Georgia Bandits: 2005 Bandit Highlights
The Bandits Find Success in CooperstownThe Bandits traveled over 1000 miles to play some of the best teams from across the country at Cooperstown Dreams Park in Cooperstown, NY. After checking in to the village at Dreams Park on Friday the Bandits spent Saturday preparing for opening ceremonies and skills competitions. The opening ceremonies featured 3 skydivers jumping from an airplane and landing on the main field to deliver the baseball to open the tournament. In the skills competitions both Andy and Coty had good performances. On Sunday morning the 80 teams began pool play in the tournament. The Bandits opened with an 8:00am game against the Metro Detroit (MI) Dodgers. The Bandits received a strong pitching performance from Hunter and defeated the Dodgers 6-2. Hunter pitched a complete game and recorded 9 strikeouts. The Bandits returned to the field later Sunday afternoon and faced the Canfield (OH) Cardinals. The Bandits defeated the Cardinals 13-6. On Monday the Bandits began the day by defeating the Greater Glen Burnie (MD) Patriots 16-0. Zayne ended the game by hitting a Grandslam. Playing under the lights Monday evening the Bandits played good defense and had good pitching to record their second shutout with an 8-0 win over the Boys Of Baseball National Travel Team (AL). Entering Tuesday's games with a 4-0 record the Bandits ran into a tough Boynton Beach (FL) Eagles team. The Bandit's bats went cold and 3 errors contributed to a 3-0 loss to the Eagles. After regrouping the Bandits faced the Windemere (FL) Wildcats later Tuseday. The Bandits hammered the baseball defeating the Wildcats 14-1. Hunter had another outstanding outing on the mound. Travis homered twice and Zayne picked up his second and third homers of the tournament. One of Zayne's homeruns was his second grandslam. Wednesday morning the Bandits faced the Arizona Desert Blaze in their last pool game. The Blaze was a very strong team. The Blaze scored first to take a 1-0 lead. The Bandits fought back and tied the score in the first. The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth when the Bandits scrapped out another run for a 2-1 lead. The scored remained 2-1 until the top of the sixth when the Blaze went on top 3-2 on a 2 run homer. The Bandits could not score in the bottom half and dropped the game 3-2. Grayson pitched an outstanding game for the Bandits. Wednesday afternoon the Bandits began elimination play with a 6-3 defeat of the Emmorton (MD) Eagles. Zayne pitched a complete game to get the win. Our next game brought us back to the Boynton Beach (FL) Eagles for a rematch. The Eagles and the Bandits played one of the most exciting games of the entire tournament. Playing under the lights the Bandits and the Eagles battled for almost 3 hours and for 9 innings. As the crowds grew to watch both teams play their hearts out the Eagles finally plated the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning for a 3-2 win. The Bandits once again recieved a stellar pitching performance form Hunter who pitched the first 6 1/3 innings. Travis relieved him and came in throwing gas to get out of a jam. The loss ended the tournament for the Bandits but they played their hearts out and left it all on the field. The Bandits had a great Cooperstown experience. The team finished 6-3 and set 2 records. The Bandits now hold the record for the most Grandslams by a team (2) and Zayne holds the record for the most Grandslams by an individual player (2). Great job Bandits.
Bandits Are State Champions
The Bandits played a great tournament to bring home the Triple Crown State Championship. The Bandits opened the tournament with a 8-5 defeat of the Sharpsburg Cardinals. Next the Bandits had a huge first inning on the way to a 11-1 defeat of the Wills Park Wild Dogs. Then the rain came as the Bandits defeated the BUMC Titans 8-2 in a rainy mess. After Sunday's games were rained out the Bandits returned on Monday to defeat the Newnan Yankees 14-1 in the semi-finals. The Bandits played the Wills Park Fire for the Championship and blanked them 7-0 to bring home the title. Travis homered three times in the tournament and Zayne added one. The Bandits played outstanding defense throughout the tournament. The pitching was solid with an outstanding performance by Travis in the Championship game. Next up for the Bandits - COOPERSTOWN!!!!!
