West Plains Bandits finish second at Fall Classic in Spokane

The West Plains Bandits softball team brought home a second-place finish at the Spokane ASA Fall Classic Tournament in games played Sept. 6-7 at Franklin Park in Spokane.

The Bandits went 3-0 in Saturday play with wins over the Spokane Mudhens, Spokane Diamonds and the Washington Spirit, going to 4-0 with a Sunday win over the Diamonds before falling in the title game to the Mudhens, 10-7.

West Plains rallied in its last at bat in game one against the Mudhens, getting a one-out walk to Lexi Gonzalez and a single by Alex Steinmetz. With two outs, Hailey Hostetter hit a ball to third that the Mudhens third baseman failed to handle, allowing Gonzalez and Steinmetz to score for the 5-4 win.

Taylor Pavao pitched one inning of relief to get the win while Rachel Barsness was 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead the Bandits offense.

In game two, the Bandits had their way with the Diamonds, opening a 5-1 lead after the first inning and cruising to a 14-5 win. Pavao, Hannah Madsen and Sarah Mayer were all 2 for 3 at the plate, with Pavao driving in four runs and Madsen three. Taylor John was 2 for 2, with Gonzalez giving up one earned run over five innings to get the win on the mound.

West Plains wrapped up the day with a 12-2 win over the Spirit. John pitched a complete game, giving up two earned runs while striking out 10. Barsness was 2 for 3 and Madsen was 2 for 2, with four players - Madsen, Kaitlyn Kinszel, John and Steinmetz - each driving in two runs.

The Bandits opened Sunday with another convincing win, 13-1 over the Diamonds. Madsen was 2 for 3, including a double, and 5 RBIs. John got the complete game win on the mound, giving up one earned run while striking out seven.

West Plains broke a 1-1 tie with the Mudhens in the title game with three runs in the third and fourth innings, taking a 7-3 lead. But a pair of Bandits errors helped the Mudhens score four runs in the fifth and three in the sixth en route to the 14U championship win.

"The girls played well and should have won the championship, but (they) had a little let down in the middle innings that opened the door for the Mudhens to get back ahead of us," Bandits head coach Byron Pavao wrote in an email.

Taylor Pavao and Glori Cheevers both went 2 for 3, with Cheevers collecting 2 RBIs. John took the loss, giving up seven earned runs over seven innings.

Madsen led all hitters that played all five games with a .571 average for the tournament, followed by Pavao at .538 and Grace Lilje at .500. John went 2-1 on the mound with a 4.67 ERA. In the field, the Bandits committed 17 errors for a .827 fielding percentage.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].