Senior Bandits win a nine-inning marathon in Worland

Week three of the South Big Horn Little League season produced one of the highest scoring and longest games in recent memory.

The Bandit seniors outlasted Worland 32-18 Saturday evening in a nine-inning game that took 4 1/2 hours to play and saw 46 walks, 31 hits and 23 strikeouts.

Chris Dunlap, who manages the Greybull-Basin nine, said a good time was had by all.

“Worland hadn’t had any games and (its manager) has 17 kids on his team, so he was wanting to run a nine-inning game so he could give all his pitchers a chance to pitch and all his players a chance to play.

“From our perspective, with as few games as we have on the schedule, we were totally on board as well. It was a lot of fun ... and beneficial for both sides to get everyone in the game and a lot of at-bats.”

Brendyn DeShazer, Carter Dunlap, Jack Olmstead and Noah Blakeley handled the pitching chores for the Bandits. 

At the plate, every Bandit scored at least one run, with Olmsead crossing the dish five times.  Blakely led the hit parade with three while Dunlap, Kayson Herebia, Colt Collingwood, DeShazer and Marshall Brown each had two.

Coach Dunlap credited his team for keeping its composure after Worland put seven on the board in the first inning, due at least in part to fielding errors.

“The kids came back in the second inning and the rest of the game and played really well,” he said. “The effort has always been there, but now their skills are starting to improve.

“When they’re focused, they can do three-up, three-down innings when the pitcher is on, so it’s nice to see they’re executing what we’re practicing.”

Dunlap said the win lifted the team’s confidence after an 11-1 loss to Lovell’s American Legion C team on Tuesday, May 15.  The contest was shortened to four innings due to inclement weather.

Quin Coyne had the Bandits’ only hit.

Olmstead pitched 2 1/3 innings and Blakeley 1 1/3.

The Bandits will be back at home Tuesday, May 27, hosting Thermopolis. First pitch is at 5:30 p.m.

Majors

The majors did not play last week, but have a pair of doubleheaders against Powell scheduled this week.  Tuesday’s games were in Powell, but tonight’s are at the Greybull field at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

Minors

The third week of the season featured another intraleague matchup.  This time, the Bandits led by Curtis Johnson got the better of the Bandits guided by Edgar Hernandez by an 8-6 score.

Each team was credited with three hits. Team Johnson’s came from Ainsley Mulley, Deklan Brown and Asher Lindgren and Team Hernandez’s from Amelia Kunkel, Jaxon Johnston and Levi Hernandez.

Paxton Reiter pitched a four-inning complete game for Team Johnson, surrendering three hits and eight walks while fanning nine.

Henry Emmett started for Team Hernandez and limited opposing batters to just two runs in the first two innings before giving way to Lane Collingwood and Levi Hernandez, who worked the final two.

Team Hernandez played a second game last week, losing 11-1 to a team from Lovell Tuesday, May 13.  The Bandits were no-hit in the three-inning contest.