Game Recap - Bandits Suffer Heartbreaker at Hands of Ellingson, Braves.

The St. Croix River Bandits (2-3, 4-7) suffered a tough loss at the hand of the Osceola Braves Sunday at home by the score of 5-4. There was a good crowd on-hand, as there usually is for the Braves-Bandits games, and they were treated to a great day of baseball in St. Croix Falls.

Trevor Todd started on the hill for the Bandits and buzzed through the first three innings of play. Todd didn't allow a hit until the third inning when Taylor Germaine slapped a one-out single to right field. However, one pitch later Todd picked Germaine off of first base before Germaine even took a step back to the bag.

Ross Benitz was the starting pitcher for the Braves and was getting into deep counts with many batters early in the game. Although the Bandits didn't score in the first two innings, Benitz had thrown a whopping 48 pitches. The Bandits took the lead in the bottom of the third inning. Bandits rookie and SCF high school senior Nick Johnson showed the why he is such a valuable asset to the team, by scoring the run nearly by himself. Johnson led off the inning with an infield single, which was fielded by Braves' shortstop Dave Measner. Measner threw the ball over to first base, but not only was it not in time - it was not on the mark, skidding past first baseman Steve Papke, allowing Johnson to reach second. Michael Chelberg then sacrifice bunted Johnson over to third base. Johnson scored on a passed ball by Braves' catcher Taylor Germaine, giving the Bandits the early 1-0 lead.

The Braves threatened in the top of the fourth inning. Benitz singled to lead off the inning, and then reached second base on a passed ball. However, Trevor Todd was able to work his magic again, and picked Benitz off of second base for the first out of the inning. Todd allowed consecutive singles to Measner and Ryan Rybicki. Jason Ellingson then popped out for the second out, and Droher walked to load the bases for Chris Kopp. On the second pitch of the at bat, Todd threw a wild pitch and Measner broke home to score and tie the game from third base. Bandits catcher Steve Siquieros was able to quickly recover the loose ball and flip it back to Todd who came in the cover home plate. Todd got the tag on Measner as he slid into home plate for the third and final out of the inning.

The next action came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Recent SCF high school graduate Matt Vold singled, and promptly stole second base. Bandits catcher Steve Siqueiros came to the plate with two outs and Vold still standing out at second base. Siqueiros smacked an 0-1 fastball to center field for a single, scoring Vold. Siqueiros, subsequently, was able to take second base on the play, as the center fielder threw home, over the cutoff, allowing Siqueiros to advance a base. The Bandits were able to take advantage of the miscue when Adam Lewis hit a soft grounder up the middle on the shortstop's side. Measner was able to scoop up the ball, but threw errant to first base. This allowed Siqueiros to score, and gave the Bandits a 3-0 edge after five innings.

In the sixth inning, the Braves started seeing Trevor Todd, real well. Todd had allowed only four hits up to this point in the game, but in the sixth the bats came alive for the Braves. Leadoff hitter Trent Fehlen hit a single, but was forced out at second base for the first out of the inning off a Benitz fielder's choice. Measner singled, and Rybicki continued his good day at the plate, hitting a double to right center field, scoring Benitz from second base, and cutting the lead to 3-1. The next batter, Jason Ellingson was 0-2 on the day, and was up 2-0 in the count before making two terrible cuts at the ball and evening the count to 2-2. The next swing Ellingson made, changed the course of the game. Ellingson hit a towering fly ball, deep to left field, clearing the fence for a three run home run, and the Braves took the lead 4-3.

The Bandits tied the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when Michael VanderPlas hit a 2-out double to left center field. Siquieros followed that up with his 3rd hit of the day, an RBI single to left field.

The eighth inning saw the Braves retake the lead. After striking out Ellingson to lead off the inning, Todd allowed three consecutive hits to Pete Droher, Chris Kopp, and Steve Papke. Papke's single scored Droher from second base. Todd was able to settle down and retire the next two batters.

While the Bandits didn't threaten in the eighth inning with Benitz nearly hitting 150 pitches for the day, when the Braves brought in Somerset High School's Jared Dettmann, for the save in the ninth inning, they certainly did. The bottom of the ninth started with a 10-pitch battled between seniors Jared Dettmann and Nick Johnson. Dettmann got ahead in the count early, but Johnson continued being patient working the count to full. Johnson fouled off four would be strikes before drawing a walk, putting the tying run at first base. Chelberg came to the plate, ready to bunt Johnson over, but couldn't get the job done - fouling off the first two pitches with bunt attempts. Johnson then stole second base on the next pitch. Chelberg was able to get to a full count, and after fouling off a pitch he was walked by Dettmann. Dettmann was then able to strikeout Matt Vold for the first out of the inning. Dettmann got ahead of the next batter, Michael VanderPlas, but then again struggled with his control walking his third batter of the inning. With the walk, the Bandits had the tying run 90 feet from the plate, and the winning run on second base. Steve Siqueiros came to plate, already with three hits on the day with one goal - get the ball to the outfield. Siqueiros hacked at the first pitch he saw, a fastball down the zone, but just got under it, popping it up just behind second base, where it was caught for the second out. The Bandits called upon coach-player Brian Jacobson to pinch hit for Adam Lewis. Jacobson cut and missed on the first offering by Dettmann, and got just on top of the next pitch he saw, dribbling it out in front of the pitcher. Dettman fielded the ball and his throw was true, getting the third and last out of the inning, and getting himself out of his own jam.

