Bandits rally for improbable run to CABA World Series championship

By ZAK KEEFER zkeefer@greenfieldreporter.com 

They were down, and they were just about out.

But those who doubted the Indiana Bandits 14-and-under squad this past weekend at the CABA World Series in Lebanon, Tenn. ended up with anything but the last laugh.

That was reserved for the newly-crowned national champs.

After stumbling through their first two contests— both losses— the Bandits’ hopes at a title run remained dim. They sat at the bottom of the 28-team field and needed a miracle finish just to get into the final eight.

“Everybody counted us out,” recalled head coach Jeff Montgomery. “And that’s when our boys just stepped up and played another level of baseball.”

The Bandits—a team based in Greenfield that features players from all over Hancock County and the Indianapolis area—responded by rallying off four consecutive wins to capture an improbable championship. The team became the first Bandits club ever to capture a CABA title. “We’ve been working to win this title for seven years,” wins since being with the Bandits’ organization, but this one means the most to me and to
the boys who Montgomery said.

“The season started in December for these boys, and this is what they’ve been putting all that time in for. All the tournament wins that we had and success throughout the season didn’t matter, all put in the hard work,” Montgomery added.

The win streak began on July 20, when the team raced past the L o u i s v i l l e Panthers, 6-2, then topped Nitro Baseball of it would come down to this.”

Not even the Bandits team from a few years ago, one that featured the likes of Kyle Gibson and Andrew Clark, both collegiate standouts and MLB Draft choices this past spring, were able to capture this title. They finished second.

 “I’ve had a lot of tournament out of Mississippi for a 13-1 pounding.

Needing a win in the next game to keep their tournament hopes alive, the Bandits beat Lightning Baseball from the New England area, then had to shut out Team Toyota of Puerto Rico.

The Bandits delivered, and they were on to the final eight. “Despite us being the last seed to make it in, the boys were playing with a lot of confidence; they just took their game up to another level,” he said. “They were on a high.”

They ousted Hit after Hit on Thursday, a nationally - ranked squad, by raking up over 20 hits in the first four innings of play. The score after that was 14-1, and the Bandits were headed to the championship game. 

The Mt. Juliet Bearcats were no match for the Bandits, who topped them in both game one and game two for the title.

“This was just so awesome,” Montgomery added. “It was just a perfect weekend. Just perfect. To see the kids’ faces after they won was phenomenal.

“I want to thank my coaches, Price Irving and Craig Gruell for all that they do,” the coach said. “ We’ve preached the hard work to them every winter and to see it finally come true, it has to be equal to winning a state championship. If that’s what winning a state title (at the high school level) is like, I want to be a part of it.”

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