Yes, their 6-1 loss to the Somerset Patriots on July 6th was a heartbreaker, a game that had first place in the Freedom Division for the first half on the line, but they had a whole second half to atone for what could have merely been a bump in the road.

However, they started the second half of the Atlantic League season 1-6 and we never able to recover from that disastrous start. Watching the Bears on the field, it was clear they had not gotten over their first half miscue.

It was also clear that they were short on offensive fire power thanks to some key departures. Cory Aldridge, Val Majewski and John Pachot were all key cogs in their attack and they clearly didn’t have the pitching to make up for it.

Pat Stanley, who was unhittable for most of the first half began to struggle. Stanley previously had one professional in which he’d thrown more than 100 innings and subsequently began to suffer from arm fatigue, not used to being the ace of a staff. He still managed to lead the Atlantic League in strikeouts.

Mike Bumstead, the Atlantic League’s wins leader with 14, probably should have had more, but began to suffer from Johan Santana syndrome. The Bears bullpen blew several games for Bumstead over the final month of a season in conjunction with their fall from the divisional race.

Despite everything, however, all of that could have ended up meaningless when the Bears were handed yet another chance to get to the post-season.

In mid-September, the York Revolution came to Riverfront Stadium in first place of the Freedom Division, holding a 3 ½ game lead over the Bears.

They won the first game of the series, thanks to Ramon Castro’s two late inning home runs, which pulled them to within 2 ½ games of York. However, the bats went silent and York took the final two games without much of a fight from Newark. The Bears closed out their season getting swept by the Patriots, who are off to play York in the first round of the playoffs. In a whisper, the season was gone.

Newark hit .303 as a team for the season, managing to actually beat their team total of .302 from last year, and it is a new Atlantic League record.

Leading that charge was Ramon Castro, who was held out of the lineup in the last game, unable to defend his lead for the batting title. He would end up hitting .352 for the year, finishing two points behind Somerset’s Josh Pressley.

Keith Reed continued his gold glove-caliber play in center field and led the team in home runs by going yard 26 times. He also tied fellow outfielder Jose Herrera by driving in 93 runs.

Cory Willey was, by far, the steadiest and most consistent member of the Newark bullpen. He went 7-2 with a 2.96 ERA and struck out 71 batters in 76 innings. The bullpen was mostly a rotating door of arms, and Willey was the one constant who could be counted upon in late-inning pressure situations.

The 2008 season will be remembered as what might have been for the Newark Bears. A small bounce their way here or there and perhaps the Bears are still playing, fighting it out in the post-season to defend their title. But, they had their chances and came up short when it mattered the most. Riverfront Stadium will, unfortunately, be very quiet this late September.

Jose Garcia and company halted the powerful Ducks for a third straight game, taking three-out-of-four from a team that entered the series on a nine-game winning streak.

Garcia (9-4) hurled eight fantastic innings, yielding just four hits and one earned run while striking out six. He kept the potent Long Island lineup at bay all afternoon, making just one mistake in the third inning.

Abe Alvarez (6-2) was also fantastic, going the distance for the Ducks but was not quite good enough to defeat Garcia on this day.

With the wind blowing in strongly from right field, runs were at a premium throughout the game. Kevin Haverbusch and Raul Gonzalez combined for nine putouts on the afternoon on balls that couldn’t quite make it over the wall.

Robert Sandora drew first blood for the Long Island Ducks in the third inning. He sent Jose Garcia’s offering to the opposite field, just clearing the short porch in left to give them a 1-0 lead.

Newark answered back in the fourth when Ramon Castro hit a solo home run of his own over the wall down the right-field line, getting enough on the ball to push it through the stiff wind that the ball was facing. The game was tied at 1.

That was all the offenses could muster for most of the game. Garcia found himself in a little trouble in the sixth inning after Dennis Donovan reached on an error by Vic Gutierrez. P.J. Rose singled him to third with two outs and the Ducks had found a rally. But Garcia reached back and struck out Edgardo Alfonzo to leave the runners stranded.

After Will Otanez’s double in the fourth, Alvarez retired 11 straight batters until that fateful eighth inning, when the Bears finally took the lead.

Ramon Nivar smashed a one-out double into the left-centerfield gap, giving the Bears the best chance to score since the fourth. Gutierrez came up and atoned for his earlier error by ripping a single into right. Nivar came flying around third and slid around Jamie Pogue’s block of the late, beating the throw and scoring the winning run.

Shaun Babula came on to face Rose in the ninth and struck him out looking. Manager Wayne
Krenchicki then turned the ball over to Ed Almonte (4) to finish the job. Although he gave up a double to Alfonzo, he got Kevin Haverbusch and Kyle Nichols to ground out and end the game.
It was a thrilling victory for the Bears, who now feel their season turn on a dime and believe they can repeat as champions once again.

Newark travels to Lancaster for a three-game set against the Barnstormers before returning to The Den for another weekend series against the Long Island Ducks.

For most of the year, Newark pounded the opposition with a barrage of hits and home runs, pouring on the runs with a superior lineup. They’re a different team now, winning close, low-scoring games like the one on Saturday night at Riverfront Stadium. They defeated the Long Island Ducks 5-4 to guarantee at least a split of the four-game series.

The Bears had to battle back from a deficit as the Ducks took an early lead in the top of the second inning. With two out and no one on, Damian Rolls blasted a home run over the left-field wall off the netting for a 1-0 Long Island advantage.

Long Island added two more in the top of the fifth on another home run, this one a two-run shot by Dennis Donovan. He shocked every person at the The Den by depositing just his second bomb of the year beyond the left-field wall.

Through six innings, Long Island starter Jose Paniagua was cruising along, with the exception of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning which he escaped by striking out the side in between three hits by Newark.

At the time, the game’s outlook wasn’t a rosy one for the Bears. Paniagua had a four-hit shutout going, and Newark was wasting a very good start by Roberto Giron who struggled mightily in his two previous starts, compiling an earned run average of 10.18. Giron had given up three runs, but was battling hard and keeping his ballclub in the game.

The Bears were finally able to reach Paniagua in the seventh inning. Randall Simon and Raul Gonzalez led-off the frame with singles bringing up Ramon Nivar. Nivar smashed a double down the left-field line scoring Simon from second. Scott Knazek came up to the plate and was hit by the first pitch that Paniagua threw.

At that point, Long Island manager Dave LaPoint had seen enough. Paniagua (3-1) was lifted after that sequence in favor of right-hander Travis Wade. Wade struck out Bobby Hill on a three-two fastball to get the first out of the inning. But then Ramon Castro stepped to the dish and singled up the middle, scoring Gonzalez and Nivar to knot the game at 3. After Keith Reed grounded into a fielder’s choice, Will Otanez laced a single into left field. Castro beat a close play at home to give the Bears a 4-3 lead.

Wayne Krenchicki also went to the bullpen after that inning. Cory Willey came on in the eighth, replacing Giron (1-2) who, despite behind on the losing end most of the game, left as the pitch of record on the winning side. Giron kept his team in the game by giving up just three runs on five hits over seven innings and striking out six.

Andy Shibilo (5) came on with one out in the ninth and got the final two outs for the save.
Rolls led Long Island offensively, going four-for-four and being a thorn in the side of the Bears all night long. Gonzalez countered Rolls by reaching base four times himself on three singles and a first-inning error by the shortstop Donovan.

Newark and Long Island complete their four-game series on Sunday at The Den. The Long Island southpaw Abe Alvarez will start on the hill against Newark’s Jose Garcia.

He entered the night’s contest with a 13-6 record, his win total tying Jack Armstrong’s 2001 campaign total. Bumstead pitched an excellent game, yielding just four hits and striking out six over eight strong innings. However, his bullpen could not hold his lead and he took a no-decision for the night.

In three previous starts against the Ducks, Bumstead was 1-2 and had not pitched particularly well in any of those games. However, he managed to earn a win on July 8th at Citibank Park, despite giving up five earned runs.

The Ducks offense got on the board early, striking for two runs in the first inning. Edgardo Alfonzo, the second batter of the game, reached on a broken-bat single up the middle which brought P.J. Rose to the plate. Rose hit Bumstead’s offering deep over the right-field wall for the early advantage.

Bumstead settled down yielding just one walk and one more hit through the sixth inning. Meanwhile, the Bears offense was able to wake up and beginning hitting off Ducks starter Randy Leek.