The Bandits drop to 2-3 in conference but have a whopping four conference games between June 20th and June 26th vs. Hudson, New Richmond, Menomonie, and River Falls - all on the road. It was a tough loss for the Bandits who had every chance to win the game from the first pitch to the last ball put in play. General Manager Jim Rochford had this to offer after the game. "Its going to be a tough next week for our team, we have four conference games coming up. Last year I would have been ecstatic if we went 2-2 over this stretch coming up, but I really would like to see us win the next three of four, but two wins is a must if we want to stay in the playoff hunt, and I think this team is good enough to do that. We aren't going to see Ross Benitzes every game we play, he is a great pitcher, great competitor and pitched one heck of a game. Same with (Trevor) Todd, those two guys combined threw for just under 300 pitches. Our defense did a solid job today with those young kids manning the infield. Our average infield age in the last week has dropped from 24.5 to 19.5 with the emergence of these former high school athletes. We only had seven hits today, but we put the ball in play, put pressure on their defense, and was patient at the plate. Hats off to Jason Ellingson, the guy goes 1-5 on the day, but it always seems that when it matters the most, he just kills us, and he certainly did today. All in all, a very tough and bitter loss, but I can safely say, that the days of the Braves beating the Bandits by 10 to 15 runs is over.

***NOTES***

Boxscores Here

Game Balls

1. Steve Siqueiros: 3-5, R, 2B, 2RBI, 1 tore open fingernail, 2 Caught Stealing, 1 nice base running mistake

2. Trevor Todd: 148 pitches, 9IP, 5ER, 3 pickoffs - the bases are unsafe for you runners...beware!!

3. Nick Johnson: 1-3, R, 2SB, 2BB, manufactured his own run, 90 feet from tying the game, 4 putouts, 4 assists, 1 error.

Unheralded Hero(es) of the Day: To 1) Brian Jacobson for his dedication to field preparation, Jake, I hope that you are reading this because we all appreciate the time and effort that you put in on the field before any of us get there, and sometimes well after all of us leave. Thanks. and 2) To all the fans that came out today, thanks! 3) For Braves fans its Dave Leske, this guy had our team scouted like he was some sort of pro advance scout.

WOW play of the Day: Okay, so lets pretend that Ellingson's HR isn't it...just pretend.., Trevor's accumulation of pickoffs isn't really just one play, and neither is Kyle Kahl's antics with the Braves roster. Lets go with Trevor Todd's "intentional" wild pitch that led Dave Measner to believe he could score from 3rd base, only to find out that Bandit's catcher Steve Siqueiros was in on the play too. Siqueiros rushed to the ball, and flipped it over to Todd for the third out in the inning. This play was key because it was still early in the game, the bases were loaded (albeit two outs) but the count to Chris Kopp would have gone to 2-0, after Trevor Todd had walked Pete Droher on four straight pitches.

Things Heard Around the Diamond:

"I like drawing with red because I like drawing bloody noses"

"The Ball was DEAD!" -hushed response- "You're Dead"

Pickoff #1 after runner not even attempting to make it back to the bag- "He got me, I just don't even know what else to say"

Same kid after attempted pickoff at 2nd base, first base coach "What's he doing out there." runner on first base response- "I don't think he's ever been on base before."

"Is the game on now, oh wait no its not....now?!?"

"Why are you asking the only guy who doesn't hit about how Benitz's pitches are moving?"

"Why don't you earhole me NOW!?"

-as a side note, this was an amazingly colorful game, I wish that I could remember half of what was said.

Players Missing in Action

Curtis Roebuck - working
Ben Anderson - working...i think
Tim Wampfler - working...i think...if you can really call that work
Jeff Johnson - working...i think...if you can really call that work...okay, never mind you were just sleeping...and speaking of....
Gus Koecher - you broke my heart.....

NEXT GAME: SUNDAY JUNE 20th @ HUDSON. T. Todd on the Hill. (unless we schedule some weekday game to play Siren - I'll keep you posted...)