June 12-14

Back at the ballpark on Friday evening for game #4 with the Revs and Stormers, on this night the visitors from York County scored first on RBI hits by Nick Dunn and Brandon Lewis to lead 2-0 in the third inning. A sacrifice fly by Lewis in the fifth upped the advantage to 3-0, in the home seventh Tyler Robertson's RBI double got the Stormers on the board at 3-1. Ben Blackwell's two-run double in the eighth gave the Revs a 5-1 lead, the Stormers scored one final run in the ninth on a Robertson infield groundout. The respective starting pitchers were of record on this night, Matt Mikulski on the plus side and Jason Bollman on the minus side. On Saturday I was there in a working capacity, John was absent and I filled in on the mic. Each team scored in the first, after Dunn went yard for the Revs Joseph Carpenter's base hit tied it 1-1. Back-to-back home runs from Tyler Miller and Nick Lucky made it 3-1 Stormers in the third, a Stormer error in the fifth and Dunn's second home run in the sixth allowed the Revs to knot it up 3-3. In the home sixth the Stormers regained the lead on Jalen Battles' fielders choice and a David Smith base hit to go ahead 5-3. In the eighth the Revolution put together a three-run rally, Dunn struck again with an RBI hit and Tomo Otosaka's two-run double made it 6-5 but unfortunately for the Revs there was still one round left in the chamber. In the ninth Smith went yard for the Stormers to tie the score, Lucky's two-out single scored Scott Kelly from third with the winning run in a 7-6 Stormer victory. Phil Diehl won it in relief of Noah Bremer, Joely Rodriguez took the loss. The Revs salvaged the Sunday finale but I was elsewhere occupied with week #6 of street hockey in Rothsville. Ephrata won over Hillside and Warwick prevailed over Township in OT shootout. From there I headed south to Jenny's place, her friend Courtney was having a birthday party for her middle daughter. Shania turns nine on the 19th, the party was at a recreational park about six miles west of Quarryville. Take care, thanks for reading

June 10-11

Wednesday night at the ballpark as the Atlantic League's own particular version of The War Of The Roses continued. On this night the guys from The White Rose City scored first, Brian Rey's solo home run in the second and Ben Blackwell's two-run jack in the third put the Revolution up 3-0. In the home fifth Nick Lucky's RBI hit brought the Stormers to within two, in the sixth Rey's second round-tripper of the evening restored the Revs' advantage to three. Troy Schreffler singled home a run in the bottom half, one inning later the Home Team took the lead for good. Jalen Battles started the rally with a solo shot, after Joseph Carpenter singled home the tying run Joe Deluca's sacrifice fly gave the Stormers a 5-4 lead. From there the bullpen closed the door, Matt Still won it in relief of Quinten Martinez while Denny Bentley lost it in relief of Chris Vallimont. On Thursday nigh the clubs engaged in another wacky ALPB special, Jackson Ross' first-inning home run for the Revs was countered by a Tyler Miller double in the bottom half. The Stormers went up 2-1 in the second on a Scott Kelly groundout, in the visiting third Ross struck again with an RBI hit before the Stormers went back up 3-2 on a run-scoring wild pitch. The Revs scored three in the fourth on Brandon Lewis' two-run home run and a Cole Griffith RBI hit, the 5-3 lead lasted until the home fifth. RBI singles by Carpenter and Battles plus a two-run double from Schreffler put the Stormers up 7-5. The craziness continued in the seventh, a Jacob Teter base hit and a three-run home run from Lewis (his second of the night) gave the Revs a 9-7 lead. The Stormers got one back on David Smith's sac fly, the Revs took it right back in the eighth on a wild pitch to lead 10-8. It all set the stage for the bottom of the ninth where the Stormers loaded the bases with one out. A walk scored one run and a sac fly tied the game before Jalen Battles singled to left-center giving the Stormers an 11-10 win. A.J. Alexy won it in relief of Matt Swarmer, Shawn Rapp lost in relief of Rhett Kouba. Three games down in this series, three to go and one can only wonder what's next. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 8-9

Softball in Willow Street on Monday evening, Kelly's took a doubleheader with wins over Akatsuki in the opener and Lancaster in game #2. On Tuesday the Stormers were back home for a six-game series with their Old Friends From West Of The River. The Stormers began in 2005, the York Revolution started two years later and there has always been a healthy rivalry (The War Of The Roses and all that jazz), Although I'm a Lancastrian born-and-raised I have friends in York, I've been there often and I've never looked at the Revs as The Enemy. On this night the Stormers broke out early on Joe Deluca's two-run double in the first, Marc Flores' solo home run in the second made it 3-0. In the fifth Deluca struck again with a two-run single, in the visiting sixth Nick Dunn went yard with two men on to put the Revs on the board at 5-3. The Stormers got those three back in the bottom half on Tyler Miller's three-run bomb, four more were added in the eighth on Jeremy Arocho's RBI double, a Joseph Carpenter base hit and a two-run home run by David Smith. The final was 12-3, Luke Albright was the winning pitcher while Braden Scott took the loss. The season series for the Community Cup is even at 2-2 (the Revs took two of three from the Stormers in York back in April), the current series continues on through the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 1-7

