Where in the Burbs is Big South -- Sept 8

I hope everyone in Bandits Nation had yourselves a great Labor Day weekend.

September 5th found me in Beecher Illinois checking out the Beecher Bobcats girls softball double header. It was a lot of fun talking with players and coaches from the Bobcats and Crete Crush and getting them excited for next season.

Bandits Nation grew with the players, coaches and parents from the Priairie Central Hawks. These girls are from Fairbury Illinois and will bring the excitement and noise when they come up in 2010 to see us play. I also saw the Illinois Outlaws 14u team and talked with their coaches and some of their players. We had some good conversations about softball and look forward to having the Outlaws coming out and seeing us.

Sunday found me at the Sportstation in Tinley Park and talking with Jim Garner. We had a very positive conversation and I'm looking forward to putting what we talked about into action. When you stop in Sportstation let them know you found out about them here and welcome them to Bandits Nation.

Special shout and props to Jessica Walters and Lincy Jones from the Starke County All-Stars from Indiana. They came up and watched the Bandits beat the Thunder and I know how much they loved making the trip: so much so that they gave up going to a tournament to come be a part of the Nation for the 1st time!
There are a few tournaments still scheduled this fall and I'm hoping to see everyone again. You can send me an email (chendrickson@chicagobandits.com) or find me on Twitter and say hello.

Congrats to the Rockford Thunder

August 23, 2009 - AKRON, Ohio - The Rockford Thunder captured their first Cowles Cup at Firestone Stadium on Sunday afternoon crowning them the 2009 NPF champions as they defeated the USSSA Pride 2-0 in the final game of the season. Rockford climbed back from a 1-0 deficit and near elimination to win both of their series on the weekend and become champions.

Cat Osterman led the way with her second complete game shut out of the day only allowing the Pride to have one single and a walk on the day. Between the two games on Sunday, Osterman struck out an amazing 26 batters and only gave up four hits. For the tournament, Osterman struck out 50 batters in 31 innings in five starts, pitching 31 of her team's 41 innings.

The only player to get on for the Pride in game three was Oli Keohohou who drew a walk and hit an infield single that bounced off of Osterman's glove in the fifth inning.

The Thunder picked up enough offense for Osterman against tough pitching by Sarah Pauly and Monica Abbott. Leadoff hitter Shanel Scott got Rockford going right away with a hit to left field jsut past a diving Kristin Schnake. Scott would eventually score on a sacrifice bunt by Lyndsey Angus to give Rockford a 1-0 lead. For good measure, Chelsea Spencer added another run when she blasted a towering shot that soared over the center field fence for a solo home run.

The home run would be the last pitch Pauly threw as the Pride turned to Abbott, who shut down Rockford's offense the rest of the way. Abbott gave up a single to the first hitter she faced, but then retired 12 of the next 13 hitters to close out the game. Even though Abbott kept the Pride close, Osterman wouldn't allow the Pride offense an opportunity to get back in the game.

Following the game Osterman was announced as the MVP of the NPF Championship weekend after picking up all of her team's victories. The Thunder ace allowed only gave up an astonishing two runs, one earned, in her five starts of the tournament.

Where in the Burbs is Big South -- August 3

Bandits Nation, now is the time to raise your voices and get ready for the playoffs! We have 2 series left before we go to Akron and defend our Championship.
The Akron Racers are in town August 5-9 and hten we close with Rockford Thunder. If you don't have tickets yet call me or call the Bandits office at 877-7BANDIT so you don't miss out on this opportunity to see the Racers.
I met with coaches, parents and players from the Starke County softball team on August 1st. These players are definitley an exciting group of girls who love their softball and made sure I knew who their favorite player was. I'm looking forward to talking with all of them again, and hopefully bringing you up to see the Bandits that last weekend in August versus the Rockford Thunder.
Other teams I talked with include the Wheaton Bobcats, Herscher All Stars, and teams from St. John Indiana.
A big thanks goes out to Bill Yohnka and Allison Beasley from WKAN for having me on their show last Friday. We had a fun time in the studio talking Bandits and what we have coming up on the schedule. A special thanks also to Lane Walters and the Donovan IL All Stars. Lane is bringing her group up August 9th (Sunday) when we finish our series with the Racers -- also just let me know that even more people are coming out. Very cool to have all the Bandits fans coming out to cheer on the Bandits as they come down the home stretch.
To everyone out there, if you have teams playing fall ball, let me know! I have some tournaments this fall I'll be at hopefully with a 2nd Championship to talk about *knock on wood* so I hope to see you there.
If you are interested in bringing a group out to the Bandits, contact me at chendrickson@chicagobandits.com