Newark responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs of their own to re-tie the game at 2. Ramon Castro and Keith Reed hit back-to-back home runs off Leek to nearly the same spot beyond the left-center field wall. Reed’s homer was his team-leading 20th of the season.

Newark charged ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Keith Reed smashed a one-out double off the wall in centerfield, setting the table for Willis Otanez’s two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield.

The Ducks responded immediately when Ray Navarette tied the game with his 23rd home run of the season.

However, the Bears would counter right back in the bottom of the frame. Raul Gonzalez reached with a one-out single and was lifted for pinch-runner Mike Just. After Just advanced to second on Ramon Nivar’s groundout, Bobby Hill singled into right field. Third base coach Ryan Jones waved Just around beat a close play at the plate to give Newark the lead.

Bumstead entered the eighth with the lead and set the Long Island order down 1-2-3, entrusting his bullpen to protect his lead.

Reliever Andy Shibilo (1-1) entered the ninth to try and hold the small margin, but Rose blasted Shibilo’s fastball over the wall for his second home run of the game, knotting the game at 4.

Ramon Nivar led-off the tenth, singling off Ducks reliever Vic Darensbourgh. After Hill sacrificed him over to second, Ramon Castro hit a slow ground ball to third, where Rose had moved to in the sixth inning. Even a perfect throw would not have gotten Castro at first, but the throw was wild and Nivar came around to score and send the Bears home as winners.

Unfortunately for Bumstead, he will have to wait for his next start to try and break that record.

Randy Leek who was on the short end of the decision until Rose’s home run still has not lost since Jun. 4. He battled Bumstead well, giving up nine hits and four earned runs over seven innings.

The Bears and Ducks meet Saturday afternoon for the third game of a four-game series. Robert Giron takes the mound for Newark while Long Island counters with Jose Paniagua.

In the first half of the 2008 Atlantic League season, they pounded teams into the ground with an explosively potent lineup that was unrivaled by any team. Whether it was Bobby Hill and Brian Burgamy setting the table, or Cory Aldridge, Ramon Castro and Val Majewski launching baseballs into the Ironbound’s evening sky, this was an offense that was second-to-none.

Then their pitching finally began to take shape. Pat Stanley and Mike Bumstead anchored the top of the rotation, getting consistently outstanding starts. Stanley, in particular, was dominating, including a 15-strikeout performance against the Lancaster Barnstormers in late May. Benito Baez finally got healthy as well and gave the Bears an excellent top 3 in their rotation.

Although the team lacked a true closer due to Al Levine’s early-season retirement, Cory Willey and J.J. Trujillo became a fantastic late-inning duo that shut teams down in those crucial seventh, eighth and ninth innings.

However, the unfortunate nature of the Atlantic League is that teams will lose their best players as the season rolls on. Brian Burgamy was the first to go. Burgamy, an on-base machine, was picked up by the New York Mets. Then, out of nowhere, Majewski was snapped up by the Houston Astros, which came as a complete surprise to him.

“I haven’t really heard from anyone yet” said Majewski after a June 19th game against Camden. “We’re all just working hard here and waiting for our number to get called.”

Finally, Aldridge, the rock-steady veteran in the middle of their lineup, went to the Kansas City Royals organization.

Despite that, the Bears were essentially one winning streak away from wrapping up the Freedom Division title for the first half. Instead, they began to falter, playing very inconsistently with their once-potent offense going dry on some nights. After taking two out of three from the Camden Riversharks and York Revolution, the Bears had finally re-positioned themselves in the right place to earn their playoff spot.

In early July, it all came down to a five-game series with the Somerset Patriots. The Bears went into the series dead-even with their rival for first place. After splitting the first four games, it came to a Sunday showdown and everything looked right for Newark.

Stanley was on the mound with an 8-1 record against Jim Magrane who hardly seemed to be able to get anyone out for most of the year. But, the Bears went quietly in a 6-1 loss in front of a packed house in Somerset. Just like that, the magical first half was over.

That brings the story to mid-August, Newark now has a 15-19 record for the second half. Forced to re-load, the Bears have been unable to re-capture the magic that Aldridge and Majewski brought to the middle of their order. Aldridge had consistently driven in runs the entire season and had a David Ortiz-like habit of coming through in the clutch. Majewski’s pure professionalism was unmatched, showing from day one that his bat belonged back in the major leagues. Combining the two of them with Castro, Jose Herrera and Randall Simon gave nightmares to opposing pitchers.

No matter who they have brought in since, none of their players have been able to duplicate the pure power and hitting ability the middle of their order once had.

The staff has suffered as well recently. Stanley and Bumstead remain at the top, but a rotating cast of starters have failed to establish themselves behind the two of them. Trujillo and Carlos Mirabal, both key contributors on last year’s championship team, have retired and Steven Kent has been traded away for catching help with the loss of John Pachot to the Mexican Minor League.

There are still pieces in place for the Bears. Castro, Herrera, Keith Reed, Raul Gonzalez and Ruben Mateo are all still dangerous hitters and Hill and Mike Just are still capable of getting on base ahead of them. But this is clearly a much different team without their superstar corner-outfielders.

Barring a sudden turnaround, Newark could very well be left wondering what might have been in 2008.

Fast forward to Saturday night and it was quite a different story. Mike Bumstead took the mound as the last Newark Bears pitcher to record a win and played the role of the stopper once again. Bumstead went the distance in the Bears 12-3 win over the Camden Riversharks.

The game did not begin well for Bumstead or the Bears. Nick Jackson led off the game with a solo home run for Camden and Sheldon Fulse added another one in the top of the third to give the Riversharks a 2-0 lead.

However, everywhere in between and after, Bumstead was completely dominant. Camden hitters took a lot of bad swings against Bumstead’s curveball, which was sharp the entire evening. He struck out 11 batters in his nine innings of work, a new personal high for him.

Newark’s offense broke loose in the third inning when Keith Reed hit a triple over Jackson’s head in center field. Vic Gutierrez and Ramon Castro scored on that drive to tie the game at 2.

Ruben Mateo, back for another tour of duty with Newark, hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put the Bears ahead. Raul Gonzalez, another recent newcomer with major-league experience, hit a three-run bomb in the fifth to stretch the lead further.

The rest of Newark’s offensive explosion was highlighted by catcher Scott Knazek’s two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh.

Saturday night was also “Lima Time” at Riverfront Stadium. Former major-leaguer Jose Lima was Camden’s starter for the night. Much like his time in the majors, he was tagged for seven earned runs in five innings of work.

Bumstead, however, was the star of the show. He only suffered one more blemish when he gave up a third solo home run in the seventh to L.J. Biernbaum. But, the game was far out of reach at that point. He completed his nine innings in just 108 pitches and two hours and 32 minutes.

A lot of positives came from tonight’s game for the struggling club. Newark had lost six in a row, including a sweeping at the hands of the Bridgeport Bluefish just before the all-star break. Gonzalez went three-for-four and scored three times in the contest. He and Mateo are hoping to fill the huge offensive void left by the departures of Cory Aldridge and Val Majewski.

For Bumstead, it was his tenth win of the season, which leads the Atlantic League. It is also another new career-high for the young right-hander.

The Bears finish their three game series with Camden on Sunday at 1:35. Benito Baez is the scheduled starter for Newark.

It was a rainy 11:05 AM start for The Bears who earned a quick run in the bottom of the first. Mike Just led off with a single and then stole second and third base. Ramon Castro brought him in with a sacrifice fly to put Newark up 1-0.

Just scored again on a sacrifice fly in the fifth, this one was off the bat of Cory Aldridge. Just was three-for-four on the day, all singles, scoring two runs and swiping two bases as well.

Starter Patrick Stanley (7-1) carried the Bears through the game, dominating the Southern Maryland lineup striking out ten in his 6 1/3 innings of work.

“I brought a good tempo today,” said Stanley. “It was better than I’ve had in the last couple of starts, as a result I was able to keep the ball down, everything was a little sharper, last couple of weeks I was slowing down and my arm was dragging behind me, I got back on track today.”

“He was a lot better today,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “And he’s still that type of pitcher where he may lose for a half-inning like he did and then come back and strike out the side and that’s the way he is, but overall it was a real good outing.”

Indeed, in the sixth inning the bases were loaded with no one out and the Blue Crabs had Stanley on the ropes. Stanley reared back and struck out John Ramistella, Curtis Pride and Clinton Johnston in successive fashion to keep Southern Maryland off the board.

