10/9/2015: Bakersfield, CA – The Bakersfield Bears are thrilled to be back in the playoffs again. The Bears are in the midst of a fight against one of their longtime rivals, the Crystal Lake Sandgnats. Both teams have a history of making the playoffs. This is the ninth trip to the playoffs for Crystal Lake and the eighth trip for Bakersfield.

It’s the fourth time the Bears and Sandgnats have met in the playoffs. The first meeting was back in the 2008 Alliance League Tournament. Crystal Lake won that series four games to three. After several years of not seeing each other in the playoffs, they have met in the Division Series the last two seasons. In 2013, Bakersfield won three games to one. Last year, the Bears won three games to two.

Clearly, the Sandgnats don’t want the Bears to end their season for the third year in a row. The Bears will have their hands full with the offensive powerhouse Crystal Lake has put together. The Gnats’ bats were on fire this year with some obscene numbers. They led both leagues in almost every offensive category and averaged a ridiculous 5.9 runs a game.

Shockingly, the first two games were both pitchers duels. Both teams used only two pitchers in each game and enjoyed great outings from their starters – Markus Hancock and Félix Maese for the Bears, Francisco Robles and José Cruz for the Gnats. The young stars got wins over the legends. Robles beat Hancock 2-1 in game one and Maese got the win over Cruz in game two by a score of 2-0.

Due to the great starting pitching, both squads needed only one member of their bullpen. It helps when you have two of the best closers in the game: Enrico Rosado and Merlin Peters. Each had scoreless outing in both games and converted their save opportunities.

Now the series moves to Bakersfield, which is usually a good place for pitchers. It will be interesting to see if the offenses heat up or if this continues to be a tight low-scoring series. If the rest of the series is as close as the first two games, there could be some very exciting baseball in the next few games.

Playing in the playoffs is a bonding experience for Bakersfield, but it is even more special for a few Bears who are playing with old friends.

Dwayne Jordan and Enrico Rosado were college roommates at Purdue. They never thought when they were sharing a small dorm room and buckets of Bojangles chicken that Jordan would someday catch a pitch from Rosado in a playoff game. Neither are surprised that Enrico is in the major leagues. Enrico was a star in college and was destined for the majors, but Dwayne was a backup catcher in college and had no aspirations to become a professional baseball player. He was shocked when the Bears drafted him in the 12^th round of the 2009 draft. He didn’t even play baseball in 2009. The odds of him making a major league roster were not very good.

So it’s special for these two best friends to be here together. As the years go on, they have become even closer than in college. They are always together and still roommates on road trips. They also travel together for vacations during the off-season. Last year, they went on a Nickelodeon cruise. “It’s not just for kids,” said Enrico. Jordan was the best man at Rosado’s wedding.

Jordan and Rosado are not the only former teammates that are on the Bears playoff roster. Todd Burns and Xio-peng Li went to Katy high school together. Alfredo Vega and Jack Wallace played together in college at Memphis. These two sets are old friends as well, but they don’t share the special bond that Jordan and Rosado do. “They refuse to play us in the Newlywed game show board game that Enrico bought because they don’t want to get crushed,” said Jordan. The other players refused to comment, but sources say that all four deny fear of being crushed as the reason they refuse to play the game.