The new month began with two nights of softball at Garrett Park. On Monday Kelly's split a doubleheader defeating Lancaster in the opener and falling to Peach Bottom in the nightcap. On Tuesday it was the Silver Bullets' turn to play two, they lost the first game to Lancaster and beat Memorial in the second. The county Midget Baseball League began its season on Tuesday, for the first time since 2022 the city district is represented. After four years the Lancaster Junior Tornado (or the "JrT" as I always called it here) is back, on Thursday evening they played at Conestoga Valley. The league teams are basically each district's high school team minus the graduated seniors, in the JrT's case that means a great deal of youth and inexperience. The game on this night started well enough, RBI hits by Julians Stoltzfus and Jayden Quinones gave the boys a 2-0 first-inning lead. The good vibe didn't last, CV put five on the board in the first and won it going away 17-2. Wellinton Lopez started and took the loss, Danny Santana finished it in relief. All of the power is still out at the ballfield at McCaskey (thanks to the ongoing renovations in the football stadium) so there will be very little for me to do at the home games but I'll be there when I can make it. The weekend was very uneventful except for Sunday morning in Rothsville and week #5 of street hockey at Lions Park. This was the second of three consecutive weeks without a holiday interruption, one new man joined up raising the total number to fifty-five. Township beat Ephrata and Hillside won over Warwick, we're back on the 14th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

May 29-31

Friday night on North Prince Street, the Stormers welcomed the Long Island Ducks for a three-game series (one of those "few exceptions" we talked about earlier). The Friday opener was one of your Atlantic League last-shot-wins type of game, the runs came hot and heavy. LI  took a 1-0 lead in the first, Tyler Miller's three-run shot in the bottom half gave the Stormers a 3-1 advantage. The Ducks came back with three of their own in the second before the Stormers tied it 4-4 on a wild pitch. One in the third and four in the fourth made it 9-4 Long Island, in the bottom half the Stormers loaded the bases with two out. an infield single by Tyler Robertson and a two-base throwing error cleared the bases and brought the score to 9-7. Another run scored on a wild pitch in the fifth making it 9-8, the teams traded runs in the sixth with the Stormers' coming on a Marc Flores round-tripper. Long Island broke it open with a five-run seventh, the Stormers scored the game's final run on a ninth-inning David Smith home run. The final was 15-10, Luke Albright went five innings as the starter and suffered the loss. Saturday was another ten-run night for the Stormers with the difference being that they allowed just one opposing run. Jake Thompson got the party started with a solo home run in the first, Joseph Carpenter went yard in the third to make it 2-0. Two more scored in the fifth on consecutive wild pitches, a five-run sixth put the game away. Bases-loaded walks issued to Thompson and Tyler Miller made it 6-0, after Carpenter was hit by the pitch to force home a seventh run Nick Lucky's two-run single put the Stormers up by nine. LI broke the shutout in the eighth but the Stormers got that run back on an RBI hit by Lucky in the bottom half. Quinton Martinez went seven for the win with newly-acquired Kaleb Sophy and recently-returned Matt Swarmer in relief. Sunday was a hockey day in Rothsville after a (or should I say ANOTHER) week off, on this day Township defeated Hillside and Ephrata outlasted Warwick. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 18-28

Had a CT scan on Monday morning which was easily the highlight of the week (if such a thing can be considered a highlight). The Southern End Softball League started its season in late April, thus far I have yet to be there. The weather in the middle part of the week was very unsettled, games at Garrett Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were all postponed either by rain or wet grounds. The weekend was Memorial Day weekend, we had Sunday off from Rothsville (here's a thought: when I was a youngster this holiday was traditionally recognized on May 30, since thar date is on a Saturday in 2026 shouldn't THAT weekend be the holiday weekend?). On Tuesday the 26th I finally made it to Garrett Park, on this night Kelly's played a doubleheader defeating the Silver Bullets in the opener and Akatsuki in the nightcap. Had a follow-up with the doctor at the cancer clinic on Thursday, he seemed to be satisfied although we continue to monitor things closely because you simply never can tell. Take care, thanks for reading