In the seventh, a freak occurrence ended Stanley’s outing a little early.

After striking out James Shanks, catcher Scott Knazek casually tossed the ball back to Stanley who just happened to be caught the wrong way and the ball hit Stanley flush in the eye. He was okay after the game, but was taken out of the game at that point as a precaution.

“Yeah, its okay now,” said Stanley. “It burned a little bit at the time, but its fine now.”

Steven Kent (1) came on in the ninth and picked up his first save of the season.

Despite the win, the Bears let a few chances slip by the wayside in the middle innings to get a few more runs across the plate and the bullpen, aside from Kent was a little shaky in this game.

“I don’t know how we got a shutout with nine walks,” said Krenchicki. “And we had some opportunities to put some runs on the board and we weren’t able to get that timely hit and bust the door wide open.”

However, the fact remains that the Bears keep pace with Somerset and remain just one game out of first place. The team will embark on a 12-game road trip beginning with a three-game set in Camden against the Riversharks. Mike Bumstead will take the hill for Newark on Friday night.

It is not known what was said amongst the players, but they responded by crushing the Camden Riversharks 10-1 on Friday night at Riverfront Stadium.

The Bears offense came on in the early innings. Newark picked up two quick runs on a sacrifice fly by Keith Reed and an RBI-single by Randall Simon.

They opened the floodgates with a seven-run third inning which Vic Gutierrez got started with a double down the left field line. Mike Just followed with a walk and then the RBI carousel began. Ramon Castro and Jose Herrera both plated runs with RBI base hits. Both of them came home when Cory Aldridge slammed his ninth home run of the year over the left-center field wall. Val Majewski reached on a single and then Keith Reed launched a two-run shot to right field giving the Bears a healthy 9-0 lead.

John Pachot added an RBI-single in the fifth inning to close out the scoring for the Bears.

It was pretty smooth sailing for Jose Garcia (2-1), Newark’s starting pitcher for the evening. Garcia picked up the win and kept the Camden lineup quiet, yielding just six hits and one run over seven innings of work. Garcia was very aggressive, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 27 batters he faced. He was also hitting his targets well, throwing 76 of his 107 pitches for strikes.

“Well, we feel Garcia is capable of doing that every time,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “He was aggressive and I’ve been trying to pound that into our pitchers. We’ve been giving up a lot of runs lately and they’ve been constantly pitching into 2-0, 3-0 and 3-1 counts and we can’t have that.”

Cory Willey finished the final two innings for Newark and gave up just one hit.

Camden’s one run was a solo home run by L.J. Biernbaum which led-off the sixth inning. It was Garcia’s only mistake in an otherwise outstanding performance.

It was an all-around effort for the Newark Bears offense. Six different hitters contributed RBIs, led by Aldridge and Reed who picked up three RBIs apiece.

After the game, there was a special moment when reliever Rich Scalamandre proposed to his girlfriend on the field with all the Newark players and coaches staying in the dugout to watch after the team celebrated their win. It was a sweet sight for all those in attendance and it perfectly capped off a big night in Newark for a team that really needed a big win.

Notes: Their seven run third inning tied a season high. They previously achieved this on April 29th during the fourth inning against the Bridgeport Bluefish. The time of the game was a very brisk two hours and eleven minutes. Attendance was 4,256.

The Riversharks opened the scoring in the top of the first on back-to-back RBI doubles by L.J. Biernbaum and Richard Lewis.

The Bears got the bottom frame off well when Mike Just singled and stole second. He went to third on a base hit by Ramon Castro. Jose Herrera grounded into a double play, but Just was able to score to cut the lead in half.

Unfortunately for the Bears, starter Frank Gracesqui (0-1) could not settle down and was pulled after three innings. He gave up six hits, but they were all for extra bases including a Ron Davenport solo home run.

Carlos Mirabal didn’t fare any better in the fourth. He gave up six hits including back-to-back home runs by Jason Phillips and Biernbaum. The deficit was 12-1 after four innings of play.

Double plays were a large part of the problem for the Bears offense. Newark grounded into four of them on the evening, each one killing a rally that they desperately needed. Jose Herrera was a guilty party twice, grounding into 4-6-3 double plays in the first and sixth innings.

Camden had another big inning in the seventh, highlighted by Davenport’s second home run of the game, a three-run shot off Rich Scalamandre. Davenport went 5-for-5 and had seven RBIs on the night. He was a big catalyst in the Rivershark offense, igniting them at key times in the ball game.

Newark was long out of the game at this point, but they battled and picked up some runs in the late innings. Val Majewski and Castro each hit home runs to help Newark close the gap a bit to 17-6.

Majewski continues to shine bright for a Newark club that has leveled off a bit in the past couple of weeks. After dropping a tough series two-out-of-three to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, this was not the way the Bears intended to start their home-stand.

Despite his .365 batting average with eight home runs and 47 RBIs, he says he hasn’t heard from any major league clubs as of yet.

“I’m just playing the best I can here,” said Majewski. “You can’t decide where you go, I don’t have control over that decision, it doesn’t work like that.”

Still, it’s difficult to imagine he lasts the entire season with Newark.

Fortunately for the Bears, the Somerset Patriots blew a ninth inning lead against the Bridgeport Bluefish. This allows the Bears to stay in a tie for first place and attempt take sole possession again tomorrow. Jose Garcia will take the mound for Newark against Nate Buttenfield

Benito Baez (2-2) took the loss for Newark, but pitched an absolute gem tossing just 94 pitches in a complete game effort.

“I did my best to give the team a chance to win,” said Baez. “I was able to go all the way, we just fell a little short, I can’t complain about it.”

“We’ve had some bad starts from our starters,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “So it was a shame we had to waste this one by running into another pitcher that threw as well as our guy. It’s something you can’t control, but when you get an outing like that you like to win.”

From start to finish there were great defensive plays in the field which made the outstanding pitching duel of Baez and Carlos Castillo stand up to look even better.

Mike Just made an incredible sliding stop at third base on a hot line drive, he then got to his feet and was able to throw the runner out.

Ramon Castro did a perfect Derek Jeter impersonation when he back-handed a ball in the hole at shortstop and then leapt in the air as he turned and fired to throw the runner out at first.

In the fifth, P.J. Rose went way up in the air and snagged a hard-hit ball off the bat of Just.

The sixth inning was the only frame to feature runs by either team.

The Ducks broke through in the top of the sixth, scoring two runs on RBI-singles by Dennis Donovan and Kevin Haverbusch.

Newark responded with one of their own in the bottom of the sixth when Bobby Hill hit a solo home run to the opposite field.

However, that would be all. The Bears ability to get the big hit, a hallmark for much of the season, did not show through in this game. The two teams combined for just 13 hits in this game after combining for as many as 27 in a game in their previous series.

Notes: Franklin Gracesqui will make his Bears debut on Saturday. Krenchicki said that he’s thrown up to 80 pitches in simulated games, so he’ll hopefully go five or six innings, but the bullpen is fresh and ready to go just in case.

However, help is on the way in the form of Franklin Gracesqui. The big, six-foot-five left-hander with a live arm is about to be added to Newark’s stable of pitchers.

Gracesqui has been in professional baseball since 1998 as a 21st round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in that year’s amateur draft.

Since then, the Dominican Republic native posted fairly impressive numbers in the minors. In 362 career minor league innings, his 382 strikeouts stand out as an indicative stat of his pitching style.

He also made it to the majors in 2004 with the Florida Marlins who had claimed in two years prior in the Rule 5 Draft. He earned seven relief appearances with the team and picked up one save. He pitched in Japan last year for the Chunichi Dragons posting a 3-0 record with a 2.35 ERA.

Gracesqui was signed ten days ago, but has been recovering from an emergency appendectomy he had earlier in the spring. This has delayed his debut with the Bears.

After the Bears 10-4 win on Long Island on Saturday night, pitching coach Steve Foucault mentioned that he’d already been on the mound three times. He’d thrown a bullpen session that day and was scheduled for a simulated game on Tuesday in Newark.

“If all goes well and we think he’s ready to face hitters in a real game, we’ll activate him on Friday [at home against Long Island],” said Foucault.

Foucault spoke highly of the 27-year-old’s stuff as well as his pitching motion.

“He’s got a great fastball,” he said. “I’m just guestimating, but he’s throwing between 88 and 90 MPH probably, and he’s got a slider and a change-up that look good too and he’s mechanically pretty sound.”

