Beloit Senior Legion braces to host regional tournament

BELOIT — His team may have only played about half the games it was supposed to this summer, thanks to 10 rainouts, but head coach Brad Farrell has seen enough of his Beloit Senior Bandits to believe they’ll do well in the AAA Region 6 tournament they’ll host starting Tuesday at the Stateline Family YMCA Youth Sports Complex.

Farrell should be particularly confident in their opener at 5 p.m. The Bandits (6-3) face a rematch with Lake Geneva after crushing them on the road 27-4 on Thursday night.

“They’re just not a very strong team,” Farrell said. “We had a lot of extra-base hits, doubles and triples.”

The six-team regional also includes Janesville, Racine, Milwaukee Fire Post 426 and Mukwonago.

“There are some strong teams and it’s really going to be a fight to get out of the regional,” Farrell said. “If we play baseball like we know how to play it and our bats stay hot, we should be all right.”

Farrell said the Bandits head into the regional with a strong pitching staff.

“They are all doing really well,” Farrell said. “I have noticed a big change from the start of the season to now. They have come a long ways. Carson Pingel, Ethan Halon, Carston Jacobson, Andy Buckley. They are all throwing well heading into regionals.”

They’re backed by a solid defense that includes a fast outfield of Jayden Piccione, Hayden Fry and Owen West. Dylan Foss, Brayden Ward and Ethan Halon have also played well in the outfield, the coach said.

Shortstop Andy Buckley has been terrific as well as catcher Brody Berg.

“Our defense is probably our high point,” Farrell said. “Our outfield is very fast and our infielders have great feet and range. We’re very solid at every position. There isn’t a weak spot. These guys are so fundamentally sound that it makes up for the lack of games we’ve played.”

The Bandits started to hit well last weekend in a tournament in Fort Atkinson and they certainly continued hammering the ball in Lake Geneva.

“Our bats were solid from the top to the bottom of the order,” Farrell said. “That’s one thing about this team. No matter where I throw somebody in the field or in the batting order there isn’t a drop-off in talent. That’s the hardest part I have to do, make out the lineup sheet because a lot of these guys are so evenly skilled.”

Also on Tuesday, Janesville will play Racine at 2 p.m. and Milwaukee Fire Post 4426 will play Mukwonago at 7:30 p.m..