Rawlins, Riverton, Jackson, Laramie, Lovell, Cheyenne, Powell, Pocatello and Montana to participate.

In the tournament on Thursday, for the Knights' first game, they played against the Montana Lockwood Razorbacks. The Knights took the lead early, scoring two runs in the first inning. During the second inning, the Razorbacks got on the board with one run.

The Knights had a strong third inning, scoring another eight runs and leaving the Razorbacks in the dust. Neither team scored in the fourth and fifth inning, leaving the Knights ahead. Finally, in the sixth inning, the Knights' scored one more run to the Razorbacks' two. The game resulted in the Knights' win, with a final score of 11-3.

Leading the team were Brackin Lail, Lander Welch, Skyler Lee and Jace Paoli with two runs each, along with Ryker Dane, Kamden Liebelt and Dallyn Buschelman with one run.

For the Knights' second game, they played against the Laramie Rangers A team on Friday. Neither team scored during the first inning. In the second inning, the Knights' scored first with two runs. The Rangers got on the board with a point in the third inning, while neither team scored in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth inning, the Knights' scored one more run while the Rangers got two points, causing the game to result in a tie with a final score of 3-3.

Leading the team this game were Ben Lail, Ryker Dane and Jace Paoli.

The Knights played against the Cheyenne Post 6 Hawks on Saturday for their third game. The Hawks started the scoring with one point in the first inning. Then, during the second inning, the Knights jumped on to the score board with one run, while the Hawks had three more. In the third inning, neither team scored. The Knights continued to struggle to keep up during the fourth inning, once again not scoring while the Hawks got another run. Again, neither team scored in the fifth inning. Lastly, the Hawks scored three runs in the sixth inning, while the Knights couldn't get another point. The game resulted in the Knights' loss, with a final score of 1-8.

Leading the team with their only run was Ryker Dane.

The Knights played their fourth game on Sunday against the Lockwood Razorbacks, facing them for the second time in the tournament. The Razorbacks started the scoring with two runs in the first inning and another in the second. Neither team scored during the third inning. Finally, in the fourth inning, the Knights made it on the score board with one run, matching the Razorbacks' one. For the remainder of the game, neither team scored again, resulting in the Knights' close loss with a final score of 1-3. Leading the team was Ben Lail, scoring the team's one point.

At the end of the tournament, the Knights' second game on Sunday against the Rawlins Post 122 Bandits was unfortunately canceled because of a lightning delay.

"Overall the tournament was fantastic," said Head Coach Ben Lail, adding, "There was some great baseball played for the four days, with really good competition from teams from across the state and other states all coming down here. Just the atmosphere of summer baseball was one of the best aspects of it."

Coming up, the Knights have a few more conference games before heading to Douglas this upcoming weekend for another four-day tournament. Coach Lail is hoping this will tune up the Knights for the upcoming district tournament, which will be hosted in Green River this year. The District tournament will be taking place July 18 through 21.