Gracesqui is already familiar to a couple of Newark Bears. He was teammates with outfielders Keith Reed and Val Majewski during a stint in the Baltimore Orioles organization. He also played in the Dominican League with right fielder Jose Herrera.

Gracesqui is listed as the probable starter for Saturday, June 14th against the Long Island Ducks.

The offense got on the board quickly in their first turn at bat thanks to Randall Simon’s bases-clearing double off the center field wall. It was part of a four-run first that vaulted the Bears out of the gate.

Mike Bumstead (5-4) threw five innings for the win and pitched well, but couldn’t get deep into the game. Unfortunately, he couldn’t muster up any 1-2-3 innings which elevated his pitch count, but he had the Lancaster hitters off balance during his time in the game.

“Its nice to get strikeouts,” said Bumstead. “But, I’d rather get deeper into the game, get through at least six, but the bullpen came in and did their job and we were able to get the win.”

Indeed, Bumstead struck out ten Barnstormers in his five innings of work.

“I threw quite a bit of sliders,” Bumstead said. “Probably threw too many, but I was able to get ahead with the fastball to set up the slider and it was definitely working today.”

“He was pretty solid today,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “He got into trouble with his pitch count, the hitters were fouling off a lot of pitches in their at-bats. We weren’t afraid to use our bullpen since they’re pretty fresh.”

It was a fairly quiet game from there on. Edwin Almonte, Cory Willey and J.J. Trujillo finished out the game with Trujillo picking up his fourth save when he came on in the ninth inning.

Newark scratched out a couple of extra runs as the game went on. Ramon Castro picked up a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and then an RBI-single in the sixth to add some insurance to the Bears lead.

The win, coupled with a loss by the Somerset Patriots, drew them even for first place in the Freedom Division with Long Island coming to The Den for a three-game weekend series.

“Surely our goal is to win two out of three,” said Krenchicki. “We’ve got some different pitching matchups this time with Baez, who will hopefully be ready to go and Gracesqui on Saturday. I think our matchups will be better this time around.”

The Bears and Ducks square off for game one at 7:05 PM on Friday night at Riverfront Stadium.

Notes: Newark announced before the game that they’ve signed right-handed pitcher Carlos Mirabal. Mirabal was a key cog in last year’s championship team until he was sidelined with an injury in September. David Pellegrine was also traded to the Kansas City T-Bones of the Northern League to complete an earlier trade.

Benito Baez was scheduled to pitch for the Bears, however, he has been battling the injury bug. When he came to the ballpark yesterday, he was stiff and sore and not ready to go.

“He threw fine in his bullpen session two days ago,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “But then he came to the park yesterday and he was sore all over, so we decided to make it a bullpen-effort for tonight.”

Rich Scalamandre, normally a reliever, got the call to take the mound. It was his first in six years. He filled in admirably, yielding four runs and five hits in four innings of work.

“It was the first time I started since 2002 at Jamaica College,” said Scalamandre. “I just wanted to try and keep us in the game and with our bullpen a little thin right now, I just wanted to go as long as I could.

For the second straight game, Newark struck quickly, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning when Val Majewski knocked in two runs with a sharp single to center. The hit brought in Bobby Hill and Jose Herrera who had reached via walks.

The third inning saw Randall Simon step up to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Simon promptly delivered another hard-hit ball up the middle which scored two more runs.

In the fourth, Mike Just reached with a single to lead-off and then proceeded to steal second. Hill brought him in with a single down the right-field line.

The Ducks fought their way back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4. The inning was highlighted by a Carl Everett two-run homer. It was an impressive shot that cleared the 400 feet sign in center field.

Cory Willey (5-0) picked up the win when he came on in the fifth and fired three shutout innings, giving up just one hit and issuing one free pass. It was a difficult situation for Willey to be in, but he provided stability in the crucial middle innings that allowed the Bears to keep and extend the lead.

“It was kind of up in the air,” said Willey. “We all knew we were going to get some time tonight, but I didn’t know if it would be a one-inning deal or more. But, on days like this you just have to be ready to throw as many as you can.”

When Willey came on, the Long Island bats went quiet and the Bears went back to work on offense. Aldridge added RBIs in the sixth and eighth innings to move Newark further ahead.

Randall Simon picked up his third RBI of the game on a solo home run in the ninth. They added two more runs for the final margin of 10-4.

J.J. Trujillo finished the final two innings keeping the Ducks scoreless and picking up the save.

“Everyone pitched great tonight,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “And again, we swung the bats, put some runs on the board and that’s what its all about, a team effort.”

Notes: Mike Sweeney is scheduled to pitch the final game of a four-game set in Long Island, the Ducks started is TBA. Pitching help is on the way as Franklin Gracesqui is almost ready to go for the Newark Bears. If everything goes to plan, he will be activated Friday. No word yet as to who will be inactive.

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – It was a wild one on Long Island in the second of a four-game set between the Ducks and Bears. 17 runs, 26 hits and six errors provided a stark contrast to the previous night’s contest which saw the two teams play a low-scoring, fundamentally sound game. Long Island won this one 9-8.

The Newark Bears’ hit-carousel got started right from the first pitch of the game. Bobby Hill drew a walk to lead-off the game, followed by two singles from Ramon Castro and Jose Herrera. Cory Aldridge brought in the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice. Randall Simon plated two more with a two-run single.

Aldridge knocked in another run in the second, bringing Mike Just around who led-off the frame with a single of his own. Val Majewski then followed Aldridge with an RBI-single of his own making the score 5-0 after two innings.

But, Long Island would claw their way back and got two off of Mike Bumstead in the bottom of the second. Estee Harris ripped a triple down the right field line scoring a run and then he was brought home by a Damian Rolls sacrifice fly.

The Ducks tied the game in the fourth on a base-hit by Jamie Pogue. Estee Harris broke back towards third base on the hit, but then went home and collided with Bumstead en route to the plate. With Pachot up the line fielding the relay throw, no one was at home to cover. That allowed Damian Rolls to score.

Donaldo Mendez came up as the next batter and hit a high two-run homer over the left field fence. Bumstead’s night would end two batters later.

Newark knotted the game at 8 in the top of the sixth inning, taking advantage of two more errors by the Ducks. Hill reached base when first baseman P.J. Rose’s toss to Manny Ulloa was behind him as he broke for the bag. After a Castro single, Herrera brought both of them in with a long double to left-center. Herrera crossed the dish when Keith Reed reached on a groundball that was bobbled by the third baseman Rolls.

Long Island went back ahead on a strange play. Mendez led off the inning with a double and appeared to be picked off of second base. Edwin Almonte threw over to Castro, who was covering second and Mendez broke for third. Castro’s throw to third was off-target and that allowed Mendez to score.

That run was the final score between the two teams. Neither Manny Ulloa nor Mike Bumstead pitched particularly well in their starts and both were gone by the sixth inning.

Almonte was the tough-luck loser while Ryan Knippschild, the losing pitcher in game one, got the win.

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY  - The Newark Bears have an emerging star in their starting rotation.

Patrick Stanley followed up his dominating 15-strikeout performance of the Lancaster Barnstormers with a four-hit shutout of the Long Island Ducks. Newark took the first game of a four-game set 4-0.

Early on, Long Island starter Carlos Castillo was matching zeros with Stanley, however once he left the game in the fifth inning, the Newark offense was able to strike and Stanley continued to roll on through the end of the game.

“More important than anything he’s finding command with all of his pitches,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “Earlier in the year his pitch counts got so high from walking guys and getting behind in the count and he hasn’t done that in his last two starts so he’s getting deeper into games and it saves our bullpen”

Stanley’s outing on Thursday night was in stark contrast to his previous one. He only struck out three batters while inducing more ground balls and getting plenty of fly balls to Keith Reed in center, who had ten put-outs.

“Well, they’re a great team,” said Stanley, referring to the Ducks. “If I had gone out there trying to strike out a bunch of guys, they would’ve done some damage so my goal was just to go out there and throw strikes and force them to put the ball in play and the defense was great behind me. Its great to pitch knowing your defense is playing so well like that.”

Reed made a highlight-reel catch in the second inning which would set the defensive tone for the game. Kevin Haverbusch sent a deep drive to left-center field that appeared to be a home run until Reed climbed the wall and brought the ball back into the park.

“We played solid tonight and overall we’ve been great defensively,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “When you have a pitcher who is pitching quick and he’s getting ahead of the hitters it helps your concentration.”

