Bandits claim Wood Bat championship

The Spokane Bandits needed just one pitcher to showcase the team’s overall pitching depth Sunday afternoon.

Max Manix scattered six hits over seven innings and kept the Bandits afloat before the bats warmed up in a 3-2 victory over the Twin City Titans in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Wood Bat Classic baseball tournament title game at Gonzaga’s Patterson Baseball Complex.

The victory secured the Bandits’ second consecutive Wood Bat Classic championship.

Manix hadn’t toed the pitcher’s rubber during his team’s previous five tournament games. While he remained indefatigable, Twin City used four pitchers in what ultimately was a futile attempt to hold a slim lead in the late innings.

“We have quite a bit of depth in our pitching roster,” said Manix, who didn’t allow an earned run and struck out six. “We had a bunch of pitchers throw real well in the first few games. … I had a few days off to throw. I got off to a rough start, but then I started locating my pitches.”

The Bandits trailed 2-1 before rallying against the Titans’ third pitcher, Kyle Stumetz. Danny Jordan, Jacob Olsufka and Billy Moon rapped out consecutive singles to lead off the sixth, the last of which scored Jordan to knot the score at 2-2.

Facing Twin City’s fourth pitcher, Eric Yardley, three batters later, Michael Holmes slapped a bloop single down the right-field line with the bases loaded to drive in Olsufka with the go-ahead run.

“They were getting deep into their bullpen,” Holmes said. “Whenever that happens, you know it’s not their No. 1 guy throwing against you. You can sit back and look at a nice pitch to hit.”

Manix retired the Titans in order in the seventh to seal the victory.

“We have seven guys that can throw,” Spokane coach Steve Bennett said. “They all throw well enough that they can go deep in games. … Even if that doesn’t happen, we have a couple guys who can bounce back quickly.”

Bennett credited Manix for settling down after surrendering three hits in the first two innings and an unearned run in the third.

“He didn’t look comfortable, but he battled through it,” Bennett said. “From the third inning on, he found a groove. Then he started throwing three pitches for strikes. It’s a testament to Max for how hard he works on his pitching.”

Three Bandits errors led to Twin City’s first run, but Spokane countered in the bottom half of the third when Olsufka’s run-scoring fielder’s choice plated Connor Roff for a 1-1 tie.

Houston Castillo singled for the Titans in the fourth, stole second base and scored on Eric Yardley’s two-out single for a one-run lead.

Jordan finished with two hits for Spokane. Castillo had two hits for Twin City, which consists of players from Kennewick and Richland.

“In the Junior tournament, Hawaii-Kailua scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and held on to defeated Central Valley 3-1 in the championship game.