The wheels came off the Riverton Raiders cart for the state tournament via a pair of 10-run rule losses in their two games of District Tournament play at Rock Springs earlier this week. The Raiders fell 12-2 to Powell early Tuesday then had their season come to an end in a 14-4 loss to Green River Tuesday night. The Raiders finish the season 18-15-1.
Riverton entered the Sweetwater County tournament with the top seed but had problems hitting the ball in both games.
The Raiders opened with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on a Hunter Hauck double that scored Nathan Hutchison. Hutchison reached earlier after being hit by a pitch.
The complexion of the game changed quickly in the top of the second inning when the Knights scored five runs on four hits, a pair of walks, and aggressive base running. Green River tallied 11 hits in the game, all singles.
Ryan Cox opened for the Raiders on the mound, with Hunter Hauck, Nathan Hutchison, and Jorey Anderson all coming on in relief. The combined Riverton battalion tallied just three strikeouts and gave up a dozen walks on the game.
For Green River, Ashton Eldridge went the distance, yielding just five hits and striking out six while giving up just four walks.
Green River bumped their lead to 7-1 after their third at bat, but the bottom frame of the third opened with a little excitement as Jorey Anderson ripped a line drive home run to left field to cut the margin to 7-2.
That was as close as it would get, with the Knights adding four more runs in the fifth, and three in the seventh for 14 total.
Riverton tallied single runs in each of the final two innings.
Hutchison reached on a walk in the fourth, stole second, then advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on a ground out to second by Hauck.
Riverton’s final run of the season when Christopher Reinig scored on a Jorey Anderson single with two outs in the sixth inning.
Green River advanced to the third/fourth place game losing 14-4 to Lovell for the fourth place seed while Powell dropped a close 7-5 decision to Cody and takes the second seed from the west at the state tournament.
Riverton had a young roster this season, and everyone is eligible to return next summer.
Green River 0 5 2 0 4 3 – 14 11 1
Riverton 1 0 1 0 1 1 – 4 5 3
Riverton Raiders – Joel Bever 1-4 S, Jorey Anderson 2-4 S HR, Nathan Hutchison 0-1,Hunter Hauck 1-3 2B, Carter Noseep 0-3, Brayden Baker 0-2, Beau Anderson 0-3, Ryan Cox 0-3, Christopher Reinig 1-1 2B. Totals 5-24
Green River Knights – Marcos Molina 1-4 S, Dallyn Smith 0-3, Jax Peterson 1-1 S, Ashton Eldridge 2-4 2S, Quentin Liebelt 2-4 2S, Jace Paioli 2-3 2S, Lander Welch 3-3 3S, Skyler Lee 0-3, Benjamin Lail 0-4. Totals 11-26
WP – Ashton Eldridge (101) 5H, 6K, 4BB
LP – Ryan Cox (53) 5H, 0K, 3BB, Hunter Hauck (21) 2H, 0K, 2BB, Nathan Hutchison (56) 2H, 1K, 5BB, Jorey Anderson (38) 2H, 2K, 2BB