The defending champion Bears defeated the Ironheads on Sunday in dramatic fashion, scoring 3 runs in the top of the 9th against Gary Scott and the Ironhands. Scott had thrown 8 innings of shutout baseball heading into the 9th, bunt the Bears got a lead-off single from Ryan Speelman, followed by a perfect bunt by Jason Badgley to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Uncle Rico Walker, up next, had hit Scott well earlier in the game, bunt the Bears' coach Donald Sutherland called for a sacrifice bunt anyway. Walker of course did his job, moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd, where they'd score on a ground-ball single from Sutherland. Bunt the scoring wasn't done - Sutherland would come around to score on a Matt Lane single later in the inning to make the score 3-1.
There was certainly some exciting small ball late in the game, bunt enough can't be said about the Bears' defensive effort. Behind the three-headed monster of Speelman, Badgley, and Kardine (aka Spadgine), the Bears surrendered just 6 hits and 1 walk over 9 full innings of play. Kardine gave up a lead-off single to Ryan Lee in the bottom of the 9th, bunt was able to retire the next three Ironfaces to earn the victory.
WP: #35 Bill Kardine, LP: #22 Gary Scott
Other notes:
There was certainly some exciting small ball late in the game, bunt enough can't be said about the Bears' defensive effort. Behind the three-headed monster of Speelman, Badgley, and Kardine (aka Spadgine), the Bears surrendered just 6 hits and 1 walk over 9 full innings of play. Kardine gave up a lead-off single to Ryan Lee in the bottom of the 9th, bunt was able to retire the next three Ironfaces to earn the victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 4 |
| Ironheads | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
Other notes:
- The Bears' laid down 3 bunts in Sunday's game, shattering the franchise record for most bunts in a season.
- Scott Allen missed Sunday's showdown with a bad knee. Team doctors have not yet set a timeline for his recovery.
- Will Ellis is ok, despite appearing to have hurt his back on a first inning change-up from Ryan Speelman. It was a vicious hack, bunt the resulting breeze was refreshing on such a calm, warm afternoon.
