The West Plains Bandits softball team began their 2015 summer campaign by competing in the North Idaho (NI) Xtreme Tournament May 29-31 in Coeur d’Alene. The Bandits went 2-3 for fifth place in the eight-team U16 Division.
West Plains opened with a 1-0 loss Friday to NI Xtreme 98 in a pitchers duel between North Idaho’s Kayla Patton and the Bandits Taylor John. Both were stingy when it came to hits, giving up just four each.
John made 82 pitches over six innings, throwing 60 for strikes while walking one, hitting one batter and striking out eight. Her only mistake was in the bottom of the third inning to leadoff hitter Miranda Amos, who stroked a 0-2 pitch over the fence for a home run.
West Plains’ four hits were all singles by Rachel Barsness, Glori Cheevers, Kaitlyn Kinzel and John.
The Bandits opened Saturday with a 7-3 win over Spokane Stealth 99-Henrickson, getting four runs in the bottom of the second on bases loaded walks to Lexi Jo Johnson and Macey Finch along with a two-RBI single by Barsness to open a 5-0 lead. Barsness led off the first with a single and eventually came around to score to put the Bandits on the board first.
After the Stealth crept closer with three runs in the fourth, West Plains added runs in the fifth on a Stealth throwing error scoring Taylor Pavao and an RBI single by Steinmetz scoring John. The Bandits had eight hits, with Barsness going 2 for 2, Pavao and John 1 for 2 and Cheevers and Sarah Mayer 1 for 3.
Finch got the win, giving up three earned runs on five hits while walking three and striking out eight over six innings.
In Saturday’s nightcap the Bandits experienced their second loss, a 3-1 setback to the Calgary Adrenaline. The Adrenaline scored runs in the second, third and fourth off West Plains’ starter John, including a solo home run in the second.
John scored the Bandits’ only run on an RBI single by Johnson in the fourth. Cheevers went 3 for 3 to lead West Plains’ six-hit attack while John took the loss, giving up two earned runs on nine hits in five innings.
In the first game Sunday, Ashley Kaufman threw a six-inning no-hitter to lead NI Xtreme 99-Craig to a 4-1 over the Bandits. North Idaho capitalized on three West Plains throwing errors to score two runs in the second and one in the third for the win.
West Plains only run came in the top of the fifth when Hannah Petek walked, advanced to second on Cheevers’ ground out, took third on a throwing error and scored on Kinzel’s ground out to short. John took the loss, giving up four runs, one earned, on seven hits while walking one and striking out two.
West Plains wrapped up Sunday with a convincing 10-0 win over Calgary Kaisen-99. The Bandits scored five runs in the bottom of the first on two-out RBI singles by Cheevers and Kinzel, a two-RBI triple by Finch and a Calgary fielding error. West Plains added two insurance runs in the second, and three more in the third for the win.
Finch got the win, giving up just five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in four innings. Mayer was 2 for 2 with two RBIs, Pavao and Kinzel both went 2 for 2 while Finch and Hannah Madsen both went 1 for 2 with two RBIs.
Overall, Cheevers led the Bandits offensively with a .545 batting average, a .615 on-base percentage and a .727 slugging percentage, going 11 for 13 at the plate over five games. Overall, West Plains was 29 for 126 (.266) with 19 runs, 17 RBIs.
Despite going 0-3, John posted a 1.69 earned run average over 16 2/3 innings of work, giving up 20 hits while striking out 11 and walking one. Finch collected both wins, posting a 2.10 ERA over 10 innings, giving up 10 hits while striking out 13 and walking three.
Together, John and Finch had a 1.84 ERA for the tournament. The Bandits committed eight errors over 57 opportunities for a .913 fielding percentage.
“Even though our record was 2-3, we played well and every loss was really close,” Bandits head coach Byron Pavao said. “We had quite a few chances to win but couldn’t get key hits with runners in scoring position.”
West Plains has moved up to the more difficult U16 Division this season. Most of the games the Bandits will play will be against teams that recruited players from Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.
West Plains next takes the diamond at the Spokane Girls Fastpitch Softball Association Summer Classic June 12-14.
John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].
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