It’s the end of the season for the Cranbrook Bandits senior squad as they lost their second game of the American Legion Class A West District Championships to the Glacier Twins.
The Bandits lost 6-3 to end their season on July 20, but the Bandits didn’t go down without a fight.
“We were knocking a few times with runners in scoring position and unfortunately we couldn’t cash them in,” explained Paul Mrazek, head coach.
“But, I’m very proud of the guys and their effort. The team and the program had a lot of compliments from a lot of people. I’m pretty happy with the season and where they went, unfortunately, would have loved to take a win from the Twins, but the boys played tough, they played great baseball the last two games.”
The Bandits had a rough start to the playoffs when they faced off against the host, the Libby Loggers on July 18 and recording a 20-3 loss.
“The first game did not go so well for us,” said Mrazek. “They hit extremely well, the best I’ve ever seen the Libby team hit. That combined with [us making] some errors and tough times they were able to capitalize on. We didn’t hit the ball very well, we only had five hits that game, so it was a tough loss, but the guys didn’t give up.”
However, they were able to stay alive with a 6-3 win against the Bitterroot Bucs on July 19.
“They rebounded very well and we went out and knocked out the Bucs. Carson Meggison threw a great game, a complete game. He had a no-hitter going into the top of the seventh. The guys competed hard with multiple double plays, they just never gave up,” said Mrazek.
It was a complete team effort at the district championships, and Mrazek said he was proud of how they played overall, especially in the second and third games.
“When you get to districts, especially in our district, everyone is peaking and it’s very good baseball, the teams are strong,” he said.
Mrazek noted the pitching of Meggison, Quinn Grist and Greg Rebagliati was good all weekend. As well, he adds there were important plays made by everyone.
“Ryley Ducharme in the outfield amazed the fans with a great sliding catch at the fence in foul territory. Greg Rebagliati took a probably double or triple away from a guy. He went slamming, running hard to the fence … they went all out it was great,” said Mrazek.
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The Bandits also had Meggison and Rebagliati named to the Western A All-District 1st team, and Allison Schroder was an honourable mention.
“This is the first time that any of our players have made All-District,” added Mrazek.
The Bandits finished the 2019 regular season with a 10-10 conference record and a 20-17 overall record.
“For the two individual teams in the overall program it was a great season,” said Mrazek.
While it’s the end of the season for the Bandits, they will also be saying goodbye to six players that will age out those are Alex Smith, Tanner McLean, Meggison, Quinn Grist, Parker Thomson and Hayden Mastel.
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