Worland Baseball goes 3-1 in home tourney

WORLAND - Before their big tournament in Heber City, Utah, 13U Worland Baseball held their annual summer tournament Saturday and Sunday at Newell Sargent Park, and after four hard-fought games, Worland finished the tournament 3-1 against a pair of Billings teams.

This year's tournament did not have as many teams due to scheduling conflicts for the usual Wyoming teams like the Casper Crush. Nonetheless, Worland battled against the Triple Play Academy Black Sox and Cobras, both out of Billings, in doubleheaders over the weekend.

On Saturday Worland defeated the Black Sox 15-2. Worland scored five runs in the first inning, three in the second and seven in the third. Landen Gilmore and Baxter Crawford led the team with two hits, while Gilmore and Jorey Anderson both tied for the team lead in RBIs with three apiece. Aiden Wantulok picked up the W from the mound.

Against the Cobras things did not go as well for Worland as they lost 8-2. But Worland got their revenge on Sunday as they returned the favor and downed the Cobras 5-3. Jerry Leyva Jr. threw a complete game for the win in a tightly contested game.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the top of the third, Worland regained the lead with two runs of their own to take the 3-2 advantage. But it was in the fourth inning that won the game for Worland as Crawford made two clutch plays, one with his bat and the other with his glove.

In the top of the fourth, Crawford hit a strong ground ball right between third and short. That hit brought in Aiden Wantulok for an insurance score and a few plays later Crawford scored on a through ball by the Cobras, to push Worland's lead to 5-2.

The Cobras made a push in the bottom of the fourth, the game's final inning, and even loaded up the bases with one out. A hit to right field scored one run for the Cobras and could have brought in more if not for the quick decision-making on Crawford's part. Crawford fielded the ball in right and immediately threw to second for the force out. That play seemed to deflate the Cobras while giving a jolt to Worland.

The Worland defense held by not allowing another run and Leyva Jr. struck out the final Cobra batter for the 5-3 win.

For their final game, Worland once again won in convincing fashion against the Black Sox, beating them 13-5. Leyva Jr. was the hot bat with four hits and three RBIs and Gilmore picked up the win.

With four more games under their belt, Worland Baseball coach Jerry Leyva Sr. was pleased with his team's performance; especially, with Crawford and Kade Weber whose production at the plate greatly contributed to the team's success over the weekend.

"Baxter and Kade both came through at the plate for us. When our normal go-to hitters have off games we have to have someone else step-up and fill the gaps. That's good and we're still gaining ground," said Leyva Sr. "We have a lot of work to do but we're going to keep grinding. All-in-all we did very well. All of them are listening to what we coaches have to say and working to get better."

This week's practice for Worland will continue to focus on their bats and a refresher in defensive fundamentals, as they made a handful of errors over the weekend.

"We've got to get back to the fundamentals of baseball. On defense, we have to field the ball before we throw the ball, stuff like that. We got three wins this weekend, we'll take it, but we have to get back to work. Our bats need to keep improving and we have to hit, hit, hit. Just like we did [Sunday] we've got to pick each other up all the time when another player is having an off day," said Leyva Sr.

The Rocky Mountain School of Baseball Firecracker tournament begins this weekend in Heber City and Worland is among the 20-plus 13U teams battling for the top prize. Having missed out on the championship round the past two years, the goal is to make the championship bracket on Monday.

"The last two years we haven't made it to Monday, that's when they play the championship round, and this year that's our goal, to play on Monday," said Leyva Sr.