Bandits head to Montana for the Northwest Regional and shot at another World Series berth

IDAHO FALLS – They may not be the ‘27 Yankees, but coming off last week’s American Legion state tournament in which they outscored opponents 81-14 in five games, it’s clear the Idaho Falls Bandits possess a potent lineup.

The Idaho state champions now head to the American Legion Northwest Regional tournament in Billings, Mont.

The regional tournament begins Wednesday with the winner advancing to the American Legion World Series in Shelby, North Carolina beginning Aug. 14.

While the Bandits’ offense has been impressive, it’s going to take more for the team to continue its postseason run.

“I think the boys are getting more comfortable with what we do,” coach Ryan Alexander said. “They certainly swung it well and we put some things together … The trick is to continue on with that.”

The Bandits history has been impressive. They became the first team from Idaho to win the American Legion World Series in 2019. The 2020 season was suspended due to COVID, but the Bandits returned to the World Series and repeated as champion in 2021.

They played for a record third straight title in 2022, but fell to Troy, Ala. in the championship game.

After losing in the state tournament in 2023 and playing as an independent team last year, the Bandits are officially back and making another American Legion postseason run.

And while the offense garnered headlines at the state tournament, keep an eye on the team’s pitching depth.

Previous Bandit rotations have been bolstered by and established ace who would eventually go on to play in college.

“In the past we always had the outgoing senior – committed to a Division I or drafted kind of guy … We don’t have that senior-type of guy right now,” Alexander said. “I do think we have some guys who are going to pitch in college. Most of our pitching innings are being taken by juniors. They’re guys who have gotten much more confident … They throw strikes and they pitch at a high level. It’s probably not going to be 86-91 (miles per hour), but I think we have five or six guys on this staff that can work a lineup and can pitch and give us a chance to be in ball games for our offense to do what it needs to do.”

A deep pitching staff is crucial in the postseason with the regional and national tournaments stretching five days.

Six different Bandit pitchers have at least three wins, with Lincoln Stuart leading the way with eight wins and Brock Bowman and Jackson Ropp each with seven.

Offensively, Greyson Martin leads the team with a .483 average, while Tyson Christensen is hitting .446, and Conner Cannon is at .402. Seven other players are hitting above .333.

“If our offense can generate double-digit runs, what that does is take some pressure off of another piece of our team,” Alexander said. “It takes pressure off of the pitchers having to be too fine. It takes pressure off of the defense … it all plays together, but certainly scoring runs at the end of the day is the objective of our team. That’s how you win baseball games.

“If it was simply about metrics, the roster with the guys who throw high 80s and 90s would win every game. The teams that hit a lot of home runs would win the game. At the end of the day we look at it like the team that scores the most runs wins … We’ve faced rosters out there that have an advantage over us when it comes to metrics and (college) commitments and we’ve beaten them by playing a total baseball game. We have to be able to do that this postseason to be successful because there are some really talented rosters in this regional.”

AMERICAN LEGION NORTHWEST REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

Dehler Park, Billings, Montana

Wednesday

Game 1
Anchorage, AK vs. Gillette, WY, 9:30 am

Game 2
Yakima, WA vs. Portland, OR, Doubleheader

Game 3
Ft. Collins, CO vs. Missoula, MT, 4 pm

Game 4
Idaho Falls, ID vs. Host- Billings, MT, Doubleheader

Thursday

Game 5
Loser Gm. 1 vs. Loser Gm. 3, 9:30 am

Game 6
Loser Gm. 2 vs. Loser Gm. 4, Doubleheader

Game 7
Winner Gm. 1 vs. Winner Gm. 3, 4 pm

Game 8
Winner Gm. 2 vs. Winner Gm. 4, Doubleheader

Friday

Game 9
Winner Gm. 6 vs. Loser Gm. 7, 9:30 am

Game 10
Winner Gm. 5 vs. Loser Gm. 8, 4 pm

Game 11
Winner Gm. 7 vs. Winner Gm. 8, 7 pm

Saturday

Game 12
Winner Gm. 9 vs. Loser Gm. 11, 4 pm

Game 13
Winner Gm. 10 vs. Winner Gm. 11, 7 pm

Sunday

Game 14
Winner Gm. 12 vs. Winner Gm. 13, 1 pm

Game 15
If Necessary, 4 pm

Note 1: Pairings for Game 12 & 13 will not match previous opponents against each other unless absolutely necessary. (Tournament Director has further instructions).

Note 2: If three teams remain after Game 13, the winner of Game 11 automatically draws the Bye for Game 14.