Game Preview - @ Milaca 2pm and 4pm 7/7

The St. Croix River Bandits (4-11, 6-15) look to get back on track after suffering a big loss in Princeton on Thursday by playing two in Milaca against the Stingers (5-10) on what should be a hot Saturday afternoon. This is Milaca's first year also in the Eastern Minny League. Offensively, the Stingers are led by St. Cloud State's Ben Johnson who is batting .353 with 1 HR in 34 AB.

The Bandits will be playing 2 seven inning games in Milaca. Expected to take the mound for the Bandits will be Jim Rochford (who came off a stellar performance at Braham, and a not so stellar performance at the North v. South all-star game) and Michael Chelberg (looking to find a groove, and a spot in the rotation).

Forecast: HOT low 90's and slight chance of rain at 2pm but 0% chance after. (Hopefully we get some rain to cool the temp down a little!)

Game Recap - Princeton Panthers Maul River Bandits, 13-0

When I stated earlier this week that Princeton (13-3, 16-4) could hit the ball....I guess that was an understatement. The St. Croix River Bandits (4-11, 6-15) were manhandled 13-0 on Thursday night. As starting pitcher Brandon Pederson said, "anything I threw down the heart of the plate was just crushed." The Panthers were able to knock out eleven hits in six innings of batting, which included 2 home runs, 3 doubles, and a multitude of singles and hard hit outs. When the dust had settled Princeton had scored thirteen runs and the River Bandits struggled at the plate, recording only two hits (by Jordan Martell and Jesse Hartel).

Princeton's coach Jules Zimmer said, "our number 3 and 4 hitters are very tough outs, they both played D1 collegiate baseball, and could be playing even farther along if not for some bad timing with injuries." Jesse Zimmer and Tony Stay looked in mighty fine shape to the Bandits, going 4-7 and a walk combined and scoring 5 runs with 6 RBI.

The Panthers have won 10 straight, including victories over top league teams such as Chisago, Isanti and Mora. The last loss the Panthers suffered was back on June 5th to Hinckley in an 8-9 loss; where Hinckley scored 2 runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead.

Not much info for the Bandits, except (not to jinx anything) they have been playing some exceptional defense as of late. Once again they commited no errors for the second straight game and only have 1 error in their last 5 games. Pretty good turn-around for a team that had 56 errors in the first 14 games.

*Other Notes

*Bandits Boxscore click HERE

*Curtis Roebuck threw an inning of relief and did not give up a home run

*Missing in action on Thursday was Mitch Thompson (playing in a legion all star game) Mike Leahy, Sean Weinberg, and Nick Hartman

*Princeton has one of the nicer fields in the league

Game Preview - @ Princeton, Thurs 7/5 7:30pm

The St. Croix River Bandits (4-10, 6-14) are coming off of a win last Saturday, and hope to continue their winning ways Thursday night against a tough Princeton Panthers team (12-3, 15-4). The Panthers outscored the Bandits in their first outing earlier this year 10-7 in a game that was sloppily played by both teams, combining for eight errors. However, the Panthers were also without their star middle infielder, Jesse Zimmer, who leads the Eastern Minny League with 9 home runs and 22 RBI. Zimmer's closest competitor in the home run race is also his teammate, Tony Stay (4 HR). Princeton's team batting average is .285. If the Bandits want to win, they better be ready to swing the bats.

The Bandits plan to throw recent Amery graduate Brandon Pederson, who made his first pitching performance earlier this year versus Mora. Pederson threw 8 innings in relief and gave up only 2 earned runs while striking out 7.

North v. South Game in Oakey Park, Osceola 7/3 7:15 start

Come out and watch some of your favorite River Bandits play in the North-South game on Tuesday at Oakey Park. In attendance should be Brian Jacobson, Jordan Martell, Scott Lindholm, Trevor Todd, and Jim Rochford. Should be a fun all-around event.

Don't forget the Bandits play 4 games this weekend 1 Thursday @ Princeton, 2 Saturday @ Milaca, and 1 Sunday v. Chisago at Oakey Park!