Game Preview - Sat. 5/23 vs. East Bethel @ SCRB

The St. Croix River Bandits (0-2, 0-5) are in search of their first win of the season after a rough first couple of weeks. The Bandits have shown spots of good play, especially in the 4-3 loss to Grantsburg and a 3-0 loss to Plum City. The Bandits just have not received consistent hitting in their lineup, and while some games have been defensively sounds, a few others have been outright atrocious. The Bandits will play two seven innings games against another struggling Bandits team this weekend, the East Bethel Bandits (1-4). East Bethel won their season opener, a comeback against Milaca, but have since dropped their last four games, including a loss to, SCVBL team, New Richmond Millers. East Bethel has had their struggles defensively as well, averaging about 3 errors per game.

The East Bethel Bandits are led by Derek Williamson, who as a sophomore at Augsburg College, batted .292 in 32 games with 22 runs and 22 RBI. Williamson is in his third year playing for the East Bethel Bandits and has started off on a torrid pace, hitting .429 with 4 stolen bases in only 3 games. Williamson has stolen 20+ bases in each of his two seasons with the Bandits. The St. Croix River Bandits expect to see East Bethel's top two pitchers, Andrew Polum and Jeff Amann. Both pitchers boasted solid control numbers over their career, Amann picking up about a strikout an inning, and Polum walking only 2.2 per 9 innings.

The St. Croix River Bandits will counter game 1 with starting pitcher Jim Rochford taking the mound. Rochford is coming off of an Isanti game where he struggled in the first inning, and ended up losing the game 6-1. Rochford is confident that he can throw in another performance like the season opener vs. Grantsburg. Rochford commented, "That Isanti game was pretty weird, I ended up hitting 2 left handed batters in the 1st inning, if I get even 1 of those guys out, they score 1 run instead of 3. I actually felt pretty confident after the game, I didn't walk anyone, half their hits came in the first inning, and somehow I managed to strike out 4 guys.

As for game two, the Bandits (of St. Croix) have two options. If SP Adam Lewis can make the game, he will be dealing for the Bandits.....if not, you will see a menagerie of Bandits players attempting the position, due to a Jay Gagner injury and a Michael Chelberg college exam. If Lewis can't make it, expect to see the debut of Chris Chelberg, along with some work from Curtis Roebuck, John Peterson, Kyle Kahl, and Trevor Todd.

NOTE*********** BANDITS BASH SATURDAY 8PM - 12AM @ The Boulevard Bar and Grill