The Cranbrook Bandits made it a sweep for their home-opener this weekend, defeating the Libby Loggers twice during a double-header on Saturday afternoon at Confederation Park.
In the first game, the Bandits erased a 9-4 deficit, coming back to win 11-9 after seven innings. They followed it up with a 14-5 victory in an immediate rematch.
Libby scored six runs in the third inning, adding up to a six-run lead over the Bandits. However, the Bandits came back with a monster inning of their own in the fifth, scoring seven runs to complete the comeback and take the win.
Both Jake Bromley and Brenden Bird had a pair of RBI’s, while Connor Armstrong, Cedar Kemp and Kei Chlopan also brought runners home.
Bromley, Bird and Chlopan scored two runs each, while Devon Marra, Brandon Ouilette, Rylan D’Etchevery, Armstrong and Tyler Thorn also put the Bandits up on the board.
Kemp and Chlopan shared the majority of pitching duties, while Marra went up on the mound for roughly one inning. Chlopan allowed two hits, walked three and struck out three, while Kemp gave up four hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
Marra closed it out, with four strikeouts and allowing no hits for the Loggers.
Libby went up to an early 3-0 lead, but Chlopan scored on an error, and Bird followed up soon after, making it across home plate on a wild pitch from third base.
In the second, Bromley scored from third base off a wild pitch, and Chlopan brought Armstrong home for a 4-3 lead at the bottom of the inning.
That’s when the wheels fell off a bit.
The Loggers scored six runs, taking advantage of some good hits and some defensive errors by the Bandits for a commanding 9-4 lead heading into the top of the fourth.
However, Cranbrook tightened up afterwards, and didn’t allow a run for the rest of the game.
The team then rallied for a monster inning of their own, scoring seven runs in the fifth for a 11-9 lead, with both sides holding each other off the board for the rest of the game.
The two teams immediately went back at it for a rematch, and it was the Bandits that built up a lead this time and didn’t look back to earn a 14-5 win.
Cranbrook scored seven runs in the second inning, and four in the third, constructing a 12-5 lead heading into the fifth.
Ouilette and Chlopan both had big games with the bats, hitting three RBI’s apiece. Bird also brought home two runners, while Thorn, Armstrong, and Marra also made hits that allowed the Bandits to score.
The Bandits went to work on offence with 17 hits, and everyone, save for one, scored a run for the team over the course of the game.
Ouilette and Kemp shared pitching duties—both allowed four hits, but threw for two strikeouts.
Following their home action, the Cranbrook team headed down to Whitefish on Sunday and extended their winning streak with another pair of wins against the Glacier ‘B’ team.
It was a blowout in the first game, as the Bandits scored often and early to win 14-0 after five innings. The Glaciers picked up their socks in the rematch, but the Bandits came out on top of an 8-4 decision.
After three innings in the first game, the Bandits were up nine runs, taking advantage of some solid hits, passed balls and defensive errors from their hosts. Cranbrook added five more runs in the fourth to round out the final score at 14-0.
Marra pitched a shutout, with no runs on four hits while throwing six strikeouts.
Marra followed up with another big effort in the second game of the double-header, both at bat and on the mound, leading the Bandits to an 8-4 win.
He hit a triple in the third and doubled in the seventh and also threw four strikeouts and gave up just one hit during two innings.
Tyler Thorn pitched four innings, giving up three hits, striking out four and walking three.
The Bandits were up 5-0 after three innings before the Glaciers scored twice in the fifth and sixth to make it a one-run game. However, the Cranbrook bats went to work in the seventh, and the Bandits posted 3 runs to pick up the victory.