June 29-30

Saturday lunch with Jenny in Quarryville, in the evening the Revs-Stormers series continued at the ballpark. After the lopsided Barnstormers win on Friday the visitors from York squared the series with a 4-0 decision. Revolution leadoff hitter Eric Patterson homered in the first inning, RBI hits from Andy Marte and Cody Johnson made it 3-0 in quick order. It stayed that way until the seventh when York added the final run on an infield groundout. Rev stating pitcher Chris Cody was in complete control working into the eighth for the victory, the Stormers' Brian Grening settled down nicely after the shaky start but suffered the loss. On Sunday the ladies were along for the 6:00 start, before the game Jenny got an autograph and photo with Stormers infielder Travis Denker. On this night York once again got out to a quick start, after two innings it was 6-1 Revs. The Barnstormers clawed back into it but could never get the big hit at the right time as York held on for a 7-6 win. Infielder Andres Perez had three RBI for the Revolution, infielder Wilson Batista had a two-run single, Andy Marte and outfielder Mark Teahan had run-scoring hits as well. Offensive highlights for the home team included Blake Gailen with a home run and two RBI, Travis Denker with a solo homer and newcomer Fernando Perez (in his Stormers debut) with an RBI single. The starting pitchers were of record, Rick Zagone for York and Will Savage for the Stormers. This game concluded the first half of the Atlantic League schedule, both teams posted winning records (York 36-34, Stormers 36-33 with one game canceled). After an off-day on Monday the second half starts on July 2nd. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 27-28

Jenny was in town on Thursday morning for an appointment, from there we were in Quarryville for lunch. The afternoon radar showed heavy rain in the central part of the state and another system moving northward from Maryland, around 3:30 we had a brief storm. It moved on quickly and the sun came out, by 5:30 things were looking reasonably well. I went to the rink and got started with pregame preparations, shortly before 6:00 the rains returned. It was for all intents and purposes a complete rerun of Wednesday, the rains came fast and hard and wiped us out in no time at all. The series will continue on Monday the 1st and we'll keep our fingers crossed for that. On Friday the forecast was more of the same with thunderstorm watches and warnings all over the area. By late afternoon nothing had happened, I headed over to the ballpark on North Prince Street. The Barnstormers were back in town after a week-long road trip to open a weekend series with the York Revolution. There was a ten minute delay at the outset thanks to an innocuous drizzle, once the game started there were no issues at all. It was scoreless into the fourth inning, a two-run home run by Daryle Ward and a solo shot from Olmo Rosario made it 3-0 Stormers. The Revs got one back on a home run by outfielder Cody Johnson, in the sixth the Stormers broke it open. Blake Gailen's solo homer, an RBI hit by Rosario, a two-run double from Gustavo Molina and an RBI triple from newcomer Matt Spencer made it 8-1, run-scoring hits from Ward and Austin Gallagher in the seventh salted away the 10-1 win. Dwayne Pollok won it for the Stormers, Rev starter Nick Green took the loss. The Atlantic League's War Of The Roses continues on Saturday and Sunday as the league wraps up the first half of its schedule. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 24-26

Monday morning at the mall for lunch, in the evening we were at the rink as the West and Midwest finals got underway. In the West the Union Station Kings won over Dominion Pizza, game #1 of the Midwest saw Yorgo's victorious over the Lancaster Amvets. On Tuesday we had a strong thunderstorm in mid-afternoon but by game time at the rink we were good to go. The Kings and Yorgo's each won again to take a 2-0 lead in their respective series. Don and Ron refereed both nights, Wally ran the clock. Every day this week has featured a threat of thunderstorms, on Tuesday we were lucky but on Wednesday it was a different story. There were no problems until after 6:00 when a hard storm rolled through from the northwest. Inside of twenty minutes the rink had become a lake, that usually happens only when the rain comes hard and fast. The games were postponed to Thursday so the series leaders will have to wait at least one one night for a chance to clinch, if either series goes beyond that we'll be into July. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 22-23

Saturday morning in Quarryville with Jenny and her mother for lunch, after that we made our way south over the Mason-Dixon Line into Cecil County, Maryland. Our dear friend Mazi recently moved there from Pennsville, New Jersey, this was our first time visiting her since last August. She is living just outside of the town of North East, from Lancaster it's about a forty-mile drive. When we saw her in August she was baby-sitting a little girl named Mirandah, Mimi (her nickname) was in Mazi's charge on this day as well. In late afternoon our group of five departed for Wilmington and the evening's ballgame at Frawley Stadium. When Mazi lived around Lancaster she regularly joined us for games, her time outside of our area has afforded her few opportunities for that. From North East to Wilmington is about thirty miles, most of it on interstate highway. The game started at 6:00 and it was an entertaining one, the hometown Blue Rocks jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and led 9-1 into the eighth. The visiting Salem Red Sox scored six runs to get within two but the Rocks replied with two more of their own and held on for an 11-7 win. We got Mazi and Mimi back to North East in good order, the night officially ended with my arrival in Lancaster shortly after 11:00. There is another Saturday in August that may work for another visit, we'll see how it works out. Sunday was the day of rest, with nothing going on and temperatures in the 80s there was no reason to leave the house. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 20-21

