The Rangers kicked off their 20th season in defense of
their 2015 championship by knocking off the Camden
Redlegs 21-6 in five innings at Monroe.
An uncharacteristic run-rule highlighted the 20th edition
of the Backyard Battle. The previous high in runs scored
in this 6-year series was a 19-11 win by the Rangers in
April 2012. This game also broke the series record in run
differential (previous high was 11 - Redlegs 13-2 win in
July 2013).
The Redlegs started out red-hot as Jacob Robinson laced a
double to right-center. After a single from Kyle Arend
and an RBI double from Kyle Weldon, the Redlegs took a 2-
0 lead on Rangers starter Joe Becker. The Rangers got one
run back on an RBI single from Robert Riley.
Becker struck out a pair in the second and Brandon Riley
gunned out a stolen base attempt to keep the Camden club
at bay. The Rangers' bats got hot in the second, sending
11 men to the plate and scoring 7 times. Jonmarc
Lippincott led off the inning with an infield single.
Nick Gilmore followed with a hit. Steve Marshall plated
both runners with a double. Newcomer Brandon Marshall
singled and scored on Brandon Riley's single. Kody Barth
smacked a 2-run double. Robert added his second straight
RBI single. Todd Peck's RBI single rounded out the
scoring in the inning to give the Rangers a 8-2 lead.
In the third, Brandon Howard had a sac fly before Weldon
obliterated a fastball over the tree-line in the right
field for a two-run home run to cut into the Rangers lead
at 8-5.
Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings before the Rangers batted
around in the fourth inning, tallying 8 more runs. Rob
Armour pinch-hit and drilled a double off the fence
tubing in left field. The Rangers then did some two-out
damage as Kody Barth and Robert Riley launched back-to-
back home runs. Ben Schubert singled and Peck walked.
Lippincott singled to left to score Schubert for an 12-5
advantage. Gilmore then drove in Peck with a single.
Steve Marshall singled to load the bases. Brandon
Marshall worked a bases-loaded walk. Eric Becker reached
on an error, which plated another run. And Armour's
bases-loaded walk made it a 16-5 game after four innings.
Kyle Arend doubled home Jacob Robinson in the fifth to
give the Redlegs their sixth run. But it wasn't enough as
the Rangers continued to hit the ball and work walks to
score five more times. Barth belted his second 2-run home
run of the game. Gilmore had another RBI single, and
Brandon Marshall's RBI single ended the game on a run-
rule.
Joe Becker pitched all 5 innings to record the
franchise's 250th career complete game.
Boxscore
| J Robinson | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J Millard | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| K Arend | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| B Howard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| K Weldon | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| B Clark | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Robinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Morrison | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M Mattice | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J Bradley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2B: Robinson; Arend; Weldon
HR: Weldon
| K Campbell (L) | 3.67 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| B Clark | 0.33 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| G Pfeiffer | 0.67 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 3 |