Rangers take second at Summer Slugfest in Wichita

The Pratt Rangers 12 and under baseball team went 4-2 and finished second in the Southwest Boys Club Summer Slugfest tournament held last weekend in Wichita.
With their wins, the Rangers improved to 15-9 on the season, plus brought home trophies for their second place finish.
“We settled down and played pretty good baseball this weekend,” Rangers coach Mike Forshee said. “We hit the ball extremely well, our defense really stepped up and kept their composure and we were pretty solid.”

Wichita Yankees 12, Rangers 8
The Rangers lost their opening game 12-8 to the Wichita Yankees thanks to defensive struggles.
Blake Lee’s hitting was a bright spot, as he went two-for-two with three RBIs and a three-run home run in the third inning. “Blake hit the ball hard all weekend,” Forshee said.
“Brett Forshee and Drake Evert pitched well, but we didn’t support them on defense,” Forshee said, adding that the Rangers gave up eight unearned runs in the game.

Rangers 7, Rose Hill Rockets 6
But the Rangers rebounded with a 7-6 win over the Rose Hill Rockets.
Pratt was up 7-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but Rose Hill scored five runs and had runners at second and third with two outs.
The next batter hit a high chopper to Hudson Swift at second base.
“He made a tough play look easy and threw out the runner at first for the third out,” Forshee said of Swift, whose play preserved the win for the Rangers.
Adam Bartel got the win, striking out five in three innings of work.
Lee and Dakota Venard each had triples and Forshee had a double for the Rangers. Evert was two-for-three at the plate as well.

Rangers 12, Wichita Cobras 5
The Rangers continued their winning ways with a 12-5 win over the Wichita Cobras, getting contributions from every player.
Tyler Steinert and Swift both went two-for-three while Bartel had three RBIs and Evert stole four bases.
“Lee and Venard held them in check on the mound, Derek Barnard laid down an excellent bunt, Brandon Ruckle had a sacrifice fly. It was good team baseball,” Forshee said.

Rangers 12, Wichita Hurricanes 5
The Rangers continued to pile up the wins with a 12-5 victory over the Wichita Hurricanes in their third game on Sunday.
Ruckle took the mound and gave up just three hits, plus picked off a runner during his 2 1/3 innings of work.
The Rangers got at least one hit from everyone in the lineup as they finished with 14 hits in the contest.
Those hits included two doubles,  a triple and an inside the park home run by Venard.
Their win over the Hurricanes moved the Rangers into the championship game and set up a rematch with the Wichita Yankees.

Championship Game
Wichita Yankees 18, Rangers 8
The Rangers fell behind early but battled back to tie the game at eight after three innings.
However, the Yankees pulled away by scoring the final ten runs of the contest to earn the championship.
Pratt had ten hits in the game. Evert and Steinert each had two hits for the Rangers.
“We used six pitchers this weekend and all of them kept us in the game,” Forshee said. “With four games on Sunday, the tank was empty toward the end of the championshp game. They left it all on the field. I am very proud of their efforts.”
The Rangers will play in the NBC 12 and under State Tournament, which begins July 10 in Pratt.