Game Recap - Tale of Two Teams earns Bandits a Weekend Split.

The St. Croix River Bandits (3-5, 1-1) split games two 7-inning games with the St. Paul Mudhens (6-8) on Saturday afternoon. Jim Rochford started game one on the mound for the Bandits. The Mudhens struck right away in the first inning. Rochford walked the leadoff batter Peter Baldwin, who promptly stole 2nd base. Baldwin was able to move to 3rd base on a groundout. With one out, three-hole hitter, Austin Krohn, unexpectedly laid down a suicide squeeze. The ball bounced down between the mound and home plate. Rochford attempted to flip the ball to catcher Brian Jacobson with his glove, but the ball zipped over Jacobson's head, turning a sure-out at home into the Mudhen's first run. The Mudhens would get two two-out singles to score Krohn, and take a 2-0 lead. The Mudhens tacked on single runs in the 3rd and the 4th inning.

The Bandits offense in game one was baffled by Mudhens starting pitcher Josh Funk. Funk, a lefty freshman who pitches for Gustavus Adolphus College, wasn't a power pitcher, but had strong command and movement of his breaking pitches. The Bandits managed only three hits in the game, with their lone run coming off of an Adam Lewis sacrifice fly to centerfield in the 4th inning. Funk allowed only one more baserunner the rest of the game, defeating the Bandits 4-1.

After game one the Bandits regrouped. They changed from their old-school black jerseys/black caps to the new and fresh white jerseys and red caps. Apparantly, it made all the difference.

Trevor Todd was the starting Bandits pitcher for game two, and it took him only eight pitches, to retire the first three Mudhen batters. The Bandits jumped on the board first. Michael Chelberg walked, and Mike VanderPlas hit a 1-out double to left-centerfield. Brian Jacobson was able to smack a 2-out single to the outfield, scoring Chelberg and VanderPlas, giving the Bandits a 2-0 lead.

The Bandits scored another run in the bottom of the 2nd inning, when Scott Lindholm singled in Kyl Kahl from second base with two outs. The Bandits broke the game open in the 3rd inning with 5 hits, leading to 4 more runs. Again, clutch hitting was the difference, as Will Ball's 2-RBI single and Chelberg 2-RBI triple came with two outs.

The Bandits offensive explosion continued in the bottom of the 4th inning when Tim Wampfler doubled in Steve Siqueiros from first base, giving the Bandits a 8-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Trevor Todd was lights out on the mound. Todd did not allow a hit until the 4th inning, which turned into a double play on the very next pitch. Todd struck out six batters and walked none, allowing only the one hit.

The Bandits ended the game in the bottom of the 5th inning, invoking the 10-run rule. The Bandits scored three more runs off of four consecutive hits, culminating with VanderPlas's 2-run double and a Siqueiros sacrifice fly ball to score the last run.

In the post game press conference pitcher Jim Rochford has this to say. "The first game was a tough one. Funk had our batters off balance, his slider was dipping and diving in and out of the strike zone. All hats off to him, he mixed up his pitches real well. We could have fielded the ball a little better in game one and our pitchers need to do a better job of holding baserunners on first base. As for game 2, its really all positive. We had fifteen hits, five for extra bases, had great clutch hitting, stellar pitching, and good defense. We pulled it together and played a solid game."

If the Bandits have hopes of clinching their first ever playoff berth, they best hope the they play more game 2's than game 1's.

***NOTES***

Game One Boxscore can be found Here
Game Two Boxscore can be found Here

Game Balls

1. Michael Chelberg: 3-5, 2R, 2RBI, 3B, 2BB

2. Steve Siqueiros: 3-6, 3R, 2B, RBI

3. Trevor Todd: sure he only went 1-6 at the plate but 5IP, 1H, 6K, 0BB, 0R is good enough

Unheralded Hero(es) of the Day: Concessioneers and Deer Lake, maybe a combo of the two.

WOW Play of the Day: There was a VanderPlas - flying out of nowhere in right field catch in the first game. But there was no other play too out of the ordinary, so the award goes to the five extra base hits by Chelberg, VanderPlas (x2), Siqueiros, and Wampfler in game two, which is tied for most Bandits XBH in a single game.

Things heard on and off the Diamond:

Hey, how long have you been standing here -1 Bandit's 3rd base coach to another

Oh, I left my phone in Trevor's cooler....

I see that even when you are in a canoe you aren't working.

Players Missing in Action:

HS Posse - getting ready for Somerset on Tuesday, go Saints (Saints won 3-2...pow!)
Jeff Johnson - lost in translation

Next game is Sunday vs. Ellsworth at SCF 1pm.