Bandits leave it all on the field

Majors, minors each go 1-2 at district tourneys

The baseball season in south Big Horn County ended last weekend, with the Bandit majors and minors each earning a win on their home turf and the Bandit seniors producing one of their best efforts of the season in a loss to Laramie.

While none of local teams are advancing to the next round, each took something positive away from their efforts. And the league itself had banner weekend, a successfully hosting its largest undertaking to date.

Including the two local teams, the district majors and minors tournaments featured 19 teams (11 majors, eight minors) and five straight days of games on the east and west fields of the Art Schutte Sports Complex.  The east field got fresh sod earlier this spring and passed its first test.

“It was overwhelming, but once we got into our groove, everything fell into place,” said Curtis Johnson, the tournament organizer.

Minors

The Bandit minors went 1-2, with their lone win, a 16-5 victory over Riverton, coming in their second pool play game on Thursday.  But that was sandwiched between a pair of losses to Bridger Valley, the second of which ended their season.  The scores were 11-7 in Wednesday’s pool play opener and 18-6 in the opening round of the bracketed tournament on Friday.

Coach Edgar Hernandez said his team did a lot of things well, but pitching wasn’t one of them.

“That’s what killed us,” he said. “We should have beaten Bridger Valley. 

“I think we had the team to do it.”

In their only win of the tournament, the Bandits got solid pitching from Buxston Shipley and Cruz Allen, who limited Riverton to five runs across four innings.  Jace Davison and Crandall Whitaker were each credited with two RBIs.  The Bandits benefited from 19 walks.

The Bandits produced more hits in their two losses, collecting five and eight in the two games against Bridger Valley.  But in those contests, Bridger Valley pounced on the Bandit starter in the opening inning, scoring five and 10 runs.

“The boys hit well ... and it was a good learning experience for me, in terms of what to expect and where we need to improve,” said Hernandez, adding the core of this year’ All-Star team is likely to move up to majors next year.

North Big Horn won the minors tournament.

Majors

The Bandit majors had a similar weekend — the only difference was, their kryptonite was North Big Horn, not Bridger Valley.  Like the minors, the majors notched a pool-play win over Riverton, winning 15-6.

But they could not solve North Big Horn, losing 19-16 and 10-8.  The latter, in the opening round of the single elimination tourney, ended their season.

“The kids played a heck of a game every time out,” said Coach Will Houchin. “Pushing these kids to their limits isn’t always the easiest — emotions fly with 12-year-old boys and getting them back under control is time consuming — but they were tough, resilient and played their hearts out.

“Every now and then, you just come up against a better team.”

Seniors

The Bandit seniors went 0-3 at the Wyoming Senior Little League State Tournament in Douglas, losing to Rawlins 15-0 and Laramie 15-7 in pool play before bowing out with a 19-1 loss to eventual champion Torrington.

Coach Chris Dunlap blamed first-game jitters for his team’s poor showing against Rawlins and said every team in the field struggled to measure up to Torrington. “They 15-runned everyone they played and the only one they didn’t, they 10-runned after five, so they were clearly the best team there.”

The Laramie game was the highlight of the weekend, Dunlap said. “We were in it all the way through — in fact, it was a two-run game into the sixth inning.  We had a couple of errors and the game kind of got away from us, but we had a real chance of winning that one.

“We had some great plays in the outfield, the kids were fired up and the bats were swinging pretty good, too.  It may have been the best game we’ve played all year.”

The team lost more games than it won, but Dunlap said he was still proud of the kids’ progress.

“I hope this group returns next year — I think they had a lot of fun and they certainly came a long way,” he said.