In the sixth inning, each team had a golden opportunity to get the game’s first run, but neither could capitalize on the opportunity.

First, Newark had loaded up the bases on a hit-by-pitch and two singles from the middle of their order, which brought up Val Majewski. However, Majewski hit a hard ground ball right to Brett Abernathy at second who turned the 4-6-3 double play.

In the bottom of the inning, Long Island had all the sacks occupied with two outs and Haverbusch at the plate. However, Ray Navarrete was leading a little too far off of first and Newark catcher John Pachot gunned him out at first base and the inning was over.

The Bears finally broke through in the seventh off of reliever Ben Grezlovski. Keith Reed and Randall Simon started the inning with singles and were bunted over by Pachot. After a groundout, Bobby Hill stepped in and lined a double over Navarrete’s head in left plating both Reed and Simon.

In the eighth inning, Majewski was handed a chance at redemption. After hitting into a double play in his previous at-bat, he would atone for that by hitting a two-run homer deep into the Long Island night to give his team a 4-0 lead. Majewski has experienced a power-surge lately with three home runs in his last four games.

“I don’t want to say I’m doing anything different,” said Majewski. “I think I’ve had the same swing all year, I guess I’m just elevating the ball a little better right now.”

Mike Bumstead takes the mound for Newark on Friday night, he followed Stanley’s last performance with an impressive start of his own.

Notes: It was Stanley’s second career shutout and third complete game of his professional baseball career. His last two complete games have been back-to-back, his last shutout came in 2006 when he pitched for Washington in the Frontier League. Attendance was 5,936.

Bridgeport took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning when Jesse Hoorelbeke led-off with a home run. Starter David Pellegrine then hit Ryan Bear and allowed a double to Branden Florence. Travis Ezi’s double to center field brought home Bear and Florence was called safe on a very close play at the plate.

The Bears fought back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Cory Aldridge and Val Majewski hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut the lead to 3-2.

Newark took the lead in the following inning. Bobby Hill led off with a single and Ramon Castro followed him with a walk. Jose Herrera’s base-hit up the middle plated Hill and Majewski came up and knocked in Castro to give the Bears a 4-3 lead.

Bridgeport re-tied the game in the fourth when Alex Prieto, who was on second with a double, came in on a Henry Mateo single.

After loading up the bases in the fifth with no one out, Pellegrine was lifted in favor of Cory Willey. After giving up a run-scoring single, Willey was able to induce a short fly-out and then a double play to escape further damage.

Hoorelbeke struck again in the sixth inning, hitting his second home run of the game, another solo shot, giving Bridgeport a 6-4 lead.

Bridgeport starter Rafael Bergstom settled down after a rough first couple of innings to pick up the win. He kept the Newark lineup off-balance in the second-half of his outing.

“The last time we faced him [Bergstom] it was the same thing,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “We scored some early runs and then he settled down and threw a lot of change-ups and we didn’t do anything against after we scored early.”

The Bears were unable to re-gain any ground. Newark got a runner into scoring position in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but couldn’t find the hit to bring the runner home.

A lead-off walk in the ninth by Castro was erased by a double play and then a two-out single by Aldridge when to waste with a game-ending groundout.

“You have to give a lot of credit to the pitching tonight,” said Krenchicki. “We have been very good with runners in scoring position and runners in scoring position with two outs, so you have to give their staff credit.”

Notes: The Bears lost for just the fifth time at home this season. They are 13-5 at Riverfront Stadium, while just 9-9 on the road. With his 2-for-4 night, Aldridge is now hitting exactly .400 on the season. He is 56-for-140 with six home runs and 35 RBIs. His batting average and RBI total lead the Atlantic League. Hoorelbeke’s two home runs gave him nine on the season, also an Atlantic League leader.

Bumstead shut out the Barnstormers while yielding just two hits and two walks, ringing up nine strikeouts as well. He improved to 4-4 on the season, though he has been excellent in his last few outings, he’s been victimized by some bad luck, but none of that on this day.

“I felt pretty good today, I just went out there trying to throw strikes,” said Bumstead. “I made a couple of bad plays in the field myself, but we played good defense out there afterwards and I was able to battle back and I was fortunate enough to come away with a good performance.”

Bumstead carried a no-hitter through 4 2/3 innings, having it broken up by Michael Woods, who it a double to left-center.

“I’d like to say I didn’t notice, but, when you pitch, you know what you’re doing,” said Bumstead. “I’d have loved to get the no-hitter, but they’re rare, I’d rather just go out there and get a strong performance and come away with a win.”

Once again, the Newark Bears hitters provided some offensive fireworks of their own, paving the way for their starting pitcher.

Val Majewski continued his torrid streak by going 4-for-5, including a solo home run in the first inning to kick-start the offense.

Randall Simon’s resurgence continued with RBI-singles in the third and fifth inning. Simon went 3-for-4 and has raised his batting average nearly fifty points since returning from a shoulder injury.

Designated Hitter Gerard Haran blew the game wide-open in the bottom of the fifth with an impressive three-run homer that cleared the center field wall with plenty of room to spare. The young utility player has been a pleasant surprise playing in spot-situations for the Bears.

Cory Aldridge also picked up two more RBIs to extend his Atlantic League-leading total to 34 and raised his batting average to .397.

However, for the second straight day, this poweful offense to a back seat to another fantastic pitching peformance.

“It’s been real big for us,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “To follow up Stanley like that and he had nine punchouts himself, it was huge, especially after the extra innings two nights ago and being a little short in the pen right now.”

Next up for the Newark Bears are the Bridgeport Bluefish, who come to Riverfront Stadium for a three-game set starting Monday. Game one will pit Bridgeport’s Rafael Bergstom against Newark’s David Pellegrine.

Notes: In the three game series with Lancaster, a Bears pitcher recorded a strike out in each of the final 20 innings, dating back to the eighth inning of game one on Friday night. Bumstead is the only pitcher in the Atlantic League to receive a decision in all of his starts (minimum four starts).

Stanley went the distance for the Bears, impressively striking out 15 hitters along the way, setting a new club record and falling just one strikeout short of the Atlantic League record set by Ray Davis of the Somerset Patriots.

“I thought I kept a lot of pitches down tonight,” said Stanley. “The slider I felt was working great so that helped with the strikeouts and the fastball was staying down, I was able to force them to put the ball in play.”

Stanley’s family was also on hand tonight, making the performance even sweeter for him. The native of Lakewood, N.J. had a crowd of his parents, brothers and nephews and some friends as well at The Den to witness his pitching feat.

“It feels great, you know,” Stanley said. “I’m just glad to be here where my family can see me, I’ve always played far away, so it’s great they can come up and see me.”

Stanley had the Barnstormers off-balance all night long. He started off hot, fanning five batters in the first two innings and he had set down ten hitters on strikes at the end of five innings. Stanley then struck out one batter in each of the next three innings before ringing up two more in his final frame. He was still strong at the end of his 135-pitch night. His only real blemish was a solo home run he yielded in the third inning to Lancaster catcher Lance Burkhart.

The ever-reliable Bears offense provided plenty of run-support for Stanley to chase the record.

Newark picked up four runs in the bottom of the first. Val Majewski knocked in two runs with a long double to left-center field, and then Randall Simon plated two runs of his own by doubling off the 365 feet sign in right-center, missing a home run by just a few feet.

The Bears picked up one more run in the second inning on an RBI-single by Ramon Castro. Cory Aldridge further padded the lead with his Atlantic League-leading 32nd RBI in the bottom of the eighth inning.

But, the night belonged to Stanley, whose performance also helped a bullpen that is a little short on arms due to injuries.

“We were just hoping for six or seven innings to ensure that our bullpen would be sharp for the next couple days,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “But a complete game and 15 strikeouts is just a huge lift for us.”

Indeed, spirits were high in the locker room after the game. The atmosphere was a lively one as all the Bears were offering their congratulations to Stanley. As reliever Rich Scalamandre headed off towards the shower he remarked “here’s the guy you want to talk to tonight,” while pointing towards the 6’7 right-hander. That really summed up the evening.

Notes: Newark’s previous record-holder was Brian Givens, who struck out 14 batters on July 2nd, 1998 against Somerset. Stanley’s complete game was the second of his career. His first came in 2006 while pitching for Washington in the Frontier League.

The game itself was a wild one, starting with both offenses lighting up the scoreboard.

