The Bears won their third in a row last night with a big sixth inning rally which included the first ever homerun in the three years of Bears baseball.

The Bears opened the scoring in the 3rd inning when with one out Kevin Bondi was hit by a pitch and Kevin Gallagher followed with a single. Darren Foote would ground sharply to third erasing Bondi but beat the throw to first to avoid the double play keeping the inning alive. Jeff McQuide walked to load the bases and Rob Wadsworth singled to right-center to put the Bears up 2-0. Rob Bialkowski and Tom Ayers would follow with singles of their own and the Bears left the 3rd inning with a 4-0 lead.

A Darren Foote RBI single scoring Kevin Bondi in the 4th was the only other scoring through 5 innings. That was due in large part to Bears' starting pitcher Rob Bialkowski throwing a perfect game through five innings - with five strikeouts. But he would lose that perfect game in the top of the sixth on a leadoff walk. A subsequent steal of second on a close throw from Bears' catcher Madison Goldfischer would assist in losing the shutout as well as Pat Bailey followed with the lone hit allowed by Bialkowski and the score was 5-1. After an error and a sac fly the score was 5-2 after the top of the sixth.

But the Bears would exact revenge with a nine-run sixth which started with a booming double by Austin Blum and a sharp single by Bryan Pulenskey. With one out, Kevin Bondi hit a booming double to deep left field and the rally was in full swing. A Kevin Gallagher walk and a Darren Foote HBP had the bases loaded and another run home. Jeff McQuide hit a bloop single that fell in front of the centerfielder and another run was in. Rob Wadsworth then followed with a sharp double to right-center field plating two runs and the score now stood 10-2. After Rob Bialkowski was hit by a pitch the bases were loaded for for founding member of the Bears, Tommy Ayers. Tommy took the first pitch low and in but crushed the next pitch - the only question was "fair or foul"? It hit the netting of the foul pole about 3/4 of the way up completing the victory and ending the game 14-2.

Lots of good offensive numbers for the Bears in this one:

Darren Foote: 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, HBP, SB, ROE
Jeff McQuide: 2-for-3, 2 R, RBI, BB
Rob Wadsworth: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B, 4 RBI
Rob Bialkowski: 2-for-3, R, RBI, SB, HBP
Tommy Ayers: 2-for-3, R, 5 RBI, HR, BB
Austin Blum: 1-for-3, R, 2B, CS
Bryan Pulenskey: 1-for-3, R, ROE
Kevin Bondi: 2-for-2, 2 R, RBI, 2B, HBP
Kevin Gallagher: 2-for-2, 2 R, BB

The pitching line on Bialkowski was quite impressive as well: 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K, CG (W)

Up next for the Bears is a two game set next Tuesday against an vastly improved Mets team and the Yankees who are playing about as well as any team in the division. It will be tough to keep it rolling but the Bears are starting to play really well as the season rolls on.

Good luck to Barry and the Dirtbags the rest of the way. They are a good team and a great group of guys who are anything but dirtbags - a good team of great attitudes. Usually when we play the Dirtbags it's a one-or-two run difference so last night was not the normal outcome. I'm sure that when we play them again it will be another close game and no matter the outcome, both teams will appreciate the good sportsmanship we have come to expect from every game we play against each other.