Although the Cranbrook Rocky Mountain Bandits didn’t get a win at last weekend’s district championship, they did show how far they’ve come since even mid-season.

They played both of their North Idaho American Legion games Friday, starting with an 8-7 loss to the rival Trail Jays. The Bandits hardly had a chance to catch their collective breath before facing the host Post Falls Prairie Cardinals, who struck early in their 13-9 win.

“To be down 7-0 after a heartbreak loss and to come back and make it a 7-5 game, it just shows heart and competitiveness,” said head coach Kyle Krustangel. “Those were things I saw in the last five weeks that I didn’t see in the first five weeks.”

The season’s midway point was a turning point marked by the coaches reading the players the riot act, telling them they needed to see more fight in their game.

They certainly had that in the all-Canadian tournament opener, which had originally been slated for Thursday night, but was moved forward to Friday.

Pitcher Jason Berg threw the entire game against the Jays, who had already seen plenty of Jordan Armstrong this summer.

Trail led 5-2 in the third when Cranbrook exploded for five runs. That 7-5 lead lasted until the eighth when the Jays clawed back to take the lead.

The Bandits were retired in order in the top of the ninth.

“It was close all the way through. We were one play away or one extra swing away from getting the W there,” said Krustangel.

Had that game been played over the regular-season seven innings, it would have been a Bandits’ win.

“That’s the team we wanted to beat so bad; we’ve had three one-run losses to them, they’re the rival,” said the coach. “Definitely it’s kind of heartbreaking when you’re winning the whole game and lose by one. Then you’ve got to turn around 20 minutes later and play another ball game.”

In that second game, the Cardinals stormed out to a 7-0 lead after two.

Cranbrook got back to within a couple of runs before Post Falls went on another streak that saw them collect their 13th run.

The Bandits made a game of it by getting to within four runs, but Krustangel didn’t actually see that happen.

The generally mild-mannered coach was tossed in the fifth inning.

Although the Districts hosts are supposed to furnish disinterested umpires for all the games, Krustangel said the officials for that game were from Post Falls.

After ignoring the Cardinal coach’s vociferous threats to pull his pitcher if he gave up a balk, the umpires called one against the Bandits on the first pitch of the next inning.

“I lost it from there. There were four or five calls leading up to that, and we were just absolutely getting homer-ed,” said Krustangel, who isn’t one to argue judgment calls.

“I’ll never get called on balls and strikes, but if my kids aren’t getting treated fairly then I’m going to stick up for my players.”

Krustangel’s gambit apparently worked because the Cardinals were charged with three balks the next inning.

Lea McCallum went out with a bang, cranking out a three-run home run in his last Legion at-bat.

It was his sixth long-ball of the year, all of them coming in the month of July.

“I had so many highlights to say at that (awards banquet Sunday) that it sounded like a five-year highlight reel,” said the coach.

Krustangel said the graduating trio of McCallum, Armstrong and Jesse Thies would be the toughest loss he’s experienced as a coach.

“They’re three top contributors, three leaders, three guys that are good ballplayers and good people,” he said.

“They’re so much fun to coach and such students of the game. At the banquet, I told our young kids that they were blessed to have the three leaders that they had this year and that’s what they need to become four years down the road.”

Armstrong, who was named Bandits’ pitcher of the year, said he was nervous heading into his final Legion weekend.

“It was my last chance to kind of put my mark on the team, and I wanted to do my best and leave out on a good note,” he said.

Although they didn’t get the wins they were aiming for, Armstrong wasn’t disappointed.

“It was a total 180 from the beginning of the year, so I couldn’t be happier with the way everyone performed.”

This summer marked his fourth year with the team, and Armstrong said being a Bandit has accounted for some of the best times of his life.

“It’s not too often you get to spend four summers with 12 or 13 of your best friends, so you can’t really complain about that.”