July 27-31

Monday night in Willow Street, the league's regular season is winding down with playoffs on the horizon. Kelly's and Memorial played a doubleheader with each team winning the game in which they batted as the visitors. Tuesday and Wednesday were rather mundane, Thursday and Friday were another story altogether. Back in March I noticed an unusual bulge and swelling in my abdomen, my heart doctor said it was the start of a possible hernia. Thy referred me to a digestive specialist, when I saw him (TWO MONTHS LATER!!!) he examined it and said there were several routes we could take to relieve it. Since them absolutely nothing has been done and on Thursday I reached my breaking point. I went to the office  unannounced and asked them straight out what in the hell we were going to DO about it. They looked up my records, noted I'd had a CT scan in May (after I had seen the doctor) and asked me if anyone ever called me with the results, When I told them nobody called they said someone dropped the ball, had I been informed they could have had it taken care of weeks ago. They put the wheels in motion and on Friday I was at the hospital. They did what is called a paracentesis (whatever the hell that is), by the time they finished they had pumped twenty-two pounds of waste fluid from my stomach. The area is still swollen but I'm scheduled for a follow-up on August 4 so we'll learn more then. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 24-26

Friday night on North Prince Street for the back-end of the Revs/Stormers series. The guys from the White Rose City had won the first three, on this night in game #4 they made it four straight with an 8-6 win. Mike Rosario's solo home run and Tomo Otosaka's RBI single started the scoring in the top of the second, after Jalen Battles' base hit in the bottom half got the Stormers on the board the Revs got it right back on Jacob Teter's home run in the third. In the home fourth Battles struck again with an RBI double making it 3-2 but again the Revs replied loudly, a Brian Rey groundout and Jackson Ross' three-run bomb opened it up at 7-3. Austin Bates' sac fly in the eighth gave the Revolution a five-run lead, in the ninth the Stormers scored three on Corey Rosier's two-run double and a Tristan English groundout. Shane Gray won it in relief, Kyle Lazer took the loss. On Saturday night the visitors again took a first-inning lead on Brian Rey's two-run homer, a solo shot from Tristan English in the bottom half made it 2-1. Mike Rosario went yard in the second to restore the Revs' two-run advantage, in the home half Dean Mihos' single and a throwing error knotted it 3-3. From there the Revs tore the game apart scoring thirteen unanswered over the next six innings. DeVonte Brown's two-run double in the third was followed by a Nick Dunn RBI hit in the fourth, in the sixth a bases-loaded walk and Shed Long's base hit made it 8-3. A six-run seventh came about on a bases-loaded walk, a Dunn single, Jacob Teter's three-run triple and a Shed Long groundout, two more crossed the plate in the eighth on a double by Dunn. The Stormers tallied a cosmetic run in the ninth on a bases-loaded walk but it meant little, when the smoke cleared the final was 16-4. The starters were of record, Julian Costa on the plus side and Matt Swarmer on the minus. The series ended on Sunday afternoon (nowhere near soon enough for the Stormers), the Revs concluded the six-game broom-out with a rather pedestrian 3-2 win. The Revs won the season series 13-5 insuring that the Community Cup stays in York for another year. I was with Jenny and her mother in the afternoon, Jenny's friend's oldest daughter Ann'Aliyah had her twelfth birthday party at the same park younger sister Shania had hers in June. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 22-23

Had lunch with Jenny and Helen on Wednesday, Jenny said John messaged her online to thank them for the card I had given him on Tuesday. She has always been very sensitive, when she does something nice for someone and they acknowledge the effort it means a lot to her. At the ballpark in the evening for game #2 with the Revs, on this night Jalen Battles' second-inning sac fly gave the Stormers a 1-0 lead. The Revolution went up 2-1 in the fourth on a Drew Ramirez two-run double, Shed (short for Shedric) Long's RBI hit it the sixth made it 3-1. In the ninth the Stormers pulled even on Joseph Carpenter's two-out double to tie it 3-3 and set the stage for extra innings. In the tenth the Revs scored twice on an error and a wild pitch, the Stormers replied in kind on Corey Rosier's two-run home run. In the eleventh the Revolution scored three times on a double by Nick Dunn and DeVonte Brown's RBI hit, in the bottom half the Stormers got two back on singles by Melvin Mercedes and newcomer Dean Mihos but the rally ended there as the Revs held on 8-7, Shane Gray won it in relief with Ronnie Voacolo taking the loss. The series reached its midpoint on Thursday, on this night the Revs jumped on top in the first on a Nick Dunn double and a Jackson Ross single. Brian Rey's two-run double in the fourth made it 4-0 but the Stormers got two back in the bottom half on Tristan English's RBI double and a David Smith sac fly. In the sixth Dunn struck again with a solo home run, an RBI hit by Shed Long made it 6-2 Revs. Nathan Martorella's solo shot in the home seventh accounted for the game's last score, Hunter Parsons took the 6-3 win with Brady Tedesco suffering the loss. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 20-21

