JACKSON, Wyo. — After a first-round win over Sheridan, the Post 43 Giants hit a wall at the state championship tournament.
Actually, it’s what they didn’t hit in the second-round game against Gillette that began the slide. Jackson bats were silenced in a 7-1 loss to the Roughriders. It also didn’t help that Post 43’s ace Parker Bleggi did not have his best stuff. He never got out of the 2nd inning—a bullpen by committee held the fort admirably while Jackson tried to mount some kind of comeback rally. It never came.
In the loser’s bracket, Post 43 matched up with the Casper Oilers—the team that defeated them for the title in 2019. They teams had faced each other four times previously during the regular season with each club winning two.
It was the Giants thin pitching staff that proved their demise. Post 43 hit well enough, jumping on Oiler starter Gunner Browning for 7 runs and chasing reliever Jorden Tharp after another 2.
But Jackson let a 7-1 lead slip away when reliever Quentin Bruno was touched for an 8-run Casper rally in the 5th. The Oilers ended the Giants’ season with a 14-9 win.
The Post 43 Giants finished the season with a 23-30 record. To be able to play 53 ball games in a time of COVID was victory enough for most of the coaches and players. The boys of summer gave us all something to cheer about.
