Laramie Hosts Cheyenne Central in Early Season Softball Showdown

Mireya Pearson stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with No. 2-ranked Cheyenne Central holding a 16-15 lead and lined a two-run walk-off single to right, lifting the Plainsmen to a 17-16 victory in Laramie's home-opening doubleheader Wednesday at Sandy Aragon Softball Complex.

The win snapped Central's seven-game winning streak and gave Laramie its most significant result of the young season. The Plainsmen, who entered the night at 4-2-2 overall and 0-0 in Southeast conference play, improved to 5-2-2. Central fell to 11-2 in its first loss since the opening week of the schedule.

The game featured seven lead changes in seven innings. Central held a 12-11 edge after the top of the fifth, then stretched that to 13-12 after the sixth. Laramie answered in the bottom of the sixth with back-to-back damage: Pearson tied it with an RBI single, Lauren Chamberlain followed with a go-ahead single, and Ashtyn Witte pushed the lead to 15-13 with an RBI groundout that plated Chamberlain. Central's Averi Barker responded with an RBI single in the top of the seventh, the first of three Indians runs that put Cheyenne back in front at 16-15 before Pearson ended it.

Pearson finished with four hits and five RBIs. Coach Marty McKinney called her "our rock," and Pearson described staying level-headed under pressure as the key to her at-bat.

"I try not to be too nervous, because when I get nervous, then I don't do good," Pearson said. "I just try to keep a clear mind and be super confident. Just kind of swung at the good things that I saw."

Abby Sanchez matched Pearson's four hits and also went deep, lacing a go-ahead solo home run in the third inning. Sanchez earned the pitching win, holding Central to seven hits and four earned runs over 2⅓ innings. Witte collected three hits while Davanee Hodges, Sloane Claude, Rachael Dean, Delaney Suloff, Chamberlain, and Alexa Hauser each added two hits as Laramie spread production throughout a deep lineup.

Central's offense was not short of ammunition. Erickson went 5-for-the-day with four RBIs and Pineda added five hits and three runs batted in, but the Indians could not protect their final lead.

Wednesday's matchup was a cross-quad non-conference game, meaning the result does not affect either team's conference standing. Cross-quad results in Wyoming prep softball serve as tiebreakers for regional tournament seeding if teams finish with equal conference records. For Laramie, beating a program that entered the week second in the statewide WyoPreps Coaches and Media Poll, carrying a 10-game stretch of dominance, provides a benchmark that conference wins alone cannot. The Plainsmen had dropped their last outing, a road loss at Wheatland on March 27, before Wednesday's home debut. They now head deeper into April with a clearer read on where they stand among the state's best.