Player of the gameBlade TidwellSFG6.2ip 3h 2er 1bb 4k
More than a decade before Scott Bandura reached the Major Leagues, Mo’ne Davis was there alongside him. So when Bandura finally got there, Davis wanted to be there again. Davis made the trip to Busch Stadium on Tuesday night to watch her longtime friend and former Little League teammate play for the Giants in their 10-3 win over the Cardinals, a reunion made possible by a coincidence of their respective baseball schedules. Davis is playing for the Los Angeles Queens of the Women’s Professional Baseball League, whose inaugural Championship Series begins Wednesday in nearby Springfield, Ill. “This has always been his dream, to be in the bigs,” Davis said. “So for me to come watch him play is pretty cool.” The friendship goes back nearly two decades, long before either could have imagined where baseball would eventually take them. In 2008, Scott’s father, Steve Bandura, was dragging the infield following a 10-and-under game for the Anderson Monarchs, the South Philadelphia youth program he has run since 1995. Some of his players were throwing a football around in the outfield when a little girl caught his attention. Davis, then 7, was there because her cousin played for the Monarchs. Bandura watched as she ran around competing with boys in the outfield. He stopped the tractor. “I went over and introduced myself,” Steve said. “I said, ‘What’s your name? Why are you here?’” Bandura had recently assembled another group of 7-year-olds for basketball. He handed Davis his phone number and invited her to practice. He didn’t expect to hear from her again. Her mother called. Davis showed up that Tuesday. “She’s been with the squad ever since,” Steve said.
