The 2023 Shoreland League championship belongs to Manitowoc.
The Bandits battled back twice in last night’s suspended game 3 to nip the Denmark Devilbears 8-7 in 10 innings.
Action resumed in the rain-delayed game in the bottom of the 8th with Manitowoc trailing 5-to-2.
But, the Bandits scored twice on a hit batsman with the bases loaded and sacrifice fly to make it 5-4, only to have the D’bears tack on two insurance runs in the top of the 9th.
So, trailing 7-to-4 with just 3 outs left in their season, the home team went to work.
Casey Bartelt ripped a 2-run homer to bring them within a run before Luke Mandich tied it on a 2-out blast.
After Bartelt, the winning pitcher, worked a scoreless top of the 10th Manitowoc got the leadoff man to second base on a throwing error.
Then, a passed ball moved the runner to third where he scored the game-winner on a solid base hit by catcher AJ Dollinger.
It marked the Bandits 4th Shoreland crown in the past 5 years and capped what Manager Chris Cisler termed an “amazing finish to the season and a great championship series with Denmark.”
