Bandit minors win two in Powell

The Bandits won their first two games at this week’s Powell Interleague Tournament,  beating Powell’s Trash Pandas 9-8 Monday and the Lovell Rangers 8-4 on Tuesday to earn a spot in the championship game. 

The Bandits used timely hits and heads-up baserunning to secure a 9-8 win over the Trash Pandas in the quarterfinals.

“It was a little too close for comfort, but the kids played really well,” said Edgar Hernandez, one of the team’s coaches.

When the single-elimination tournament began, it featured eight teams. Joining the Bandits were four clubs from Powell (Disco Turkeys, Trash Pandas, Brawlers and Rockhounds) and three from Lovell (Rangers, Diamondbacks and Dodgers).

The Bandits entered an all-star team, a mix of players who began the season on teams coached by either Hernandez or Curtis Johnson.  They picked up a Rattler, too, with Otto not competing in the tournament.

The Bandits’ roster includes Buxston Shipley, Cesar Lopez, Conner DeShazer, Crandall Whitaker, Cruz Allen, Dylan Esparza, Evan Winkler, Jace Davison, James Tanner, Kai Landers, Lane Collingwood and Levi Hernandez.

Hernandez said he was confident going into Monday’s game, noting that the team had been playing good baseball down the stretch.  In the final week of the regular season, the Bandits beat Otto 9-3 and Thermopolis 8-1.

But Monday’s game was a tester. The Bandits trailed 4-3 after one and 7-4 after two before gaining the upper hand.  They did it with Jace Davison on the mound, as he surrendered just a single run while striking out six over the final two innings.

The Bandits got a triple from Dylan E, base hits from Davison, Collingwood, DeShazer and Shipley and walked 14 times. But it as their baserunning that proved to be the difference as Davison and Collingwood raced home on passed balls and/or wild pitches to stake the Bandits to a 9-7 lead.

“If you can steal bases and taken advantage of passed balls, you can really do some damage in these tournaments,” Hernandez said of his team’s baserunning prowess.

The Bandits followed that up with a win over the Lovell Rangers on Tuesday night. Shipley picked was the winning pitcher, allowing just two hits while striking out seven in 3 1/3 innings.  Hernandez got the final two outs to preserve the win.

DeShazer was credited with two hits, including a double, and knocked in three runs.

Thursday night’s championship game starts at 6 p.m.

“When we play like we are capable of playing, we can beat anyone,” said Hernandez. “In practice, we do everything well.  It’s a little different in a game, of course, but we’re all optimistic.”

Majors

While the minors are in Powell, the majors are in Lovell competing at an interleague tournament of their own.  

The Bandits drew the top seed and will play their first game tonight at 7 p.m., facing either the Powell Pirates or the Powell Red Sox. On the other side of the bracket are the Lovell Red Sox, the Powell Yankees and the Lovell Yankees.

The championship game is set for Friday at 5:30 p.m. on the Lovell complex’s south field.

The Bandit roster includes Ashtun Winkler, Daniel Stamstad, Jayden Waddell, Jesse Craft, Jesse Reber, Joseph Campos, Kade Julson, Kingston Schedler, Korbin Stewart, Kruson Keisel and Quiade Houchin.

In action last week, the Bandits pounded Otto 16-4 and Thermopolis 19-1.  

In the Otto game, Jesse Craft came on in the second and limited the Rattlers to just a single hit across 2 2/3 innings.  Waddell and Craft each had a double and a triple to lead the attack.

The Bandits got inside-the-park homers from Julson, Schedler, Stewart and Winkler in the win over Thermopolis.  On the mound, Stewart pitched two shutout innings before giving way to Houchin who worked the final two.