Beloit's Senior Bandits pick up some steam in Fort Atkinson

Beloit’s Senior Legion Bandits have had trouble with the weatherman this summer, but they’ve fared pretty well against their opponents over the weekend.

Beloit edged Hartland 9-8 Friday and blanked Janesville 6-0 on Saturday in Fort Atkinson’s American Legion baseball tournament action at Jones Park. The Bandits did fall to Oconomowoc 4-0 later on Saturday.

The Bandits played catch-up against Hartland on Friday. They fell behind 2-0 in the fourth inning after an error by the left fielder kept the inning alive. They bounced back with five in the bottom of the inning, collecting five straight singles by Andy Buckley, Carston Jacobson, Brody Berg, Hayden Frye and Brooks Mitchell.

The 5-2 lead didn’t last long. Hartland answered with four runs in the sixth to take the league back 6-5, thanks to three errors by Beloit.

The Bandits regrouped and scored four runs, thanks mainly to key singles by Buckley and Mitchell to lead 9-6 heading to the seventh.

Dustin Foss had pitched the first six innings for Beloit, allowing six hits, three walks and striking out five. Carson Pingle came on to pitch the seventh and hit the first batter and then allowed back-to-back singles to pull Hartland within a run at 9-8. The reliever then got a fly ball out, a pop-out and a strikeout to end the game.

Jacobson and Mitchell were both 2-for-3 and Buckley was 2-for-4 against Hartland.

Sunday against Janesville, Jacobson was the star of the game. He pitched six shutout innings with five strikeouts and also belted a two-run home run.

Jacobson scored Beloit’s first run with an RBI single in the first inning and a second run came home on a wild pitch.

In the third inning, Janesville starter Blake Bowditch walked Berg and Jacobson followed with a two-run homer over the right field fence.

Beloit outhit Janesville 11-3. Jacobson, Brooks Mitchell and Andy Buckley were 2-for-3 while Jayden Piccione and Hayden Frye were 2-for-4. Mitch Stuessy pitched one scoreless inning in relief and struck out one.

The Bandits are back in action Tuesday when they host Lake Geneva at 6 p.m. at the Stateline Family YMCA Youth Sports Complex.