As last reported in the Herald, the Evanston Outlaws were riding a five-game win streak, with speculation as to whether it would become six consecutive games without a loss to begin the season.  

The American Legion boys of summer had one more date with a familiar foe in Green River on Thursday, May 17, before departing for their first tournament action of the year in Jackson.

The Outlaws defeated the Knights for the third time in as many tries, 10-5, to rise to 6-0 on the young season. Evanston scattered 15 hits, as Brenden Thompson went 4-4 at the plate with a double and three singles to lead the way for the Outlaws.

A four-run fourth inning put the Outlaws out in front for good with RBIs from Gus Allred, Brandon Wicks and Reid Gross. Jagger Mitchell also had multiple hits for Evanston and was on the mound for the Outlaws.

Versus Rock Springs at

Jackson Tournament

The Outlaws notched their seventh consecutive victory and their fourth win on the season over the Sand Puppies, 12-4, to open tournament action in Jackson.Coach Jason Lloyd praised the arms of two 15-year-old pitchers, including Allred who tossed four of the seven innings, yielding two hits and three runs while striking out three and walking one. Ryan Fisher and Gross had two hits each, with four Outlaws driving in runs in the 4th inning alone. Evanston led wire-to-wire snagging their seventh win without a loss, but things were about to change.

Versus Three Forks, Montana, at Jackson Tournament

When two outlaws squared off in the Old West, it rarely ended in a draw. There would be a winner and there would be a loser when the Evanston Outlaws faced their first out-of-state competition in the Montana Outlaws on the diamond on Saturday, with the first pitch taking place at 3 p.m.  

Evanston was accustomed to jumping out to early leads and not being forced to come from behind, while outhitting their opponents. After scoring two runs of their own in the first inning, Evanston gave up nine runs in the bottom of the first and could never quite catch up, as the local Outlaws suffered their first setback of the season, 8-12, at the hands of the Montana team.  

The team from near Bozeman doubled up Evanston, 18-9, in the hits column.  

Evanston fought back, exploding for five runs in the top of the second by Brandon Wicks, Beau Lloyd and Reid Gross, but it would not be enough. 

Griffin Mitchell started for Evanston and threw 109 pitches. 

Weather may have played a factor, seemingly adversely affecting Evanston to a higher degree than it did Montana. 

“They scored four runs on us during that rainy period, and that was pretty much our downfall,” coach Jason Lloyd told the Herald. “We had a few errors, due to the weather, but for the most part, we hit with that team.” 

Brendan Wicks and Brenden Thompson had multiple hits on behalf of Evanston.

Versus Cody at

Jackson Tournament

Against the Cody Cubs at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Evanston again found themselves on the south side of a 7-0 ballgame, before scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and two more in the bottom of the fifth, but the Cubs then countered with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth to lead 9-5 and went on to hand Evanston their second consecutive loss on the season, 9-7.

Fisher was on the pitcher’s mound for the Outlaws, yielding seven hits and five runs through four and two-thirds innings, while throwing 105 pitches. He was relieved by Jagger Mitchell, making his second appearance in the tournament.

Fisher, Seth Lloyd and Brenden Thompson had multiple hits for Evanston and Reid Gross banged out a triple in the fifth inning.

Cody connected on 13 hits to Evanston’s 10.

“I thought we played real well against Cody,” Lloyd said. “Our young kids actually stepped up in that game and really hit the ball well, gaining confidence on some of these bigger pitchers.”

The Evanston skipper credited the Cubs. 

“I would say Cody had the best pitching we faced on the weekend.”

Versus Jackson in the

Jackson Tournament

The Jackson Giants jumped out to a 4-0 lead over the Outlaws for the 6 p.m. start of the final game of the tourney with three runs in the bottom of the first and another in the bottom of the second. The Outlaws would tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the fourth, only to watch Jackson, behind the bats of Ellingson and King, go up 7-4, with four of the scheduled seven innings complete.  

Seth Lloyd toed the rubber for Evanston, lasting six and two-thirds innings, allowing twelve hits and nine runs.

From there, the Evanston bats came alive, as the Outlaws would win the hitting battle, 17-12, on the day.  Brendan Wicks led the way for the Outlaws, going 4-5 at the plate. Allred, Griffen and Jagger Mitchell, Lloyd and Gross all had multiple hits.

Coach Lloyd was especially pleased that his team did not hang their heads and maintained positive energy when trailing in their final three games. 

“That was our main take-away for the weekend. We never gave up, as maybe we had in years past,” Lloyd said, crediting the leadership of his more seasoned players.

The Outlaws also defeated the Rock Springs Archie Hayes Post 24 Sand Puppies, 6-3, on Tuesday, May 22, to rise to 9-2 on the season and may have played last night against Green River, though they were considering canceling the Thursday evening game, as they’re set to compete in the Green River Round Robin tournament this weekend.