Bandits gear up for end of the season

The St. Croix River Bandits have definitely had an up and down season this year. The Bandits started the season by going 4-2 in their first 6 games, including a conference win over perenial powerhouse Prescott Pirates. The Bandits dropped their next 6 games, before the finishing 2nd in the Bandits Bash Tournament in Cambridge. The Bandits dropped their next 3 games, before a great 4-2 victory over the Bay City Bombers in Bay City. The Bandits unfortunately couldn't carry that momentum over to Wanigan Day's weekend where they lost close games to Osceola and New Richmond.

The Bandits look to close out the season against Menomonie (Friday night @ Menomonie at 7:30pm), the SCF Legion team (Saturday, @ SCF 1pm), and an exhibition versus the Braves at Osceola (Wednesday, @ Osceola 7:00pm)

The Menomonie Eagles have already locked up there spot in the state playoffs 12-1 conference record. The Eagles beat the Bandits 4-1 in their first meeting. No word as to whether the Eagles will look to give their starters a rest or if they will be going full tilt into the playoffs. The Bandits will have Jay Gagner on the mound but unfortunately will be missing some key batters such as OF Mitch Thompson, IF Kyle Kahl, and C Jake Larcom.

The Bandits will try their luck in the battle of SCF on Saturday versus the 18-9 SCF legion team, the Blue A's. The Blue A's are led by Soph. Gus Koecher and Soph. Matt Vold, each batting over .520 for the season. The legion team lost their 9 games this season by a total of 11 runs. Head coach Scott Lindholm says, "There is no reason why this team couldn't have easily gone 26-1, or even 27-0."

The Bandits last game of the season will come against the Osceola Braves in their 3rd meeting of the season. The Braves defeated the Bandits 11-3, and 11-6 in their previous meetings, and hold the historical advantage of winning 4 of 5 games the two teams have played against each other.

Other Notes:
Scott Lindholm is posting a .295 batting average, 54 points higher than last season.
After a cold streak to start the season Curtis Roebuck is batting .315 (6/19 ) in the past 7 games, with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.
Jay Gagner is averaging 1.4 strikeouts per inning, thats roughly 12 a game.