The Bears jumped all over Somerset starter Brian Adams. Bobby Hill got the offense rolling with a single and he was followed by Ramon Castro sending a sizzling shot to Teuris Olivares at shortstop. It was ruled an error and the Bears had two men aboard with one out. Cory Aldridge continued his hot hitting, delivering an RBI single. Val Majewski batted in a run with a double later in the inning and John Pachot knocked in two runs with a single. Newark was up 5-0 after the opening frame.

Majewski went five-for-six in the game and fell a home run short of the cycle, which he nearly accomplished in the eleventh inning, falling just a few feet short in right-center field.

“I don’t know, I mean, I knew I hit the ball pretty high up in the air,” said Majewski when asked about his eleventh inning bid. “So I wasn’t sure it had the distance, maybe earlier in the day when it was gustier out there it might have gone.”

Sean Smith’s solo home run in the top of the third made the game 5-1, but Newark posted three more runs on triples by Jose Herrera and Majewski, whom was knocked in by Pachot once again, giving the Bears an 8-1 lead.

The Patriots got back to 8-3 on a two-RBI double by Elliot Ayala in the top of the fourth. Vito Chiaravalotti reached on an error and Jason Belcher singled to put runners in position for Ayala who ripped a line drive down the left-field line.

The Patriots continued to chip away and eventually caught up. Starting pitcher Benito Baez began the top of the fifth by walking Gera Alvarez and Michael Ryan. Two singles and a wild pitch brought them in to make it 8-5. After Baez got two outs, he had almost worked himself out of the jam when Jason Belcher launched a three-run homer to right-center field to tie the game at 8.

“Its disheartening to have your biggest rival down 8-1 and they come back,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “You need to score more runs and we need to go out there and stop them from scoring and we didn’t do that. But we did win and its an important ‘W’”

From there on, it was a tightly-contested game featuring a battle of the bullpens.

Edwin Almonte came on in the seventh and tossed three scoreless frames, giving up just two hits and striking out four. Al Levine followed with two shutout innings of his own and Rich Scalamandre finished it off and picked up his second win of the season in his one inning of work.

Eddie Cahill and Travis Minnix were equal to the task, keeping the powerful Newark offense off the scoreboard for four innings. Frank Brooks took the loss for Somerset and fell to 2-1.

There were a few close calls later on in the game. In the seventh, the Bears had the bases loaded with no one out, but were unable to bring anyone in. Castro and Cory Aldridge drew one-out walks in the eighth, but again could not capitalize.

On the Somerset side, Alvarez grounded into a costly double play in the top of the eighth inning with Belcher on third base. They had small rallies in the ninth and tenth inning but were turned aside each time by the Bears.

Then in the 12th, after ripping a long foul ball, Castro got a second opportunity and parked one into the netting in left field to win the game.

“I was thinking about that [homering after hitting the foul ball] but they just kept pitching me inside, inside, inside,” said Castro. “So I knew that and I was able to make good contact and it went out.”

Notes: Herrera’s triple gave him three triples in three games. Castro is now tied for the team lead in home runs despite only playing in ten games so far this season. Somerset starter Adams now only has four career Atlantic League losses and three of them have come from the Bears. Attendance was 2,378.

“We’re playing really well right now,” said Wayne Krenchicki. “We made a couple of mistakes defensively which we’ll have to make adjustments on, but the hitting and pitching are coming along very well.”

With an electric crowd filling up Riverfront Stadium and roaring in support of their home team, it would be the Revolution who would strike first. Keoni De Renne sent an offering from Michael Bumstead over the right-field wall for a home run in the top of the first inning.

York starter Corey Thurman was cruising along retiring the first eight Newark hitters that he faced. Then in the bottom of the third, catcher John Pachot smashed a home run down the left field line. It was his second in the last two days and third on the season.

Luis Taveras’s one-out double in the top of the fourth led to a run for the Revolution. Taveras made it home on a throwing error by third baseman Brian Burgamy. But Kevin Kotch, who hit the grounder to third, was thrown out trying to take second base on the play. Despite two singles by Enrique Cruz and Kazunori Tanaka, the Bears were able to escape down by one run.

The Bears went back ahead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Randall Simon and Val Majewski started the frame with back-to-back singles. Pachot sacrificed them over to second and third and then Simon scored on a very wild pitch by Thurman. Burgamy brought Majewski in with a double down the right field line to give Newark the 3-2 lead.

The see-saw battle continued in the top of the sixth. Bumstead got into a little more trouble after walking Jason Aspito and yielding a single to Taveras. Kotch tried to bunt them over, but Bumstead got the lead runner out at third. After striking out Cruz, he walked Tanaka and an infield single brought in Taveras. Bumstead struck out De Renne to avoid further damage and the game was left knotted at 3.

“Its frustrating when you get into those jams,” said Bumstead. “They’re tough circumstances but you have to pitch through them and we were able to make the plays when we needed to.”

As usual, the Bears offense had an answer. Cory Aldridge smoked an opposite field line drive over the bullpen gate in left to put Newark back ahead. Aldridge’s third home run of the year re-tied Pachot for the team lead who homered earlier in the game.

Little by little, the Bears broke the game open.

Newark tacked on a couple on insurance runs in their next turn at bat. An RBI single by Ramon Castro followed by a triple by Jose Herrera brought in another run to give Newark a 6-3 lead through seven.

“We’ve really swung the bat well with runners in scoring position throughout this whole streak,” said Krenchicki. “We’re getting runners on and getting big hits.”

The Bears extended the lead to 8-3 on a two-RBI double by Majewski, who continues to knock in runs at a high rate for Newark. The scoring play was set up by a lead-off single by Keith Reed followed by reliever Matt Trent issuing a free pass to Simon.

Majewski came in to score on a wild throw by the Revolution third baseman De Renne. With Pachot on first Ramon Castro ripped a double into the right-center field gap to make it 10-3.

Notes: Herrera left the game after fouling a pitch off of his right calf muscle in the eighth inning. He had ice wrapped around it after the game but said he would be fine and that it was just a little stiff. The Bears have run their record to 16-9 and are 1.5 games ahead of the Somerset Patriots in the Freedom Division. Newark and Somerset will square off in a three-game set this weekend.

Cunnane, who has battled some elbow problems in the early going, pitched five innings giving up two runs and striking out three, tossing what he called his “best performance of the season.”

“I’ve been dealing with some elbow issues,” said Cunnane. “You know, you have two years off and something is going to happen, although I thought it would be my shoulder. I’ve gotten much more bite on the ball than the last two or three starts.”

The 34-year-old veteran could have possibly gone a little longer into the game. However, a few tough chances in the field extended a couple of innings. Twice the Bears had a chance to turn a double play but came up just short. Still, it was an encouraging sign for Cunnane.

“It was all fastball and changeup, because the curveball has been hurting my elbow,” Cunnane said. “I toss in a rinky-dink slider every now and then just to change things up a little.”

Newark was in control of the game from start to finish. Ramon Castro put the Bears up 2-0 with a solo shot in the top of the third inning.

Even when York tied the game at two on a double by Matt Dryer, it seemed inevitable that the Bears offense would come storming back as they have during their seven-game winning streak.

That prophecy became fulfilled in the top of the fifth when the floodgates began to open up for Newark.

Cory Aldridge got the hit carousel rotating when he doubled in Jose Herrera from first base for his team-leading 21st RBI. Keith Reed followed with a walk and that set the stage for Simon’s towering three-run homer to right field which broke the game wide open. Val Majewski came up next and singled and then he was plated by catcher Scott Knazek when he doubled down the right field line. One batter later, Bobby Hill came up and knocked in Knazek with a double of his own.

Majewski and Mike Just picked up RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth to further the lead to 10-2.

From a pitching standpoint, Corey Willey and Rich Scalamandre tossed scoreless frames to finish off the game for the Bears. It was a solid all-around effort for Newark who has stormed into first place in the Freedom Division of the Atlantic League.

“Its three doubleheaders in a row now and I don’t know, it’s pretty hard to sweep doubleheaders,” said Wayne Krenchicki. “We’ve been fortunate to go out and play well in the first game and that gives us a chance to win the second one. The starting pitching is definitely coming around from where it was earlier in the year.”

Notes: Cunnane improved to 2-0 on the season with the win he picked up tonight. Attendance for the doubleheader was 1,736. Newark finishes their four-game set with York Thursday morning at 11:05 AM. Mike Bumstead takes the mound against Corey Thurman.

