Bandits advance to State Tournament with playoff win over Sioux Falls East

BROOKINGS - The Brookings Bandits punched their ticket to the Class A Legion State Baseball Tournament on Thursday night as they won a three-game playoff series against Sioux Falls East.

The No. 5 seeded Bandits won game one on Wednesday 8-2. Sioux Falls East forced a winner-take-all game three with a 8-6 win on Thursday afternoon. However, Brookings bounced back with a 7-1 victory in game three to take the series.

The State Tournament will be played in Rapid City July 28-Aug. 1.

Wednesday

Game One

Brookings 8, SF East 2

The Bandits jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three innings and cruised to victory in game one.

Cooper Schneider sent Baker Hanson home in the bottom of the first inning to give Brookings a 1-0 lead. The Bandits then struck for five runs in the bottom of the third. 

Jase Bauer scored on a wild pitch and then Jay Harris hit a two-run single to make it 4-0. Harris scored on a Nolan Wagner single and Wagner would then come home on a single from Ben Schulte to push the lead to 6-0.

The Bandits knocked in two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jude Meendering stole home and then Hanson scored on a passed ball to make it 8-0. SF East would score two runs in the top of the seventh but that was not close to enough and the Bandits took game one.

The Bandits had nine hits as a team. Harris was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Schneider was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Wagner and Schulte were each 1-for-3 with an RBI. Bauer and Meendering were each 2-for-4 and Hanson was 1-for-3. 

Nolan Krogman pitched five and two thirds innings and gave up no runs and two hits with 11 strikeouts and two walks. Schneider pitched the final inning and a third and gave up two earned runs on five hits with a strikeout and a walk.

Thursday

Game Two

SF East 8, Brookings 6

SF East was up 6-0 through three innings and the Bandits tried to mount a comeback in the final two innings but came up short.

SF East scored three runs in the first inning. The first came on a bases loaded walk and then a two-run single made it 3-0. They would then score three runs in the third as well. The first two runs in the third came from a single and then a run on a ground out pushed the lead to 6-0.

The Bandits got on the board in the top of the fourth. Talon Hyde scored on a fielder’s choice from Krogman and then Noah Lease came home on a sacrifice fly from Meendering to make it 6-2 going into the bottom of the fourth.

SF East got one run back in the bottom of the fourth and scored another run in the bottom of the fifth. The run in the fourth came on a sacrifice fly and then an RBI double made it 8-2 going into the sixth.

Meendering scored on a passed ball in the top of the sixth and then Hanson scored on a sacrifice fly from Lease to make it 8-4 heading into the final inning.

The Bandits had the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the seventh. Hanson was then walked but Bauer struck out for the first out of the inning. Schneider would walk as well to make it 8-6 but then Hyde struck out and Lease grounded out to end the game.

Brookings had seven hits in the loss. Lease was 3-for-4 with an RBI and Meendering was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Harris was 1-for-3 and Hyde was 1-for-5. Hanson, Schneider and Krogman each had an RBI without a hit.

Tane Friedrich got the start on the mound for the Bandits and he pitched an inning and a third. He gave up three earned runs on four hits with a strikeout and a walk. Maxten Jensen pitched the final four and two thirds and gave up five runs, four earned, on five hits with one strikeout and five walks.

Game Three

Brookings 7, SF East 1

The Bandits went up 3-0 in the second inning and didn’t look back, taking the series with a dominant win in game three.

Hyde scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the second to make it 1-0. Krogman then scored on a single from Schulte and then Wagner scored on a fielder’s choice from Bauer to make it 3-0.

SF East scored one run on a single in the top of the third. The Bandits got that run back in the bottom of the third when Lease scored on an error by the catcher. That made it 4-1 going into the fourth.

Brookings put the nail in the coffin in the fourth with three runs. Harris was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and then Schneider scored on a Hyde single to make it 6-1. Lease would then come home on a wild pitch to push the lead to 7-1 and that would be the final.

The Bandits had eight hits as a team. Hyde was 1-for-2 with an RBI and Schulte and Harris were each 1-for-3 with an RBI. Bauer was 1-for-4 with an RBI and Tre Christopherson was 2-for-4. Krogman was 1-for-2 and Lease was 1-for-3.

Jude Meendering pitched the first five innings and gave up one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Hanson pitched the final two innings and didn’t give up runs. He gave up two hits and had one strikeout and two walks.