Monday night softball at Garrett Park, Kelly's played two games and split with a loss to Peach Bottom and a win over Lancaster. On Tuesday the Stormers returned home for the latest edition of The War Of The Roses, a six-game series with our neighbors from West Of The River. Since the second half of the ALPB schedule began the Revolution has (as the expression goes) been trending upward, the Stormers not so much. On this night the trends continued as the Revs won the series opener 5-1. Two runs scored in the top of the second on Austin Bates' RBI hit and a wild pitch, in the fourth Bates struck again with two men on to make it 4-0 Revs. An RBI hit by Shed Long Jr. upped the lead to five in the fifth, the Stormers broke the shutout bid in the sixth on a Michael Snyder solo home run. The starting pitchers were of record, Shawn Rapp for the visitors and Noah Bremer for the home team. The best part of the evening came before the game itself even started, as I was entering the ballpark I heard John's voice on the PA and felt glad he was there. I stopped into the booth to say hello and express my condolences personally, I also had a sympathy card for him that Jenny, Helen and I had signed. He said he was there because he believed it was the best therapy and Suzanne wouldn't have wanted him to be absent, I told him I was a proponent of that myself. It might not work for everyone but I've always felt that the best thing during troubled times is to go about your business and do what you would be doing anyway, sitting around thinking about it doesn't do anyone any good. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 13-19

The new week featured three nights of softball in Willow Street, on Tuesday Peach Bottom played a doubleheader winning over Lancaster in the opener and the Silver Bullets in the nightcap. Wednesday saw Memorial playing two, the first game with the Silver Bullets ended in a tie (!!!), Memorial won the second game over Lancaster (the league has a rule allowing for one extra inning in a tie game, if the issue isn't resolved it goes into the records as a deadlock). On Thursday night Akatsuki played twice and lost both, the opener to Peach Bottom and and the second game to Kelly's. The weekend began with terrible news, early Saturday morning Suzanne Witwer (the wife of Stormers PA voice John Witwer) passed at the age of 77. It wasn't entirely unexpected, she had not been doing well for some time. John posted the news on social media and the outpouring of support was immediate. Sunday morning at Lions Park in Rothsville was the spring season's Grand Finale, in the consolation game Hillside defeated Warwick while Ephrata beat Township for the championship. The league began in the spring of 2021, this was the eleventh season and the fourth title for Ephrata, Township has won it three times and Hillside and Warwick have two each. Fifty-five players participated and as long as the interest is there we'll keep the league going for as long as we can. Right now we're looking at September 13 for the fall season since Labor Day weekend is a little bit later this time around. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 10-12

Friday night at the ballpark, the Stormers continuing their series with Southern Maryland. On this evening the Homeboys took a 1-0 lead in the first on a home run by longtime fan favorite Melvin Mercedes (recently returned from a stint in Mexico). the visiting Blue Crabs tied in the third but in the bottom half it was That Man Mercedes once again, this time with a man on base putting the Stormers ahead by two. Single runs in the fourth and fifth for SM tied it at 3-3, in the bottom of the fifth Jalen Battles singled and scored on an error to put the Stormers up 4-3. From there the bullpen shut it down, Kyle Lazer went five for the win with Kaleb Sophy, Cole Patten and Phil Diehl (save) wrapping it up. On Saturday my presence was requested on the mic sitting in once again for John, his wife Suzanne is battling health issues and he is taking some well-deserved time off to be with her. The game on this night was just about all Blue Crabs until the late innings, they led 3-0 in the third and held on for a 11-8 win. The Stormers scored in the third on a sac fly from newcomer Tristan English and three times in the eighth on an English round-tripper, Troy Schreffler's RBI double and Michael Snyder's run-scoring single. In the ninth a four-run rally made it close but not close enough, an error allowed one run, an English RBI double scored another and newcomer Sam Praytor's double accounted for the final two. Brady Tedesco started for the Stormers and took the decision. On Sunday the series concluded with a Stormer win but I was in Rothsville, we finished the regular season at Lions Park. Ephrata beat Township, Hillside defeated Warwick and as it happens these matchups repeat on the 19th for Championship Sunday. Warwick/Hillside in the consolation game, Township/Ephrata for the title. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 8-9