Earlier in the week the ECHL released the schedule for the 2013-14 season. The Royals' home opener is on October 19, it marks only the third time the club has played its season opener at home. The final home game is on April 5, the season ends one week after that. Last season the schedule started on October 12 and ended on March 30, the upcoming season starts one week later and runs a extra week longer. There are twelve opponents on the schedule, all from the Eastern Conference (any thought of a Royals-Stockton Kelly Cup rematch will have to wait until the playoffs). Elmira and Wheeling will be the most frequent visitors (nine and eight respectively), Kalamazoo and Evansville will each visit four times. South Carolina will be in three times (including the home opener), we'll see Toledo twice. The remaining six East clubs (Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Florida, Gwinnett, Greenville and Orlando) will each make a single appearance at the Sovereign Center. It was recently announced that the Trenton franchise will not operate in '13-14, their absence from the league will be felt. On Thursday morning Jenny and I had our usual lunch date, in the evening we finished the Midwest semifinals at Reservior Park. Both series went the full three games, in both series the team sitting on the visitors bench won every game and in each instance the lower seed advanced. The Amvets eliminated the Killbots and Yorgo's beat the Dek Dawgs setting up the unlikely Finals matchup beginning on Monday the 24th, the West final begins that same night. Friday was very uneventful save for an afternoon haircut appointment but it's just as well since Saturday will be busy. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 17-19

Monday morning as usual at the mall for lunch, in the evening street hockey playoffs continued at Reservoir Park. In the West semifinals Dominion Pizza advanced to the championship with a win over Jr's Cycle Shop, the Misfits stayed alive with an overtime win over Union Station. On Tuesday the weather was dark and nasty, a line of storms rolled through and brought severe rain in the morning and afternoon. With more in the forecast for the evening hours we postponed the scheduled Midwest semifinal games until Thursday. Wednesday brought sunny skies and pleasant temperatures, at 7:00 the deciding game in the Misfits-Union Station Kings series faced off. During the regular season the Kings had much the better record but the Misfits were a hearty group that never gave up. Each of the first two games in this series required overtime, this night was no different. In the extra period the Kings prevailed to advance to the finals, they will meet Dominion Pizza in the best-of-five beginning on Monday the 24th. This is a rematch of the West championship series from the Fall 2012 season as the Kings look to defend the title. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 14-16

Friday night baseball on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers opened a weekend series with the Long Island Ducks. These clubs have some recent history, the Ducks defeated the Stormers in the 2012 Atlantic League championship series. On this night Long Island ended the suspense early, the Ducks scored four runs in the first inning and won it going away 8-0. Former big-leaguer Dontrelle Willis pitched a complete game for the Ducks and allowed just five baserunners, a scratch infield single by Blake Gailen in the third inning was the only hit the Stormers had all night. Brian Grening pitched six innings and took the loss but deserved a better fate, he was relieved for an inning each by Brian Tallet, Brodie Downs and Ross Peeples. On Saturday we had our usual lunch date in Quarryville, in the evening Jenny and her mother were along at the ballpark for game #2. The Barnstormers responded to the Friday loss with a 3-1 win. The club took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Blake Gailen RBI hit, they upped the advantage to 3-0 in the fourth on a run-scoring double from Kevin Howard and an RBI single by Austin Gallagher. Stormer starter Will Savage pitched six shutout innings for the win, bullpen support came from Nate Reed, Yoslan Herrera, Jason Richardson and Jason Urquidez. Both Friday and Saturday featured fireworks shows but we were gone as soon as the game ended. In thirty-plus years of minor-league baseball I've seen enough fireworks shows to last into the next millennium. Sunday was a day to stay in and relax, the Stormers were playing a day game (thus the reason for the ladies' appearance there on Saturday) and there were showers in the forecast. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 12-13

