Littleton, CO  The Colorado Bombers season came to an unceremonious end on Sunday September 15 when they lost a heartbreaker to the Grizzlies 12-11 on a walk off in the NABA 35W League Semi-Finals.

  The Bombers battled hard all day in this game and almost came away with the win but a couple of fluke plays and marginal calls in the final frame gave the Grizzlies the win and sent them to the 35W Finals against the Mudcats on September 22nd.

  They ended the season with a record of 8 wins, 10 losses and a tie, (Kissed your sister lately??) which by Bombers prior standards is a subpar year.  But hidden in that record is the fact that the team didn't have a full roster until week 8 and started the season 1-7 before catching fire after the return of Andy Philemon and Jeremy Sparks and the mid season additions of Craig Olson and Ian Newton.  They finished the balance of the schedule on a 7-3-1 tear and finished with the 6 seed in the league after holding down the cellar for the entire first half of the season.

  They caught fire at the right time as they would knock the Shockers out of the #2 seed with a 15-6 win in the final game of the season, turn around and beat them again in the opening round of the playoffs and just barely get beat as was detailed above in the semi-finals.  All-in-all it was a generally fun season for the team after some chemistry issue were dealt with after week 6 and the team returned to the cohesion and good, clean, fun play that carried them to a 14-6 record in 2013.

  The team was led by several old hands as Bill MacDonald once again showed that it's not how old you are, it's how young you play by pitching in 13 games for the Bombers for the second straight year and notch 6 of the Bombers 8 wins.  Keith Losey showed that he can be a very good pitcher in 35W going 2-2 with a complete game and held the best ERA of the Bombers pitchers that threw more than 10 innings on the year.  Losey also was the Bombers primary Catcher after the unfortunate knee and elbow injuries sustained by regular catcher Ric Poland on opening day.  Losey filled in admirably and established a good rapport with MacDonald as they got on the same page with pitch calls as the season went along.

  Dennis White came back from something of a tough start to lead the team in RBI for the second straight year and his hitting in the playoff win over the Shockers was off this planet.  He tallied 8 RBI in the contest and virtually single handedly helped the Bombers offense to victory that day.  Andy Philemon had his usual stellar season hitting for average, power and driving in runs in only 10 games on the season.,  He even got into the act on the mound by becoming a go-to reliever when MacDonald or Losey would come out of a game.

  Kyle Paulson did what Kyle Paulson does......He hit, walked, stole bases, scored runs and played great center field once again for the Bombers.  Jeremy Sparks had a great second half of the season after completing his coaching duties with Philemon and became a key RBI man in the middle of the line-up for the Bombers.  Sherman Lodge is probably still being watched by the West Metro Fire Department for his second half.  Nobody on the roster was hotter or had a more productive or improved second half of the season than Lodge.  He raised his average an otherworldly 280 points after June 1st and ended the season well over .400.  Chris Schneider showed amazing improvement from 2013 as his power swing started to show up and he contributed plenty of runs and RBI while playing outfield and seeing several games on the mound.

  Tony Walsh was what Tony Walsh is....  The most consistent player on the Bombers roster.  He hit like he always does and played a really good third base all year long.  He spent some time hitting in the 4 hole while Dennis White found his stroke and did a helluva job.  Newcomer Pat Poppen proved to be a valuable addition as he came to the team when getting enough players to the games was tough early in the year.  He improved steadily in the field and at the plate over the course of the season.  Bob Prashaw helped us out on a couple of occasions and he was as good a player and professional a guy that we could have ever expected.  When we needed a player and he could make it, it was like he never left.  The dude is just a great baseball player!  Thanks for the help Bob!

  Another couple of newcomers made big contributions this year as well.  Ian Newton came on and played in 5 games for the Bombers and showed he can be a heckuva ballplayer as his bat was ready from the beginning and he filled the hole in the outfield left by Eric Meyer's declining skills.  Craig Olson was a very late season addition and showed his value by playing several infield positions and becoming the team's de facto closer by the time the playoffs rolled around.

  And finally......the one guy I Don't like to talk about......Me..  Eric Meyer actually had what many of his teammates called the best season they had seen him have.  He led the team in batting average and hits and also had 13 walks on the season to have a better than .600 on base percentage.  There were times when his advancing age showed in the field though as he was a little slow getting to balls in the outfield.  But he found something of a new niche by spelling White at first base in several of the late season games.

That is the Bombers team I remember from 2014......

Now a Letter from the Coach:

  Now that the season is over and I can reflect on the 23 weeks getting together every Sunday and playing the game that we all love, I think it was a very successful season.  I absolutely enjoy sharing the field of battle with each and every one of you every Sunday.  Once we got the team back together and that chemistry issue I talked about earlier resolved, this was the team I remembered from our awesome 2013. 

  I would like to take this space to say a special thanks to my good friend and teammate, Bill MacDonald, who I have been playing baseball with for 10 years now.  I want to thank him for the years of enjoying this great game with him and the way he went out and battled every Sunday on the mound.  Our great second half could not have happened without Billy Mac's unbelievable ability to stand on the mound and get outs every week.   Thanks, Bill.  It's always been a pleasure!

  To the rest of the team I would like to conclude by saying that I really can't wait for hitting practice in January.  (Although I think Sherman and Chris are already getting after it)  And I especially can't wait for next season.  Consider this letter as my official announcement that I will be back next year with the Bombers and I am ready to win that championship!

Thanks to you all for making my job as coach so easy to do (in most cases....).  Have a great offseason and remember......Pitchers and hitters report in January!

Eric Meyer

Manager

Colorado Bombers Baseball Club