A Bedford/Hills Katonah 12-year old little league travel team faced one of its toughest tests in its early season this week, with back-to-back games against Lewisboro on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

The Bedford Hills "Bombers" passed that test with flying colors.

After a 12-5 victory on Tuesday at the Lewisboro Town Park, the Bombers came from behind in exciting fashion the very next night to win by score of 9-4 and sweep the back-to-back.

Lewisboro came out of the gates swinging Wednesday night, taking advantage of two first-inning errors by Bedford Hills to grab an early 2-0 lead. The Bombers responded in the very same inning, however, scoring two runs of their own thanks to RBIs by third baseman Will Todd and catcher Zakary Bauer.

The score remained tied until the third inning, when the Lewisboro batters began getting the better of Bedford Hills starting pitcher Marty Bailey, stringing together a couple of hits and again taking advantage of a few Bombers errors to grab a 4-2 lead. In the next inning, Lewisboro again threatened to score and extend their lead, loading the bases after a single and two walks.

Bombers head coach Leandro Fransisco brought starting first baseman Carter Henry in to pitch at that point, a move that instantly paid off when Henry struck out the next Lewisboro batter to end the inning and keep Bedford Hills within striking distance. Bailey, who is not the Bombers first option at pitcher and took the mound Wednesday because of the team having to play back-to-back games, received a loud round of applause from the home Memorial Park fans as he ran off the field at the end of the inning, as well as a high-five from each his teammates.

"We told him, 'Give us one inning. If you give us one inning we're good,'" said head coach Leandro Fransisco. "And he went in there and gave us one inning, two innings, and three innings. He did more than what we asked of him. He did his job."

Trailing Lewisboro 4-2, and after watching his team produce only one hit in the third and fourth innings, Coach Fransisco called his team together before going up to bat in the fifth inning. He knew his team was tired, but he also knew their opponents were tired too.

"When they came out, they were tired," Fransisco said. "They were exhausted from the game last night so they were kind of laid back. I just told them, 'They are as tired as we are. Either you want to play or you don't.' That kind of woke them up and they said, 'Okay, let's get this going.'"

And get it going is exactly what the Bombers did in the fifth inning. After two quick outs, the Bedford Hills bats came alive, jump started by Julien Fransisco's RBI double to cut the Lewisboro lead to 4-3. Carter Henry followed up Fransisco's double with an extra-base hit of his own, a monster triple to right-center field to tie the score at 4-4. Henry was then driven in by catcher Zakary Bauer to give the Bombers their first lead of the game.

Another Bedford Hills single later, short-stop Brett Stroud came to bat and all but put the game out of reach. Stroud launched the ball clear over the Lewisboro centerfielder's head, motoring around the bases for a 3 RBI inside-the-park home-run that brought everyone in the home stands to their feet. Stroud was met at home plate by his teammates, who mobbed and hugged him all the way back to the dugout. Not surprisingly, there was only one thing on Stroud's mind as he watched the ball sail through the warm night air.

"I just tried running my hardest and getting to home plate," he said after the game.

The Bombers added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to make it 9-4, and pitcher Carter Henry shutout Lewisboro in the last three innings of the game to secure Bedford Hills' second win in as many nights. In the end, despite playing on tired legs, it was the Bombers' determination that picked them up and led them to victory.

"They looked like they wanted it," said Bedford Hills assistant coach Ed Henry. "We just told them to drink a lot of water and try to stay cool. They went up and hit the ball, they ran, they made the plays. They did what their supposed to do. They did what they know how to do."

By sweeping the back-to-back with Lewisboro, Bedford Hills now posts a record of 4-2 on the season, and earns a well deserved rest before taking the field again on Sunday night against Armonk. In the meanwhile, the Bombers coaching staff will be busy trying to fund and plan a special trip and experience they hope to be able to offer their players at the end of the season.

"We're trying to go to Cooperstown," said Head Coach Leandro Fransisco about plans to bring his team to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. "It wasn't planned but we're trying to get this group out there. We're trying to do a fundraiser and maybe get help from a non-profit organization and see what we can do. I'm hoping we can. This is the year. Twelve is when you want to get them there."