With this post we reach a milestone of sorts, this is the 1,900th entry in this blog since it was moved here in November 2010. It actually existed elsewhere before then but was transferred when the original host became incompatible, I saved those entries in print form in case I ever decide to write a book (although I can't think of anyone who would actually read it). On Wednesday night we were at the ballpark, the Stormers hosted Southern Maryland in game #2. In the opener on Tuesday it was all Blue Crabs, on this night it was all Stormers as the ballclub did just enough to scratch out a 2-0 win. Nathan Martorella's solo shot over the picnic tents in right field broke the ice in the fifth inning, in the eighth Jalen Battles' RBI hit added an insurance run. On the mound Noah Bremer pitched six innings of three-hit ball with nine strikeouts with Ronnie Voacolo, Cole Patten and Phil Diehl sealing the deal (weak pun intended) in the ninth for the save. On Thursday the teams played an 11:00 camp day game, as is my wont I was not present as the Stormers won again to take a 2-1 series lead. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 1-7

The second half of 2026 (already?) began on an uncomfortable Wednesday, each of the first three days of the month featured temperatures close to 100 degrees. On Saturday the nation celebrated its 250th anniversary, in the evening violent thunderstorms passed through the area and caused major damage particularly in the suburbs. There was no hockey in Rothsville on Sunday because of the holiday weekend, in the evening there was another round of hard rain and wind. On Monday I was out and about with the opportunity to see some of the weather damage firsthand, several roads were closed or limited to one lane because of downed trees, power lines or both. On Tuesday the Stormers returned home for a series with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. The Atlantic League's second half started over the weekend, the Crabs and the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars were their respective division's first-half champions. On this night at the ballpark SM demonstrated how they won their title by scoring eight runs in the first two innings enroute to a 10-3 win. The Stormer runs came on a first-inning RBI hit from Nathan Martorella, a sac fly by Scott Kelly in the second and a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Matt Swarmer started for the Stormers and was clearly not at his best, he suffered the loss. The series continues throughout the week (as most of them do in the Atlantic League with the new schedule format). Take care, thanks for reading.

June 29-30

The new week began with a very warm and quiet Monday, they say the middle part of the week is going to be murderously hot. On Tuesday evening I took a drive north to Denver (Pennsylvania, not Colorado), about twenty miles from the city for a Midget League game, the JrT played on the grounds of Cocalico High School. We rarely see Cocalico during the school seasons because of enrollment, the last time I remember being there was for a basketball game in 2013. Regrettably the game on this night went just about the same way as most for the JrT, Cocalico scored seven runs in the first inning and eventually "walked it off" in the fourth winning 15-0. The JrT only had two hits through four innings, Keon Wood started on the hill with Danny Santana in mop-up duty. The club stands at 0-8 with four games remaining, chances are this was the last game I'll see but you never know how a rainout might effect the schedule. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 26-28

The Stormers/Ghost Peppers series continued on Friday evening, on this night the Home Team took a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single by Troy Schreffler. The teams swapped runs in the third with the Stormers' tally coming on a David Smith home run, three Gastonia runs over the next two innings gave the visitors a 4-2 lead. Newcomer Michael Snyder's two-run blast in the sixth tied it 4-4, each team scored in the seventh with a Smith sacrifice fly accounting for the Stormers run making it 5-5. In the eighth the Stormers took the lead on Alan Alonso's RBI hit to go up 6-5 but in the ninth the bullpen surrendered three runs and the Ghost Peppers made them stand up for an 8-6 win. A.J. Alexy suffered the loss in relief of starter Matt Swarmer. On Saturday rain moved through in the morning and afternoon, I elected to stay in for the evening. At the ballpark the game went on as scheduled with the Stormers finally tasting victory, on Sunday the rain was long gone and the ballclub won its second straight. I was absent on Sunday as usual, we were all together in Rothsville for week #7 at Lions Park. On this sunshiny day Township beat Hillside and Ephrata won over Warwick, the regular season ends on July 12th. Take care, thanks for reading.