june2006

Fantastic Final in Elkhart Iowa Liberty Bank Albaugh Invitational

June 13, 2006

Elkhart, IA

Elkhart, Iowa

First of all, the Pueblo Bandits would like to thank all of the folks in
Elkhart for putting on a great tournament despite difficult weather
conditions. Great job!

A few brave fastball fans braved the elements on Sunday at Memorial Park.
With gusty winds, light drizzle, and falling temperatures, those still in
attendance were rewarded with a good old fashioned, 1-0 championship nail
biter. The sun even crept out for the last couple of innings to warm up the
air as the drama on the field unfolded. In the end, the Pueblo Bandits
prevailed over the Minndak Millers in a classic pitchers duel. The Bandits
scored in the top of the 8th on a sacrifice fly. The Millers had the tying
run gunned down at the dish by Bandit center fielder Frank Basurto in the
bottom half of the 8th. Standout Bandit hurler, Jeremy Manley battled
injury, and inclement weather to earn his fifth win in five starts on the
weekend. Rob Schweyer took the tough loss after a well-pitched effort for
the Millers. World-class ISC stat man Bret Baughman should post box scores
and/or game summaries soon.


Manley allowed only two earned runs the entire weekend. The Bandits
posted a 5-1 mark on the weekend reaching the finals for the fourth time in
four tournaments, winning three. Pueblo is now 7-2 against top 20 teams this
season including wins over Team Rainey, Circle Tap, and stand 2-0 against
both the Minndak Millers and Quad City Sox. The Bandits have split 1-1 with
Socal and are 0-1 vs. Albaugh. Manley is 6-1 in those games with Peter
Mersereau going 0-1 in his lone start against a ranked opponent in Albaugh.
The Bandits are playing well and looking to improve on their current #19
ranking. (Somehow slipping from #18 a month ago) Manager Chris Santos is
proud to point out that "the Bandits compete in every tournament without
picking up non roster, big name players, even when we are short handed. We
play with the guys on our roster, not everyone can say that." Pueblo has
been getting big contributions from the entire lineup all season. This
weekends notable performances were by SS Lauro Felix, 2B Gabe Moraga, C/1B
Dave Frank, and CF Frank Basurto for key defensive plays and timely hitting.

Mike Kelley
mkelley@frontier-radio.com

 


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