May 15-17

Back at the ballpark on Friday evening for game #4 with High Point. On this night the Stormers trailed 1-0 in the second, Nick Lucky started the inning with a triple and scored on Marc Flores' single, David Smith followed with a solo home run to put the Stormers up 2-1. The visiting Rockers tied it in the third but the Stormers went back up 4-2 on Jake Thompson's RBI hit in their half of the third and a bases-loaded walk to Thompson in the fourth. High Point got one back in the fifth before RBI doubles by Smith and Tyler Robertson in the home fifth extended the Stormer lead to 6-3. The pesky Rockers wouldn't go away, two run in the sixth and a single marker in the seventh drew the score even at 6-6. Nick Lucky started the home seventh with a home run over the picnic tents in right field to restore the Stormer lead at 7-6, from there the bullpen closed the door as Phil Diehl won it in relief of starter Alex Garbrick with Andrew Schultz earning the save. On Saturday night the Stormers came out on fire scoring ten runs through the first three innings on the way to a 13-3 win. Thompson got it started with a first-inning RBI hit, later in the inning Lucky went yard with two men on. In the second an RBI hit by Jeremy Arocho, a two-run home run by Thompson and Evan Ulrich's two-RBI bomb made it 9-0, a third-inning RBI double by Thompson put the Stormers up by double digits. The teams traded runs in the sixth with the Stormers' coming on an Arocho home run, after High Point scored twice in the seventh the Stormers put the icing on the cake in the eighth with another three-run home run by Lucky. Jason Bollman started went went six for the win with A.J. Alexy, Ronnie Voacolo and Zach Mizrahi going an inning each in relief. The series ended on Sunday with another Stormer win but after a week off for Mothers Day we were back at it for street hockey in Rothsville. Four new players joined up bringing the total to fifty-four, thirty-nine were present on this day. Both games required the shootout to determine a winner, Ephrata beat Hillside and Warwick defeated Township. We'll be back at Lions Park on May 31 after we take ANOTHER week off for Memorial Day. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 11-14

Tuesday night at the ballpark as the Stormers opened a series with the High Point Rockers. The Atlantic League is utilizing a new schedule format in 2026, with a few exceptions every Monday is an off-day followed by a six-day series against the same opponent. It's a format that has been used in affiliated minor leagues since 2021 and it works well at those levels. On this night the visitors from North Carolina scored first before Jake Thompson's solo home run evened it in the bottom of the first. The Rockers forged ahead 4-1 entering the bottom of the eighth, the Stormers got one back when Thompson singled and scored on a catchers interference call. In the ninth Jeremy Arocho walked and came home on Tyler Miller's infield groundout but the rally went no further, the final was 4-3. Luke Albright started and took the decision with relief from Ronnie Voacolo, Cole Patten, Zach Mizrahi and Phil Diehl, Wednesday was one of those rainy "iffy" type of days that don't seem to agree with me very much anymore, at the ballpark the game went on but I elected to stay in. Saw on the internet that the game was called after six innings due to the rain, the Stormers winning 3-1. On Thursday the teams met up for an 11:00 school kids' game (which is generally not my wont), the Stormers won on this day as well to take a 2-1 lead in the series. The Rockers stay in town for the final three games over the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 4-10

I was once asked why I always conclude my blog entries with "take care, thanks for reading". The answer is very simple: I know this blog has a following, I know there are those who take the time to read it whenever a new post appears. I don't know exactly who reads the tripe and drivel I write about in here but I appreciate those who do and I hope they continue to do so. There are some occasions when it barely pays to come online and post, the past seven days were a perfect example. The only item of any note came on Monday, the ballclub at McCaskey played its final home game. There had been a home game on May 1 in my absence, since that had been the team's Senior Day the game itself on this day was the only matter of any concern. Visiting Hempfield led 9-0 going into the bottom of the second when Jayden Quinones reached on a fielders choice and Julian Stoltzfus was hit by the pitch, a wild pitch scored Quinones and Andrew Carlisle's base hit plated Stoltzfus to make it 9-2. In the third Shanahan Padin walked and Caleb Melendez singled, Padin scored on a Stoltzfus base hit and Melendez came in on another wild pitch. Two more runs scored in the fourth when Carlisle singled and Padin reached on an error, both would score on (you guessed it) wild pitches. All of this meant little to Hempfield, they won the game going away 17-6. Niko Bergeron started and took the loss with Chris Ruggiero working in relief. The boys finished their season with a road win on Wednesday, the final record checked in at 3-17. Outside of a Tuesday doctor appointment, a Thursday haircut and lunch with Jenny on Wednesday and Saturday the rest of the week was a zero, on Sunday we took the day off from Rothsville since it was Mothers Day. Take care (and I mean that), thanks for reading

May 1-3

Friday night at the Arena for Game #4 with Wheeling, the Royals facing a 3-0 series deficit. The season would ultimately end on Saturday but not before the Royals staved off elimination with a scintillating overtime win in game #4. The visitors from West Virginia took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, Connor Kurth drew the Royals even before the intermission. Early in the second period the Nailers took the lead back and held it into the dying moments of regulation time. With twenty-six seconds left and the goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker Carson Golder struck the motherlode to tie the game 2-2. Nine minutes deep into overtime Kurth stole a pass in the neutral zone and scored on the breakaway to win it 3-2. On Saturday in game #5 the teams played through sixty minutes of regulation play and twenty more of overtime with no score, eight minutes into the second overtime period the Nailers got a break in the offensive zone and ended the game 1-0 and the series four games to one. Yaniv Perets was in goal both nights and deserved an award for his performance. Wheeling moves on to meet either Maine or Adirondack in the division finals, for the Royals it's the end until training camp in early October. On Sunday we were in Rothsville after two weeks' absence, on this day Ephrata beat Township in OT shootout and Hillside defeated Warwick. Seven new players joined the ranks bringing the total up to fifty overall, after another week off for Mother's Day we'll be back on May 17. Take care, thanks for reading.