2036.6 Great News Bears: Redemption
Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 7:34 pm
This was the series everyone in San Fernando wanted all season. From the General Manager all the way down to the locker room attendant, the way the 2035 season ended left a sour taste in their mouth. Not only did it mean the end of their title defense, but blowing a 3-1 lead to any team is brutal. Watching the crusaders roll over their next two opponents did nothing to ease the sting. GM Randy Weigand was quoted in a recent news report as saying "we want California, not only do we want to avenge 2035, but we want to be the ones to return the favor and end their title defense much like they ended ours. I count (crusaders GM) Ted Schmidt as one of my closest friends in this league, but that doesnt mean I dont want my team to kick his team's ass on the field".
Through 3 games it was coming up roses in San Fernando as they took the first two games on the road before coming home to win game 3 and put them improbably up 3-0 on the squad who had been best in the Brewster the entire season. But as the poet laureate bret michaels said, every rose has its thorn and those thorns came out in full force over the next 4 days. California came roaring back to force a game 7, a development which had more than one bears fan ordering another round at the bar and wondering if it could possibly be happening again.
Fortunately for San Fernando and their fans, they had ace Feliciano Rafael (15 - 10, 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 246 K) on the hill for game 7 and he responded to the pressure by throwing 8 innings of 3 hit baseball, blemished only by a solo home run. Normally fans would be furious if their manager pulled a pitcher who was throwing that well in a game like this, but manager Mike Wilkinson knew that he had the best reliever in the game ready in the pen, so in came Miguel Macias (12 - 1, 1.71 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 93 K) and he shut the door by retiring the side in order (2 by the strikeout) to seal the 2-1 victory and exorcise many of the demons from last season.
The Bears now face a quick turnaround before facing the surprising Long Beach Surfers in game 1 of the Cartwright Series, but Wilkinson is confident that his men will be ready. "We are a bunch of professionals on this squad, many of us were here for the title in 2034 and know that our work is only halfway done".
Through 3 games it was coming up roses in San Fernando as they took the first two games on the road before coming home to win game 3 and put them improbably up 3-0 on the squad who had been best in the Brewster the entire season. But as the poet laureate bret michaels said, every rose has its thorn and those thorns came out in full force over the next 4 days. California came roaring back to force a game 7, a development which had more than one bears fan ordering another round at the bar and wondering if it could possibly be happening again.
Fortunately for San Fernando and their fans, they had ace Feliciano Rafael (15 - 10, 3.38 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 246 K) on the hill for game 7 and he responded to the pressure by throwing 8 innings of 3 hit baseball, blemished only by a solo home run. Normally fans would be furious if their manager pulled a pitcher who was throwing that well in a game like this, but manager Mike Wilkinson knew that he had the best reliever in the game ready in the pen, so in came Miguel Macias (12 - 1, 1.71 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 93 K) and he shut the door by retiring the side in order (2 by the strikeout) to seal the 2-1 victory and exorcise many of the demons from last season.
The Bears now face a quick turnaround before facing the surprising Long Beach Surfers in game 1 of the Cartwright Series, but Wilkinson is confident that his men will be ready. "We are a bunch of professionals on this squad, many of us were here for the title in 2034 and know that our work is only halfway done".