Bandits Finish Third At The Vipers May Classic
The Bandits traveled to Huntsville, AL and played in the North Alabama Vipers May Classic. After a rainout on Friday night the Bandits opened the tournament by scoring 4 runs in the last inning to defeat the North Alabama Giants 11-10. The Bandits then defeated the Gameday Athletics 14-2 to complete the rain shortened pool play. The Bandits faced the very strong Birmingham Bruisers in the semi-finals. Both teams played well but the Bruisers came out on top 5-2. There were some notable performances in the tournament: Connor joined the Bomb Squad with the first homer of his career. He got the Bandits started against the North Alabama Giants. Zayne gave the pitching staff a lift by throwing 3 strong innings against the Athletics. Travis came in in relief to pitch 4 great innings against the Bruisers.
Bandits Win USSSA Directors Cup Qualifier
The Bandits played sloppy on Saturday and dropped their first 2 ganes in pool play. Entering Sunday as the number 6 seed the Bandits defeated the South Georgia Blazers, Shiloh Stallions and the Gardendale Gunners to win the Championship. The Bandits had very strong pitching performances by Brett, Hunter, Travis and Grayson on Sunday. Travis connected for his 2nd homerun of the season in the championship game. Coty had an outstanding tournament at the plate.
Bandits Win USSSA Directors Cup Championship
The Bandits won the USSSA Directors Cup Championship in dramatic fashion. With one out in the bottom of the 6th inning and the Bandits trailing the Newnan Yankees 9-5 the Bandits rallied to score 5 runs to take the title 10-9. Connor Autry had an outstanding game at the plate and finished the rally with the game winning hit. Travis pitched well and kept us in the game after a sloppy start. Earlier in the tournament the Bandits defeated the Yankees and the Homeplate Spikes in pool play. Hunter connected for his 3rd homerun of the season.
Bandits Runner-Ups At The Tournament Of Champions
The Bandits traveled to Johnson City, TN and played in the Tournament of Champions hosted by the Greenville Marlins. Twenty-two teams from seven states attended the tournament and this was by far the best competition the Bandits have ever played. The Bandits opened the tournament by dropping a close game to the Charlotte Heat 4-3 on Friday night. On Saturday the Bandits won a close one in extra innings against the Memphis Tiger 8-7 before defeating the East Cobb Warriors 14-2 to complete pool play. Saturday night the Bandits opened bracket play with an 8-0 defeat of the Cherokee Reds in a game that did not end until 10:30pm. The Bandits were back at the park at 8:30am Sunday for a rematch with the Charlotte Heat. This time the Bandits got the bats rolling and defeated the Heat 10-6. In the semi-finals the Bandits defeated the host team Greenville Marlins 5-4 to get to the Championship against the NC Cleveland Indians. In the Championship game the Indians pounded the baseball and the Bandits ran out of gas dropping the game 14-3. Overall the Bandits played outstanding baseball all weekend. Zayne homered 3 times in the tournament and Hunter and Travis each added one. Tony did an outstanding job behind the plate throwing out runners trying to steal everyday of the tournament. Coty pitched a complete game shutout to give the pitching a big lift. The Bandits would like to compliment the Greenville Marlins for putting together the most competitive tournament that we have played to date. We appreciate the attention to detail that the hosts gave to ensure everyone had a great tournament.
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The Bandits played all around great baseball in route to winning the South Gwinnett Shootout. All of the Bandits contibuted to the success over the weekend. The Bandits defeated the South Gwinnet Storm in the championship 6-3 in a very well played game by both teams.
Bandits Test 11U Age Group
The Bandits played up in the 11U age group at the Winder-Barrow Dugout Classic. It took a little time to get used to the 50' mound and the 70' bases but the Bandits finished the tournament 2-2. Our bats looked good against some quality 11U pitching. After some defensive breakdowns early in the tournament we finshed up strong. We learned that if you leave a change-up up in the strike zone a big 11 year old will hit it into the parking lot (right Travis).
Bandits March Madness Runner-Ups
The Bandits finished in 2nd place in the March Madness USSSA Qualifier in Morrow over the weekend. The Bandits had to play three games in a row defeating the Jonesboro Cardinals 16-0, the Georgia Yard Dawgs 6-2 before fading in the championship and falling to the Gresham Park Indians 7-3. We got our bats rolling early with homeruns by Christian, Travis and Hunter (2). Brett and Andy also hit well all weekend.
Monday, February 28
Bandits Win Battle at The Rock
The Bandits opened the 2005 season by going 4-0 at the The Battle at The Rock tournament in Dawsonville. The Bandits defeated a strong North Gwinnett Bulldogs team in the championship game 7-1. Overall for the tournament the Bandits outscored their opponents 38-3.