See you soon and Go Bandits!
@chrishndrcksn

Where in the Burbs is Big South -- July 30

To all of you who made it out to Schaumburg for the Battle of the Sexes or to Thillens Stadium THANK YOU from all of us! The turnouts at each ballpark were incredible and it shows how much softball means to all of you.

It's going to be nice being home for the last 2 weeks of the season as we host Akron and then Rockford. If you havent got your tickets yet there is still time but time is going fast! When you see me at your travel team tryouts, fall league practices or all star games coming up in the next 3 weeks and want tickets we can get you taken care of.

I'll be back on WKAN radio AM 1320 here in Kankakee this Friday morning with Bill Yohnka. Bill also doubles his duties as he is with the Kankakee Chamber of Commerce and does a great job at Chamber events that I have been at. Tune in and call in and let us know you're listening!

A lot of people ask what I do or what we as the Bandits front office do once the season ends and the players have gone back to their coaching jobs or regular jobs. A really good question to ask: keep reading the blogs because we'll let you know what we have going on and where we'll be. For me there is no off season and where ever there is a game or tournament you might just see me there talking Bandits softball and counting down the days until next year.

Go BANDITS and I hope to see everyone at the ballpark!

~Chris Hendrickson

Bandits take two from Thunder in double header

ROSCOE, Ill. – The Chicago Bandits looked like a first-place team in Friday’s doubleheader sweep as they knocked off the Thunder by final scores of 8-4 and 5-0 in game one and two.

In game one of the doubleheader the Bandits (19-4) used an 11-hit attack to score eight runs. The Bandits were led by a two-hit, three RBI game from 2008 rookie of the year Rachel Folden. Folden’s three-run home run in the top of the fourth inning provided the insurance Chicago would need to win.

A five-hit first inning gave the Bandits an early 3-0 lead. Rockford (9-10) added a run of its own in the first, but the offense couldn’t put together any more until the fifth inning when they added two more runs. Chelsea Spencer added a solo homerun in the seventh inning to end the scoring in the game at 8-4.

Samantha Sheeley fell to 0-3 on the season with the loss. She allowed all eight Bandits runs in the game in five innings of work. Brandice Balschmiter (2-0) pitched the first six innings for Chicago to record the win.

Chicago also had two-hit games from Stacy May, Nicole Trimboli and rookie Amber Patton in the game one to lead the offense. Amanda Williams led the way for Rockford at the plate with three hits and Jenna Rhodes collected two more.

In game two the Bandits took advantage of Megan Brown’s wildness in the circle. Chicago scored three of its five runs courtesy of walks or hit batters by Brown.

Brown, who was making just her second start of the season, allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings of work. She gave up six hits, walked four and hit two more during her time in the circle. Brown was relieved by Cassidy Scoggins who has now worked in all four games of the series and has been very effective out of the bullpen. So far in the series, Scoggins has allowed just one run in 9 1/3 innings of work in the inning.

The big inning of game two for Chicago was the fifth when they plated four of their five runs with the big hit being a two-run double by Trimboli. Trimboli and Folden each had two more hits in game two for the Bandits.

Rockford managed just four singles, two by Spencer, in the game off of Bandits starter Kristina Thorson. Thorson went the distance for Chicago to raise her season record to 5-3.

The series finale with Chicago is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at Thunder Park which is one hour later than originally scheduled. Allison Kime will be in the circle on Saturday night to close out the series for Rockford, and recently resigned Bandits’ pitcher Gina Oaks may step into the circle for the Bandits.