Bandits Steal Victory From Blue Devils

American Legion Baseball

The two Spokane Senior American Legion baseball teams were polar opposites entering Wenatchee’s Apple Valley Invitational tournament.

The Silver Lanes Bandits had entered the tournament with a 2-13 record. The Northwest Athletics Blue Devils were 9-4.

The teams had played each other three times previously, with the Blue Devils winning all three.

But you wouldn’t have guessed it from the results of their final game Sunday, a wild 11-10 victory by the Bandits in the game for third and fourth places.

The game produced 17 runs in the last 1-1/2 innings.

The prevailing Bandits, with players from Ferris, Lewis and Clark, and Liberty, finished with a 4-1 tourney record that tripled their season win total.

They scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to give seldom-used but effective pitcher Craig King a 6-1 lead.

“Craig pitched six great innings,” said coach Mark Machtolf.

Then two hit batters, a walk, and two infield hits opened the floodgates on a 9-run seventh inning by the Blue Devils and a 10-6 lead.

Not to be outdone, the Bandits scored five runs in the bottom of the inning to win.

“Talk about a run of emotions,” said Mark Machtolf, assistant coach at Gonzaga University. “We’re going good, and I thought we had it under our belts.

“Then they score nine runs. Most teams would fold after that, but we did a good job coming back.” Oliver Pitschka singled to lead off the inning. Three walks and two hit batsmen in succession plus a base hit tied the score.

The Bandits won it on a checkswing one-out sacrifice fly by Ferris’ Mike Darigol.

The Bandits had opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over Everett. Following a 7-1 loss to the tourney runner-up Vancouver Cardinals in a game closer than the final score, the Bandits bounced back with 5-1 and 7-5 wins over South Kitsap and the Stilly River Rapids to finish second in their pool for a date with the Blue Devils, leaders of the Spokane Legion league.

His team’s turnaround in Wenatchee pleased Machtolf.

Liberty’s Eric Smith pitched a two-hit complete game. The team scored seven first-inning runs on five hits against the Rapids, enough for South Side pitchers Travis Webb and Nick Barnes.

The team got timely hits throughout the tournament by team-hitting leader Darigol, Travis Wiles, Colin Brum and Scott Washburn.

Most significant, said Machtolf, was the ability to come back from a four-run deficit in its last at-bat.

“It was frustrating early,” Machtolf said of the dearth of wins. “The challenge was seeing them improve and watching them get better individually. We have seen that.”

Kimmel cruisin’

Kimmel Athletic, Ferris’ Junior American Legion entrant, had a 7-0 record entering Wednesday’s games in the South Division of league.

The team was to host fellow unbeaten Whitman County in a doubleheader, its only opponent within three games in the standings.

Cheney’s Junior team was third at 6-3 with a game Wednesday. Cheney’s 16-U team was second at 5-2 behind Shadle Park in the Colt League.