The Cranbrook Senior Bandits closed out their American Legion Baseball season at the 2019 West “A” District Playoffs in Libby, Montana, finishing in in fifth place.
Suffering a big 20-3 loss to the Libby Loggers in their opening game of the tournament on Thursday, the Senior Bandits would keep their playoff hopes alive with a 6-3 win over the Bitterroot Bucs on Friday.
Giving themselves a chance of climb back out of the Loser’s Bracket, the Bandits would go head-to-head with the Glacier Twins. Despite their efforts to stay alive, the Bandits would be eliminated by the Twins, losing 6-3.
The Glacier Twins would eventually go on to battle in Monday’s West “A” District Championship against the Mission Valley Mariners.
Cranbrook’s elimination from Districts marked the end of the minor baseball careers of six players, who have all since graduated out of the program.
Quinn Grist, Carson Meggison, Tanner McLean, Hayden Mastel, Parker Thomson, and Alex Smith are all moving on from the program, accounting for most of the Senior Bandits. Just four players are slated to return to the Senior Bandits next season, opening the door for several Junior Bandits players to make the jump next year such as Fisher Nelson, Michael Schieman, and Drake Simek.
The Cranbrook Bandits will soon hold their annual awards banquet, officially marking the end of the 2019 baseball season.