The Becker Bandits amateur baseball team is gearing up for the Sauk Valley League playoffs, which start today (Saturday) when the team travels to St. Joe for their opening round game.  

The Bandits received the #7 seed overall, while the Joes are ranked #2.

Becker held a 7-13 record heading into Wednesday’s regular season finale against the Eden Valley Eagles in a playoff tuneup, non-league game.

Last Friday, the Bandits won a 7-5 contest over the Sauk Rapids Cyclones in a game played at Bob Cross Park.

Offensively for the Bandits, Josh Groskreutz was three-for-five with an RBI, while Dalton Fouquette and Ryan Groskreutz each had a pair of hits.

Will Thorn started on the bump and went 5.1 innings, giving up five runs overall (two earned), before Jackson Thorn came in and closed the door, going 3.2 innings, scattering three hits and yielding no runs to secure the win.

Sauk Rapids had put up three runs in the first inning and added two in the sixth, but Becker scored in four different innings to take the win.

Last Sunday, Becker lost 9-0 to the Joes in a playoff preview game where not much went right for the Bandits.

Josh Groskreutz once again led the offense with a two-for-four performance, while Zayden Smith suffered the loss on the mound, going four innings and yielding five hits and six runs (two earned).

Area Roundup

Meanwhile, the Clearwater River Cats and Clear Lake Lakers are also gearing up for the playoffs.

The River Cats had a 6-5 record in the Sauk Valley East league and carry a 20-11 overall record.  They are the #4 seed in the playoffs and host the Sartell Stone Poneys in a Saturday game at 4 p.m. at Sportsman’s park.

The Lakers finished third in the Sauk Valley West with a 5-7 record and are 9-11 overall.  They drew the sixth seed and opened the playoffs Friday night against the #3 seed Monticello Polecats.

Sunday will be round two of the playoffs with the winners and losers of the opening round taking on one another.