Bandits place second once again

The West Plains Bandits 16U fastpitch softball team found themselves in familiar territory at the end of last weekend's Spokane Youth Softball Fourth of July Shootout.

The Bandits split their games Friday and Saturday at Spokane's Dwight Merkel Sports Complex to land in Sunday's Sparkler Division title game where they finished as they did in their previous tournament - second.

"We seem to not be able to get over the second-place hump," Bandits head coach Byron Pavao said in an email.

The Bandits had their best offensive performance of the summer so far in Spokane, batting .336 as a team in earning wins over fellow 16U teams Coeur d'Alene Crush-Dement, 6-3, and the Spokane Stealth 99, 14-1, before falling in the title game 9-7 to the Montana Avalanche-Miltko. Where they didn't do so well was against 18U teams, losing 12-2 Friday to the North Idaho Xtreme Gold and 7-2 to the Menace Northwest in their first game Saturday.

"The tournament ended up being a combo 16U/18U tourney with 21 teams," Pavao said. "We played the teams in our age group really close but struggled a little against the 18U gold CDA (North Idaho) Xtreme who ended up winning the whole tourney."

The Bandits scored two runs in the first, three in the second and one in the sixth to open a 6-0 lead in their opening win over the Crush. West Plains banged out 12 hits, with Rachel Barsness going 3 for 3 and Glori Cheevers, Kaitlyn Kinzel, Sarah Mayer and Hannah Petek each 2 for 3. Cheevers, Kinzel and Mayer each had two RBIs.

Taylor John gave up two earned runs on five hits, walked two and struck out 13 in getting the complete-game, seven-inning win.

In Friday's nightcap, North Idaho opened a 12-0 lead before the Bandits got on the board in the bottom of the fifth on Petek's two-RBI single. Petek and Cheevers had the only hits off three Xtreme pitchers.

Grace Lilje took the loss on the mound, with Lexi Gonzalez coming on in relief in the fourth inning.

Saturday, the Bandits stayed close to the 18U Menace, trailing 3-2 before the team from West Richland scored four runs in the fifth for the win. West Plains rebounded in the afternoon game against the Stealth, breaking open a 3-0 game with a four-run fourth keyed by John's three-run double.

The Bandits scored three in the fifth and four in the seventh in the 14-1 win. Offensively, John was 4 for 4 for with a pair of doubles and five RBIs; Cheevers was 3 for 3 with two RBIs while Mayer was 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Lilje got the complete game win, giving up no earned runs and just four hits while walking two and striking out three. The Stealth's run came on a fielding error in the third.

In the title game Sunday, West Plains staked a 6-3 lead against the Avalanche with four runs in the top of the fourth, two on Hannah Madsen's double. But the team from Montana tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the frame, and took a 9-6 lead with three more in the sixth, the big hit being Sadie Wirz's two-run double.

Lilje began the Bandits rally in the top of the seventh with a lead-off double, advancing to third on a wild pitch and scoring on Taylor Pavao's groundout to second. Cheevers followed by reaching base on a throwing error, only to have Avalanche pitcher Hannah Hirning shut the door with groundouts by Kinzel and John to secure the Sparkler Division title.

Lilje was 3 for 4 and Cheevers 2 for 4 to lead the Bandits offensively. John took the loss, giving up six runs on six hits, with Lilje coming on in relief in the fourth.

Overall, the Bandits are 7-9 in tournament play. Next for West Plains is the 16U B national qualifier, July 17-19 in Spokane.

John McCallum can be reached at jmacheneyfreepress.com.