River Bandits advance to Midwest League Finals

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Quad Cities River Bandits got an early lead and dominating effort from Kit Scheetz in a 6-1 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels Monday at Veterans Memorial Stadium to advance to the Midwest League Championship Series. By winning the decisive game three Monday, Quad Cities reaches the finals for the twelfth time in franchise history.

Josh Rojas clubbed a three-run double in the first inning to give the Bandits (4-2, 79-59) an early lead. Rojas would later score on a sacrifice fly from Bryan De La Cruz in the fourth inning to add to that advantage.
That was plenty of offense for Scheetz, who allowed one run on three hits and a walk while striking out a career-high nine batters. Scheetz (1-0) went 6.2 innings and at one point retired 13 straight Kernels (4-3, 75-65). He didn't allow a run until the seventh when a solo home run from Aaron Whitefield got the Kernels on the board.
Quad Cities got two insurance runs in the ninth on RBI singles from Chuckie Robinson and Kristian Trompiz . Salvador Montano and Robert Corniel combined for 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to close out the game.
Quad Cities reaches the Midwest League Championship Series for the first time since 2013, when the team won their sixth league title. The Bandits will face the Fort Wayne TinCaps at Parkview Field in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the first two games of the best-of-five finals. The Bandits will have home field advantage and get as many of the final three games that are necessary at Modern Woodmen Park.
For playoff ticket information, start times and probable pitchers, stay tuned to River Bandits social media and the team website as information becomes available. Game one on Wednesday will be live with Jake Levy on 1170 AM K-BOB, riverbandits.com and the TuneIn app.