07/09/2006 5:21 PM - KANSAS CITY - After the T-Bones (22-26) erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to erase a six-run deficit, the Schaumburg Flyers (31-17) were able to take advantage of three costly miscues to score four times in the eighth inning and claim a 12-10 victory in both clubs' first-half finale before 5,225 fans Sunday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

After Nelson Gord singled to lead-off the eighth, Geoff McCallum's sacrifice-bunt attempt was fielded by third-baseman J.D. Foust, who threw wildly to first. Rob Watson followed with another sacrifice-bunt, but T-Bones reliever Logan McElwain fired the ball past first-baseman Charles Peterson and into right field, allowing both Gord and McCallum to score. Right-fielder Greg Jacobs' attempt to throw out Watson at third base sailed wide of the bag, bringing Watson all the way around for a 12-9 Schaumburg advantage.

The Flyers decisive inning followed a dramatic seventh-inning rally by the T-Bones that was sparked by back-to-back homers from Kyle Nichols and Craig Hurba to lead-off the frame. Two walks and two singles later, Greg Jacobs hammered a Chris Andel offering over the right-center field wall for a grand slam that gave the T-Bones a 9-8 lead.

The T-Bones tallied a single run in the eighth on Brandon Jones' RBI triple to cut the margin to 12-10, but would get no closer as Nate Cotton recorded the game's final four outs to earn his 11th save.

The wild finish was fitting for a contest that saw the two clubs combine for 31 hits on the night.

Schaumburg came out swinging in the first inning, as Geoff McCallum singled off T-Bones starter Clint Gilliland to lead-off the ballgame, then came around on Eric Cole's two-out double down the left-field line. Ben Van Iderstine followed with a single to center that scored Cole, and Josue Lopez capped the scoring with a long single off the right-field wall to give the Flyers an early three-run lead.

The T-Bones got one run back in the bottom of the second when Eddie Pearson delivered his Northern League-leading 13th home run to the right-field berm to make it a 3-1 ballgame.

The Flyers bounced right back in the third, as Chris Weekly tripled to deep center field start the inning and scored on Cole's single to right to push the margin back to three runs. Chris Draska added a two-out RBI single to extend the Schaumburg advantage to 5-1.

Schaumburg added to their lead with two runs in the fifth off reliever Buddy Blair and another tally in the sixth off Eric Ebers to take a commanding 8-2 lead before the T-Bones' offensive explosion in the seventh.

Eric Cole led the Flyers with four hits and three runs scored, and Chris Weekly capped a huge series with a 3-for-4 night with two RBI and three runs scored. In the three-game set, Weekly went 9-for-12 with a homer and seven runs batted in.

McElwain (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing four runs (one earned) on five hits in his two innings. Chris Andel (3-1) picked up the win despite giving up four runs in 1.2 IP for Schaumburg.

The T-Bones will kick off the second half of the season Monday evening when they welcome the Edmonton Cracker-Cats to CommunityAmerica Ballpark for a 7:05 contest.

Game Notes: With the loss the T-Bones fell to 1-7 in Sunday contests...Doug Dreher extended his hit streak to nine games with a fifth-inning single...Eddie Pearson posted his 18th multi-hit game of the season, tying him for team-high honors with Greg Jacobs...Pearson, Charles Peterson and Chad Sosebee all played in each of the T-Bones' 48 first-half contests, putting them on pace to break the club record for games played (94) and tie the Northern League record (96) for games played in a single season...Jacobs finished the first half with 66 hits, which is on pace to eclipse the club's single-season record (Ray Brown- 131 in 2004); his .373 average would also break the franchise's single-season record established by Pearson in 2003 (.369)...Greg Bicknell (86.0 IP) and Jonathan Krysa (85.1 IP) are both on pace to shatter Bicknell's NL record of 167.1 IP, set last season; Bicknell, Krysa and Buddy Blair, with 12 games started apiece, are also on course to match the NL record for starts by a pitcher...Byron Embry, with 10 saves, is on pace to break Emiliano Giron's club record of 18 (1998).