The Westby/Coon Valley Legion baseball team claimed Viroqua’s Pete Swanson Memorial Tournament title after posting a 3-1 mark in the three-day tournament last weekend.
Weather forced the cancellation of the first day of the event on Thursday, July 2. The affected games were moved to different time slots later in the weekend.
The W/CV Bandits technically tied both Viroqua and West Salem as each team finished with identical records, but the winner was decided via tiebreak criteria - the fewest runs allowed.
WESTBY 5 ONALASKA 3
The Bandits started the Viroqua tournament with a 5-3 win over Onalaska Post 336 on the morning of the 4th of July.
Onalaska took an early 1-0 lead in the first, then scored two more times in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 3-0.
All of Westby/Coon Valley’s five runs came in the top of the fifth inning. Two-straight singles to start the inning put runners on base for Devin Nedland, who singled to make it 3-1. Everett Hoven, Caden Kirner, Beckett Brueggen, and Will Keenlance all drove in runs with singles to give the Bandits a 5-3 lead.
Westby/Coon Valley outhit Onalaska 13-3. Kirner led the team with three hits. On the mound Chase Quellhorst pitched seven innings and struck out 11, while allowing three runs on three hits
WESTBY 7 VIROQUA 3
The Bandits defeated Viroqua’s 138ers 7-3 in the primetime game on the 4th of July.
Westby led 1-0 in the top of the third inning on a solo home run to center field by Nedland. Viroqua scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead. Westby/Coon Valley tied the game with two runs in the fourth off an error following a ground ball by Ben Roethel and a single by Anders Hoven.
Four runs in the top of the sixth inning gave the Bandits a 7-3 lead.
Westby outhit Viroqua 6-5. Nedland and Caden Kirner tied for a team-high in hits with two. Nedland had a team-high five RBIs.
Beckett Brueggen pitched 5 2/3 and struck out seven, while allowing three runs on four hits.
WEST SALEM 7 WESTBY 4
The Bandits suffered their lone loss of the tournament in a 7-4 defeat against West Salem Post 51 7-4 in the first game of the day on July 5.
Westby led 2-0 after the first inning. Back-to-back singles by Devin Nedland and Maddux Fencl started the game for the Bandits. Two batters later, Everett Hoven singled to right field to give the team a 1-0 lead. An error on a groundball Beckett Brueggen hit to second base made it 2-0. The Bandits extended the lead to 3-0 in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Everett Hoven.
West Salem then scored twice in the bottom of the third, and added one run in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3. West Salem scored twice in both the fifth and sixth innings to extend the lead to 7-3. Westby/Coon Valley scored once in the top of the seventh to cut the deficit to 7-4.
Westby/Coon Valley outhit West Salem 8-6. Fencl led the team with two hits.
WESTBY 16 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 1 (5)
The Bandits closed out the Viroqua tournament with a 16-1 win over Prairie Du Chien Post 68 in five innings on July 5.
Westby/Coon Valley started the game with an explosive eight-run first bottom of the first to go up 8-0 thanks to RBI singles by Maddux Fencl, Chase Quellhorst, Anders Hoven, Will Keenlance, and Beckett Brueggen. The Bandits added four more runs in both the third and fourth innings.
Prairie Du Chien scored once in the top of the fifth.
The Bandits had a 12-3 hit advantage in the win. Ben Roethel and Anders Hoven led the team with two hits each. Archer Carl struck out four batters for the Bandits in 4 2/3 innings and allowed one unearned run on three hits.
SCORES
Sunday, June 28
Westby 16 Black River Falls 9
Saturday, June 27
Westby 12 Fennimore 9
Westby 2 Onalaska 1
Friday, June 26
Westby 11 G-E-T 3 (5)
Thursday, June 25
Westby 16 Sparta 0 (4)
Monday, June 22
Westby 14 Black River Falls 5
Westby 16 Black River Falls 1 (3)
Friday, June 19
Westby 13 Fennimore 0
Thursday, June 18
Westby 2 La Crescent 1
Sunday, June 14
Westby 2 La Crosse 1
