This was it. This was the game the Bears finally got to taste sweet victory . . . until it was snatched away with two outs in the 7th . . .
The game started well for the Bears as leadoff hitter and #2 hitter Stu Howells and Curt Tucker both singled - Howells had stolen second base so Tucker earned the RBI and the Bears snatched a quick 1-0 lead. Bears pitcher Dave Hartman held the Diamondabacks in check in the bottom half of the inning and the Bears entered the second inning up 1-0.
Save for a two-out double by Austin Blum, the Bears went quietly in the second and the Diamondbacks tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom half on a one-out walk to Justin Granato, a stolen base and then an RBI single by Avram Doomchin scoring Granato.
The Bears would come right back and score three runs in the top of the 3rd inning. Bryn Pulenskey led the inning off with a double to left field and Stu Howells would single sharply to center leaving Pulenskey at third base. However, Curt Tucker would again deliver an RBI single to right-center scoring Pulenskey and moving Howells to third. Tucker would steal second base and Rob Bialkowski grounded out to second scoring Howells and moving Tucker to third. Joe Montemarano followed with an RBI ground-out to second (scoring Tucker) to cap off the scoring and the Bears would enter the bottom of the third up 4-1.
A one-out walk to Winston Fernandez (followed by a steal of second base) was the only offense the Diamondbacks could muster in the 3rd inning and the game went to the 4th with a 4-1 Bears lead. However, the Bears bats went silent for the remainder of the game and the Diamondbacks only allowed a one-out single to Curt Tucker in the 6th for Bears baserunners.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Dave Zebrowski lead off with a walk, stole 2nd and scored with one-out on a grounder to SS - 4-2 Bears after four.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, a two out walk to Winston Fernandez, a steal of 2nd and a two-out RBI single by Hank Mora led to a 4-3 Bears lead after five.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Dave Hartman got two quick outs and then ran out of gas. A single by Justin Granato, and a single by Avram Doomchin had runners at first and third with two outs. In came reliever Rob Bialkowski. Rich Cavalier stepped up to the plate and for some strange reason decided to bunt with two outs - BUT IT WORKED. Bialkowski fielded the ball near the 3rd base line and felt as though he may not have a play at first to end the inning so he instead flipped to Bears catcher Madison Goldfischer who astutely covered the plate even though a play traditionally wouldn't be coming his way. It was a good flip, a good cover, a hard slide and as the ball rolled away from Goldfischer, Justin Granato was ruled safe at home and the game was tied at 4-4.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, up stepped Winston Fernandez to lead off with a seeing-eye single to center just past Stu Howells' mitt. He would immediately steal second and move to third on a grounder to second base, bringing up J.J. Janetsky - a man renowned for his hitting prowess in the CDMSBL. However, Bialkowski got Janetskey to ground out to second to a drawn-in infield and Fernandez couldn't score from third. But with two-outs, Dave Zebrowski ripped a hard single to right field with a 2-0 count scoring Fernandez and ending the game with a Diamondbacks 5-4 win.
For the Diamondbacks, Winston Fernandez scored twice on two walks and a hit in four plate appearances, he also had three steals. Justin Granato was 1-for-2 with 2 runs scored and an RBI and Avram Doomchin was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Bears' Stu Howells went 2-for-3 with 2 R and 2 SB; Curt Tucker was 3-for-3 with 1 R, 2 RBI and 2 SB; Rob Bialkowski chipped in with a walk and an RBI; Bryan Pulenskey was 1-for-2 with a 2B and a R; and Austin Blum finally broke out with a booming double as well.
Up next for the Diamondbacks is a June 8th game against the Dirtbags while the Bears face the Pirates on the same date.