Aldridge has taken his .411 batting average into the cleanup spot and leads the team with 20 RBIs, including the two he picked up in his first two at-bats of Game 1.

Newark starter Patrick Stanley got into some trouble early on in the game. He walked the lead-off man Kenny Perez and got Keoni De Renne to ground into a fielder’s choice. Then Matt Dryer blasted Stanley’s 1-1 offering over the left field wall to give the Revolution a 2-0 lead.

“I had to get past the first inning, I settled down after that,” said Stanley. “Especially with a doubleheader I tried to go as long as I could and the defense has been excellent, it helped me out a lot. I was fortunate to get out of that inning with just two runs against me.”

Newark got one back with Bobby Hill leading off the inning with a base-on-balls. Jose Herrera followed with a walk of his own and Cory Aldridge singled in Hill to cut the deficit in half.

In the bottom of the third, the Bears took the lead when Ramon Castro got them going with a lead-off double. Herrera attempted to bunt Castro over but popped the ball up. However, pitcher Wayne Franklin dove for the ball and came up empty and Castro was safe at first. Once again, Aldridge plated the run with a single and the game was tied. Keith Reed then hit into a fielder’s choice that brought in Herrera and Newark was ahead 3-2.

“I’ve been playing for 11 seasons now, so I’m confident I can square up on a couple of balls,” said Aldridge, with a grin. “I’m just trying to feel good and I’m getting hits and helping the team out.”

York came back to tie the game at 3 when Dryer struck again. With two on and one out, Dryer sent a hot shot down the third-base line that Brian Burgamy was able to snag on his backhand. With his momentum carrying him into foul territory he unleashed a one-hopper to first that was on target but dropped by one-sacker Gerard Haran. However, it was ruled a single for Dryer.

Once again, Newark was able to answer. In the bottom of the fourth inning, catcher John Pachot connected off Franklin for a home run sending the Bears back ahead 4-3.

“Our lineup is getting better and a little more consistent,” said Wayne Krenchicki. “We’ve certainly filled some holes that we had early on and we’re able to win games by knocking in runs.”

That home run closed out the scoring. After settling down over the next four innings, Stanley gave way to J.J. Trujillo and Al Levine who each tossed scoreless innings. Levine earned his seventh save of the season and Stanley improved to 2-0 scattering eight hits over five innings while giving up three earned runs. Wayne Franklin went the distance for York and took the loss, falling to 3-1.

Notes: The Bears are now 5-1 in doubleheader games this season, sweeping their previous two twin-billings. Aldridge’s .411 batting average (after Game 1) is the best amongst all qualifying hitters in the Atlantic League.

Newark got off to a quick start in the bottom of the second. Starter Tim McClaskey walked Cory Aldridge to start the inning, and then got two outs before walking Tim Sweeney. Scott Knazek made him pay by smashing a line drive over the left-center field wall for a three-run homer to give the Bears a 3-0 lead.

Things got dicey in the top of the third when David Pellegrine got into trouble. Manny Mejia singled to lead off the inning which was followed by Jutt Hileman hitting a ball off of third baseman Mike Sweeney’s glove. Mike Woods came up and singled to load the bases. Pellegrine then proceeded to walk five of the next six hitters, giving up four runs before he was finally replaced by Edwin Almonte. Almonte struck out Hileman to end the inning.

The walk carousel continued in the bottom of the inning, but this time it went against Lancaster when Bobby Hill led-off with a free-pass of his own. Keith Reed and Cory Aldridge followed up with walks loading the bases for Val Majewski. Majewski singled into right field plating Hill and Reed. One batter later, Tim Sweeney brought in Aldridge and Majewski after both advanced on a wild pitch by Yamel Guevara.

However, before that, what must have been a first in Atlantic League history took place.

Aldridge and Majewski attempted a double steal of second and third. On the attempt, Barnstormers catcher Larry Burkhart threw a peg that landed somewhere near the Hudson River. However, he ordered Aldridge and Majewski back to their bases ruling umpire interference. In essence, he called a do-over.

“I saw him put his hands up and he was saying ‘interference,’” said hitting coach Ryan Jones. “And I figured he meant batter’s interference, which didn’t happen and I was about to go out there and let him know that. And he said ‘no, it’s umpire’s interference’ and I said ‘oh, really? ‘I’ve never heard of that before.’ So, that was an interesting situation to say the least.”

Lancaster made it 7-6 on an RBI single by Vasili Spanos which scored Woods who reached on Sweeney’s second error of the game.

Newark added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Mike Just led the inning off with a walk. He stole second and Hill moved him to third with a ground out. Brian Burgamy then laced a single into left scoring Just. Later in the inning, Val Majewski plated Burgamy on a sacrifice fly. The next batter, Jose Herrera pinch-hit for Gerard Haran and doubled down the right field line, bringing home Reed.

Notes: Cory Aldridge walked in all four of his at-bats in Game 2. He also walked in his final at-bat of game 1 and singled before that, reaching base in six consecutive plate appearances. Mike Just has now dropped to ninth in the order, giving Bobby Hill the opportunity to lead off. “I’m working on some things right now,” said Just. “I’ll work through it and be ready to go.” Almonte picked up the win in relief.

However, the game began with the Bears falling behind. Lancaster wasted little time getting on the board scoring in the top of the first inning. Michael Woods led-off with a double over right fielder Jose Herrera’s head. Danny Gonzalez then sacrificed Woods over to third and Brian Stavisky sent a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score Woods.

The Barnstormers struck again in the fourth inning when Vasili Spanos connected off of starter Benito Baez for a solo home run to left field.

The Bears returned fire in the bottom of the fourth. Ramon Castro took first after he was hit by a pitch from Lancaster starter Michael Nannini. Simon singled to the opposite field giving Jose Herrera an opportunity to drive in a run. Herrera drove both in with a triple to the right-center field gap, knotting the game up at 2.

Nannini was lifted two batters later after issuing consecutive walks to Keith Reed and Val Majewski. Judd Songster came on to end the threat getting catcher John Pachot to ground out to third.

Newark took the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Cory Aldridge singled in Bobby Hill who had previously doubled with one out to get on base.

Bears starter Benito Baez left the game with that lead. After recording one out in the bottom of the sixth, he was replaced by right-hander J.J. Trujillo.

“They had their two right-handers in the middle of the lineup that Trujillo had dominated earlier in the series and it didn’t happen, it kind of backfired on us,” said Wayne Krenchicki. “But, [reliever Corey] Willey came in and did a great job.”

There was a scary moment in the bottom of the seventh for Lancaster reliever Ryan Cullen. Bears shortstop Vic Gutierrez lined a pitch directly back at Cullen and it hit him in the head, knocking his baseball cap clear off of him. However, Cullen immediately stood right up and walked into the dugout to get his jacket and then walked down the line back towards the Lancaster bullpen. He appeared extremely angry, but not hurt. Initial word came up to the press box saying that Cullen was going to be fine and E.M.S. was not called.

Gutierrez ended up with a single since the ball ended up in right field as a result of that strange play. Nate Hoelscher came on and walked Castro and Aldridge which brought Simon to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Simon hit the walk-off single through the right side to win the first game of the twin-bill.

Notes: Cullen showed no signs of concussion after the game, but unfortunately took the loss. Willey improved to 3-0 on this season, picking up the win in relief. Jose Herrera and Ramon Castro have both recently re-joined the team, they have gotten their visa issues worked out.

A ceremony took place before the game to honor the players from last season’s championship Newark squad. Ed Almonte, J.J. Trujillo, John Pachot, Keith Reed and Vic Gutierrez were the players honored as well as manager Wayne Krenchicki and pitching coach Steve Foucalt.

Brian Peterson of Bridgeport picked up the game’s first hit in the top of the first, but he was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double by Brian Burgamy to end the inning.

The Bluefish appeared poised to draw first blood in the game when Alex Prieto hit a one-out double off the left field wall. However, the outfield arms were able to contribute once again. A Henry Mateo single sent Prieto around third towards home, but an impressive peg from right fielder Val Majewski nailed Prieto at the dish to keep the game scoreless.

Newark would pick up the game’s first run in the bottom of the third. The rally began with two outs when Vic Gutierrez reached on a tough chance for the shortstop Prieto, it was ruled an error. Mike Just then reached on an infield single, followed by two straight walks to Bobby Hill and Keith Reed, the latter bringing Gutierrez in from third. The bases were left loaded, however, when Randall Simon grounded out to end their rally.

