It was a night of endings and a night of comebacks for the Bears as they faced the Warriors in 9-U Douglas County Amateur Baseball Assn. tournament play July 8 at 4-H fields.

After spending most of the summer baseball season in the hospital, Evan Byers made his comeback for what would be the Bears’ final game of the season.

Byers had spent a majority of the past month in the hospital as a result of Crohn’s disease.

Byers is on medication that decreases the effects it can have on his body, but they leave him with less energy.

“For anyone who has a love for the game like he does, it’s not fun,” Coach Ed Day said. “It’s even worse when it’s in the summer and keeping you from playing ball.””

When Byers showed up to the Bears’ practice July 7, Day said he was surprised Byers was well enough to play.

“For most kids, you would have written the rest of the season off,” Day said.

With the addition of Byers and two members of the 8-U Cougars team, Ryan Bellinger and MacRay Urish, the Bears had a full team and two subs, something that didn’t happen often this season.

Parent and scorekeeper Kelley Norman said that one player quitting and team members going on vacation has kept the Bears from playing with a full team this season. The full roster was not enough to handle the Warrior’s hot bats.Warriors coach Kevin Stuever said his team was on against the Bears. They started the game like a machine, scoring five runs in the first inning.

The Warriors’ middle of the lineup arsenal was a catalyst for a majority of the team’s runs. BrettVan Blaricum made contact for a single and two doubles. Drew Green, who follows Van Blaricum in the lineup, hit a double and triple. Chris Gillespie, who was up next, hit two doubles in the victory.

Bears baserunner Dane McCullough slides under the tag of Warriors infielder Logan Bannister during a Douglas County Amateur Baseball Assn. 9-U tournament game July 8. The Warriors won the game 18-3 at 4-H fields.

With the score 18-3, the game was essentially over because of the DCABA run rule that states a game ends if a team is up by more than 15 runs after five innings. But with the cooperation of the umpires, the Bears appreciated the opportunity to take their final at bat of the season.

“Coaches like the Warriors’ coaches understand the spirit of baseball,” Day said. “It’s not about running up the score, but it’s about letting the kids have fun, and people want to see the kids play.”

“It cost me a couple of Mountain Dews,” said Stuever, who offered the umpires drinks for staying past their normal duty to officiate the final half of the inning.

With the season wrapping up, both teams assessed achievement of the goals they had for their teams. Both coaches said that the wins and losses in games throughout the season did not matter as much as the development in their players.

“We’ve been continuing to develop skill as a team,” Stuever said. He said the players have especially hit the ball better in recent games. Stuever said he would be satisfied if at the end of the year everyone on his team wanted to come back to play.

For Day, he wanted his players to discover something out about themselves that they didn’t know.

“At this age, all you can look to do is to develop players,” Day said.

Despite the loss, the Bears were successful in ending on a positive note.

For Byers having the opportunity to come back to play with his friends was the main highlight of the night.

“I’m just glad I got to play, I missed my friends, and I was glad to make a few outs,” Byers said.

Day said his team achieved its main goal for the year because they enjoyed themselves. When the Bears’ coaches asked the players if they had fun this season, everyone in earshot could hear a resounding, “YES!”

The Warriors continued DCABA tournament play July 12 against the Pirates at 4-H fields.