BROOKINGS — The Brookings Bandits Cinderella run to a state championship came up short on Saturday afternoon as the Bandits fell to Renner 8-0 in the championship game of the South Dakota Legion State Baseball Tournament at Bob Shelden Field.

Renner scored six runs in the first three innings and kept Brookings off the scoreboard the rest of the way. Bandits assistant coach Alec Johnson said he liked the way his team never gave up even when things weren’t going their way.

“In a state championship game, especially when you need to win two games, the second you get down you feel like your backs are against the wall. But credit to these guys. They’ve gone through one heck of a season and they gave it their all for all 21 outs today,” Johnson said.

Neither team scored in the first inning but the Bandits had runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the inning and neither were able to make their way home. That became the theme of the game as Brookings left 11 baserunners on. Johnson said that was the difference in the game.

“We had runners in scoring positions a lot. We had runners on second and third with one out in the first and didn’t do a good job of getting guys in. I think in this type of situation and this atmosphere, if we could have gotten one or two in, that would have been huge momentum for us. It was kind of the story of the day. We had runners on and just couldn’t get them in,” Johnson said.

Johnson was the acting manager for the past three games for Brookings as Bandits manager Carter Roach was ejected from the tournament on Thursday after arguing with the umpires after Brookings’ 1-0 loss to Renner.

Johnson said he was proud of the way his team fought through not only the adversity they faced in this tournament but also throughout the season as they were the No. 7 seed heading into the tournament.

“You look back at where we were in June, not many people thought this state championship game was going to feature us, but it just shows how much heart these guys have,” he said. “Coming in as the seven seed, everyone thought it was going to be between Harrisburg, Rapid City or Renner in the championship. 

“Nobody had us making it this far. We had home field advantage and the crowds for our games were incredible. These guys gave it their all for five days of tournament baseball and at this age you’re definitely not happy with second place, but I hope they know just how far they have come and how proud Brookings is of them.”

Renner scored three runs in both the second and third inning. Zachary Dunham hit a single to lead off the second and Hunter Den Boer followed with a walk. Both runners advanced on a passed ball and Den Boer came home on a sacrifice fly from Brogan Moffitt. Den Boer then scored on a Brody Jacobsen ground out and then back-to-back singles from Jacob Sanderson and Charlie Hueners loaded the bases. Kyle Konechne was then hit by a pitch and that gave Renner a 3-0 lead heading into the third.

The Royals scored three more runs in the third and all of them came with two outs. Den Boer walked and then stole second. He then came home on a single from Jacobsen and Braylon Bear followed with a walk. Jacobsen scored on an error and Hueners hit an RBI single to make it 6-0.

Renner added insurance runs in both the sixth and the seventh. Dunham hit an RBI single in the sixth and Jacobsen scored on a Sanderson ground out in the seventh to make the final 8-0.

Brookings had six hits in the loss. David Brink was 2-for-3 and Austin Clark was 1-for-1. Addison Ronning, Nolan Miles and Breck Hirrschoff were each 1-for-3. 

Owen Schneider got the start for the Bandits. He gave up six earned runs on five hits with one strikeout and three walks. Brink pitched the final four innings and gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Renner had seven hits as a team. Jacobsen was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Dunham was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hueners was 2-for-5 and Sanderson was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Moffitt and Konechne each had an RBI without a hit.

Jake Wheeler pitched the first five and two third innings for the Royals. He gave up six hits and had five strikeouts and four walks. Billy Laible pitched the final inning and a third and had one strikeout and one walk.

The Bandits entered the tournament with a record of 23-20 and finished 26-22. It was the second straight season that Brookings was the Runner-Up at the State Tournament and Johnson said he’s going to remember this group of players a lot, especially the seniors.

“We had 10 seniors on this team and they came to practice every day and every game [with intensity]. When you’re a senior, you want [to win it all] and halfway through the season it was tough for guys, but it shows [their hard work]. I know they’re not happy with second place, nobody is, but years from now they’ll look back and think of how amazing of a run this was,” Johnson said.