The Manitowoc Bandits have seldom travelled to the Chicagoland area and returned with four wins in one weekend.  The competition is tough, the weather is hot and its a three hour drive with little down time.  The Bandits, however, opened their 2011 Wisconsin State League schedule by winning all four games in their opening series with Addison.  Scores for the contest were 9-4, 16-0, 12-0 and 6-1.  The Bandits return home for a Tuesday night game against the Menasha Macs at Manitowoc's Municipal Field.  Gametime is 7:30.

The Bandits completed their preseason schedule by defeating the Branch Blaze by a score of 15-0 on Friday night.  The Bandits were led offensively by Mike Hall (4x4, 2B, 3 Runs), Sam Spurney (3x4, GS-HR, 2 2B, 6 RBI, 3 Runs) and Stewart Larsen (2x4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs).  Chris Krepline pitched five shutout innings for the win while Mike Wallerich added a pair of shutout innings to wrap up the contest.  The two combined for eleven strikeouts in seven innings.  The Bandits open their WSL season this weekend in Chicagoland against the Addison Braves.

The Bandits won both ends of their Wednesday night doubleheader with the Appleton Legends at Municipal Field.  In Game one the Bandits won in dramatic fashion as Mike Hall hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Stewart Larson with the winning run.  Matt Phipps picked up the win in relief of Matt Shea.  Brock Wetenkamp hit his first homerun of the season in the bottom of the first inning.

Tonight's game versus Freedom that was to be played at Appleton's Nienhaus Field has been cancelled due to scheduling and weather issues. A makeup date will be scheduled in the near future to be played at Freedom's own home field. The Bandits next game is tomorrow night (Wednesday) at Municipal Field... 6:30pm DH vs. Appleton

The Bandits bounced back from their opening day loss versus Freedom to notch their first victory of the young season by defeating the Branch Blaze by a score of 17-4.  The game was close early as the the Bandits scored three in the first and Branch followed that with a pair of their own.  The Bandits would tack on five runs in the fourth, highlighted by Mike Hall's three-run homer to left field.  the Bandits would score another seven runs in the ninth inning to blow the game open as Blaze pitcher Paul Smith could not find the strike zone.  Liam O'Brien picked up his

Thursday night's game with the Appleton Legends was postponed until next Thursday night as the lights at the Appleton ballpark went out in the second inning and would not return.  The Bandits and Legends will play two 7-inning games on Thursday, June 2nd.  Game one will start around 7pm or earlier if possible.  In action at Municipal Field in Manitowoc, the Branch Blaze beat Freedom by a score of 4-2 behind a solid pitching performance by former Bandit Mike Ruzek who is playing with the Blaze this summer.  The Bandits and Blaze play Friday (tomorrow night) in Manito

It was a chilly night at Manitowoc's Muncipal Field with temperatures hovering near fifty degrees.  The Bandits bats were off to a hot start, posting a four run first inning as Freedom's Jake Knuppel tried to settle in on the pitcher's mound.  After giving up those four runs, capped by a bases clearing double by Designated Hitter Stewart Larson, settle down is exactly what Knuppel did as he stifled the Bandits bats over the final eight innings, giving up only one additional run.  The Bandits would hold their 4-0 lead until the fourth inning when Freedom would score three runs

Bandits outfielder and former UW-Stevens Point grad Sam Spurney was recognized with the Senior Collegiate Athlete of the Year Award at the 2011 Lakeshore All-Sports Hall of Fame Banquet on Wednesday April 25th at the Club Bil-mar.  Sam's accomplishments both on and off the field at UW-Stevens Point led to that recognition.  The Manitowoc Bandits were able to sponsor the award and are excited that Sam will continue his playing career with the Bandits in the 2011 season which begins on Tuesday May 24th as the Bandits host the ballclub from Freedom in a 7:30 game.

With the most valuable player, most valuable pitcher and five unanimous all-league selections, the Kenosha Kings dominated the 2010 Wisconsin State League post-season awards voting.  Mark Cibrario, the league’s leading hitter with a .433 average, was named Most Valuable Player, reining in 15 vote points to 13 for teammate Jason Acevedo. Cibrario, a veteran of nine State League seasons holds down third base for the Kings.

Congratulations to the Green Bay Storm for capturing there first NEWBL regular season title and Championship Series title here in 2010.  The Storm beat the Legends on Friday  night 12-4 to take the Championship, 2 games to 1.  The Storm are the third different League Champion in three years as the Bandits won the Championship in 2007 & 2008, the Menasha Macs won the Championship in 2009 and now the Storm have their first championship.  Teams will already be prepping for the 2011 season, we look forward to having you out to our ballparks and enjoying NEWBL baseball.