Bridgeport came storming back in the top of the fourth when Brian Peterson tripled to right field to lead off. Calvin Pickering worked a free-pass from Will Cunnane and one batter later Ryan Bear doubled in Peterson. Jake Daubert singled in a run and then Bobby Darula hit a sacrifice fly to center to put the Bluefish up 3-1.

Once again, the Bears were equal to the task and roared right back into the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Mike Just doubled in two runs and Cory Aldridge cleared the bases with a double of his own accounting for five of the Bears seven runs in their turn at bat. Gutierrez also reached on an error by counterpart shortstop Prieto for the second consecutive inning.

“We swung the bats really well tonight and got some timely hitting,” said Krenchicki.

Bridgeport’s starter Barry Hertzler started strong by retiring his first eight in a row, but saw bad bounces and a couple of errors turn fortunes against him. He was lifted for reliever Matt Ford after Just’s double and Hill’s hard single up the middle. He ended up with seven runs against him, but only three were earned.

Newark put the conclusion in little doubt in the bottom of the fifth when Keith Reed came up with a bases-loaded double of his own that cleared the sacks of Bears runners and put Newark up 12-3.

Cunnane pitched five innings for the Bears on a cold night which saw him in the dugout for extended periods of time due to Newark’s offense stringing several long innings together. However, Krenchicki says that wasn’t why he was taken out.

“It was his first time out for the season,” said Krenchicki. “We wanted him to get around 80 pitches, so it didn’t have to do with the cold, it was just where we wanted him to be with his pitch count.”

Cunnane was positive about his first start in two years. “I’m coming off a surgery, so the start itself was a big deal for me, regardless of the outcome,” said Cunnane. “Granted, I came away the winner tonight. But, a lot of hard work went into getting back here and I’m really pumped about that, especially with my team picking me up the way they did.”

The Bears continued to tack on runs thanks to another RBI-double by Just and a two-run single by Bobby Hill, Newark now led 15-4 after six innings of play. Bridgeport picked up a couple of late runs to close out the scoring.

Third baseman Mike Just came into the game batting .077, but collected three hits and three RBIs, which he owes in part to his mother.

“My mom threw me batting practice this morning, actually, so that was pretty interesting,” said Just. “Then I came over with Jonesy (hitting coach Ryan Jones) and did some top-hand drills to keep my swing in that line drive and lower plane.”

Newark and Bridgeport meet again tomorrow with Michael Bumstead facing off against Eric Dubose.

Notes: Newark had three outfield assists in the game. Bridgeport catcher Brian Peterson was a home run short of the cycle, going five-for-five with three doubles, a single and a triple. Attendance for the night’s game was 4,745. Each outfielder for Newark contributed an assist in throwing out a runner. The most runs Newark has ever scored in a game is 20. It happened against Atlantic City on August 16, 1998. Majewski hurt his shoulder on a great catch in right field. Krenchicki said there’s some tightness in his leg, but was simply taken out of the game as a precaution. He most likely will not play tomorrow and be re-evaluated then.

After a quiet top half of the first inning, starting pitcher Michael Bumstead gave up a lead-off single to Jamal Strong, but made two quick outs of Brent Abernathy and P.J. Rose. He was one pitch away from escaping the inning unscathed until Carl Everett reached on a single and Ray Navarrete, Kevin Haverbusch and Damian Rolls all followed with two singles and a double.

“A couple of bad breaks early,” said Bumstead. “I left the ball up and good hitters will get hits that way.”

Bumstead escaped trouble in the second after once again loading up the bases in a two-out rally; however he was able to escape trouble when he caught Navarrete looking to end the threat.

He settled down after that but was lifted by manager Wayne Krenchicki after three innings.

The Bears offense began to awaken in the fourth inning when Keith Reed and Cory Aldridge started the frame with back-to-back singles. However, the rally ended after Brian Burgamy grounded into a double play and Sal Majewski flied out to left.

In the top of the sixth, third-basemen Mike Just led off with a double down the left field line, but two quick outs threatened to shut down their rally once again. But, the Bears finally got a break when Randy Leek dropped a pop-up in fair territory which allowed Just to score. Burgamy then sent a long shot to deep center, but Strong was there to make the play just in front of the wall.

Patrick Stanley came on in the fifth inning and restored order with three very strong innings. He also struck out the first four batters he faced.

“I just came in trying to throw strikes and get as many outs as I could,” said Stanley. “The fastball, curveball, slider were all working really well, I was able mix it up and keep them off-balance.”

The Bears got one more rally going in the top of the ninth after a solid double by Cory Aldridge. Burgamy drew a walk and then Majewski grounded into a fielder’s choice putting Aldridge on third. Randall Simon, the team’s latest signing came to the plate but was unable to keep the inning alive.

Randy Leek earned the win for the Ducks throwing six solid innings giving up just one run and striking out four and Joe Valentine earned the save in the ninth with an inning of work, it is his first save of the season.

The Newark locker room remained positive with the promise of a new day

“It’s a different experience, but I’m real confident about our team,” said Just. Everybody got the jitters out of the way today, so we’ll go out there and get them tomorrow.”

Notes: Everett reached base in all four of his plate appearances with three singles and a walk. Stanley faced the minimum number of batters in his three innings of work. The attendance was 6,165 and the time of the game was two hours and 26 minutes

“We look pretty good this year,” said outfielder Keith Reed, one of the few holdovers from last season. “We lost a couple of real big bats in the middle of our lineup, but we got some new guys coming in that look like they can really hit. We can definitely give it another run.”

“We’re aggressive,” said pitcher Will Cunnane. “This is a very aggressive team, we swing and we swing hard, and that’s the name of the game, its time to play ball and let it rip.”

Indeed, a few new offensive pieces have been added to the puzzle this season. The biggest new name would have to be former major league first basemen Randall Simon.

Simon brings a lot of major league experience to the table as he is a veteran of 16 years to professional baseball. His best season came in 2002 while with the Detroit Tigers. He posted a .301 batting average with 19 home runs and 82 RBIs.

“He’s going to bring a lot of power to our lineup and leadership to our club,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “We look forward to getting him here.”

Another new offensive weapon will be infielder Mike Just, a Woodcliff Lake, N.J. native, who will be the table-setter this season. He is a dangerous hitter capable of getting on base at any time, as evidenced by his 5-for-5 performance against the Somerset Patriots in an exhibition game. Just was in camp with the Houston Astros camp, but was cut despite a fantastic spring performance.

“He’s a real scrappy-type kid,” said Krenchicki. “He gets on base and makes things happen and he’s local so it’s a good fit for us. He’s going to create some havoc from the lead-off spot.”

With Simon, Just, Herrera and former Pittsburgh Pirate Bobby Hill, the offense appears to be in excellent shape, but has a daunting task in trying to repeat the offensive production of a year ago.

“If we hit even close to the way we did last year, it will be a miracle” said Krenchicki. “When you hit .302 as a team it says a lot about the talent you have. It was a lot of fun watching that team, if we can get near that level, I’ll be happy.”

On the mound, there is plenty of experience with Will Cunnane and Al Levine. Cunnane is a veteran of 16 years in professional baseball, and he is looking to prove that he still has the talent left to get back to the majors.

“I had two years off because of surgery.” said Cunnane. “I didn’t like it one bit, I really needed to get back on the field and do this again. I want to get back to the big-leagues.”

Levine is another pitcher that brings plenty of experience and leadership and even has a World Series ring on his finger. He won it all as a reliever with the Anaheim Angels in 2002.

The pitching staff also boasts plenty of young arms with pitchers like David Pellegrine, Patrick Stanley, Rich Scalamandre, Josh Fields, and Matt Sweeney. The rotation and bullpen has a good mix of young pitchers and veterans and should be in fine shape for the 2008 Atlantic League season.

The spirits are high in Newark and the atmosphere is a mixture of excitement, anxiousness and confidence for the up-coming year. The Bears are ready to defend their title, and just may be successful in doing so.

“We’ve made some changes,” said Krenchicki. “But it is because we had so many players that made professional clubs out of spring training. When you have as good a ball club as we had, you’re going to lose a lot of players, because the players that play so well here usually won’t be back.”

The Bears open their season on Friday, April 25th in Long Island against the Ducks. Their home-opener is Tuesday, April 29th when they welcome the Bridgeport Bluefish.