Cheyenne Clinches Spot in Title Game, Two More Advance at AA State Baseball Tournament

The Cheyenne Sixers will have a shot at a fourth consecutive Wyoming American Legion Baseball AA State Championship on Friday.

Wednesday at the 2023 AA State Tournament in Jackson, the Sixers beat the Casper Oilers, 6-1, in the winner's bracket semifinal to secure a place in the championship game.

Casper scored an unearned run in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Cheyenne responded with a 4-run third inning and never trailed after that. It was highlighted by Colter McAnelly's 3-run home run to left field. He also was the winning pitcher and struck out 15 Oilers on Wednesday night at Giants Field in Jackson and added an RBI sacrifice fly, as well.

WyoPreps spoke with Colter McAnelly after his performance in leading the Sixers back to the title game.

Thomas Stokes had two of Casper's six hits in the loss.

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In elimination games, the Gillette Riders knocked out the top-seed Sheridan Troopers with a 4-2 victory in the first game on Wednesday. Gillette scored on an error and a hit-by-pitch for an early 2-0 lead. They added a pair of sacrifice flies for a 4-0 lead. Sheridan rallied with two runs in the sixth but fell short. Riley Schilling held the Troopers down with 6.2 innings pitched. He allowed two runs on five hits with ten strikeouts.

Schilling visited with WyoPreps after the game and discussed his strong pitching effort.

The other elimination game saw the Laramie Rangers hold off the host Jackson Giants, 8-7. Laramie scored first, but Jackson answered with two runs in the first for a 2-1 lead. An error and two-run double pushed the Rangers back in front for good. They extended their lead with a sacrifice fly and a Mason Branch 3-run home run. It was 8-2 Laramie when the Giants scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th, but the Rangers closed the door to survive and advance.

Gillette will play Casper in a loser-out game, while Laramie faces Cheyenne in the second game on Thursday. If Laramie loses to the Sixers, they are out. If Cheyenne loses, it will set up a one-game, winner-take-all championship on Friday.

Some pictures from Wednesday's action are below.