Wednesday evening street hockey at Reservoir Park, the first order of business was the deciding game for the East division title. After losing the first two games of the series 915 Cafe staved off elimination with two wins of their own, on this night the UniLords rebounded in kind with a 4-1 championship victory. The West semifinals got underway as well, Union Station defeated the Misfits in overtime and Dominion Pizza beat Jr's Cycle Shop. Those series continue with game #2 on Monday the 17th. The forecast for Thursday called for rain virtually all day, the morning hours were dark and dreary. It was raining while I was with Jenny for lunch, later in the afternoon the skies cleared and the sun came out. The updated forecast indicated that the expected late-day storms had moved south, the new concern was a different system from the west that would hit in late evening. Two games were on the schedule for this night, in the Midwest semifinals the losers of Tuesday's games stayed alive as the Killbots defeated the Amvets and the Dek Dawgs beat Yorgo's. Both series will require a deciding game, those will be on Tuesday the 18th with the finals tentatively set to start on the 20th. The anticipated late-night rain arrived early, part of the second game was played in a light drizzle eerily similar to Monday evening. All things considered we were very lucky considering that the day was supposed to have been a complete washout. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 10-11

Strong rainstorms moved through the area overnight into Monday, around 3:30 or so I was awakened by the sound of heavy rain, thunder and lightning. The rain stopped in early afternoon, at 4:00 Don and I had a preliminary discussion about the evening's games. At 5:00 the decision was made to take advantage of the window of opportunity we had with no guarantees the entire night would be completed, we started at 6:30 with three games on the schedule. The West division finished its regular season, Dominion Pizza beat the Misfits and Union Station defeated Jr's Cycle Shop. There were a few drops here and there during the first two games, at 8:00 game #4 of the East finals started and the steady rain came with it. Nobody was particularly happy about it but by the same token no one complained too loudly so we played on. 915 Cafe defeated the UniLords to force a deciding game, since no officials were available for a Tuesday game in that division the teams will meet in game #5 on Wednesday. Tuesday's weather was much better, there was a brief shower around 3:00 but it cleared out and dried off quickly. At the rink we started at 7:00 as the best-of-three Midwest semifinals got underway. Yorgo's won over the Dek Dawgs in double overtime (shades of the Royals-Cincinnati game on May 3), in the other game the Amvets beat the Killbots in regulation. These series continue on Thursday weather-permitting, more storms are forecast although it appears we may be OK for Wednesday. The weather here of late has been remarkably unpredictable, at this point all bets are off. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 5-9

Wednesday night street hockey at Reservoir Park, we had four games on the docket. In the Midwest game the Killbots beat the Amvets, the West games saw Jr's Cycle over Dominion Pizza and Union Station over the Misfits via shootout. Game #3 of the East finals concluded the evening's schedule, 915 Cafe stayed alive with a win over the UniLords. On Thursday it was overcast in the morning, I was in Quarryville for lunch with Jenny. Later in the afternoon the predicted rainfall arrived, with heavier rain forecast for the evening hours we postponed the night's schedule at the rink. The rain was still around on Friday morning, with nothing of note going on the morning errand run was all that happened. It was clear and bright on Saturday, Jenny and I were at Don's house in the afternoon. Devyn graduated from high school on Wednesday, this day was his graduation party. We were there for about two hours or so, most of the other attendees were high school friends, hockey buddies and family members. On Sunday evening we played the street hockey games postponed from Thursday as the Midwest division finished its regular season. The Killbots defeated the Dek Dawgs, Yorgo's beat Fisher's Distributing. The West division wraps up on Monday (weather-permitting, the forecast is not encouraging), the Midwest playoffs begin on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 3-4

Monday morning at the mall for lunch, in the evening we started week #8 of street hockey at the rink. The East division has completed its portion of the regular season schedule, on this night the best-of-five championship series began. UniLords beat 915 Cafe to take a 1-0 series lead. The West division is still in regular-season mode, Dominion Pizza beat Union Station and Jr's Cycle Shop defeated the Misfits. Ron refereed all three games, the East game with Jonny and the two Wests with Bop. I ran the clock for the first game since Wally was out of town and Devyn was playing, Devyn took over for the last two. On Tuesday night the Midwest continued its regular season, Fisher's Distributing won over the Amvets and Yorgo's beat the Dek Dawgs. In the East UniLords defeated 915 Cafe to up their series lead to 2-0. Don and Derek worked the Midwest games, Ron and Jonny did the East game. Clock duty was split once again, Devyn wotked the first two and Wally did the third. The Midwest division finishes its season on Thursday, the West plays on Wednesday and wraps up on Monday the 10th. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 1-2

Saturday morning in Quarryville with Jenny, we drove over to the fairgrounds before lunch. The annual Lancaster County fireman's convention was being hosted by Quarryville station 57, they had firefighting apparatus on display. In the afternoon Dick met me at my place, we made the fifty-mile drive southeast into the First State for the ballgame in Wilmington. The hometown Blue Rocks hosted the Frederick Keys in a 6:05 start, the Rocks won it in extra innings 5-4. I don't get to visit Wilmington as frequently as I would like, I have friends there and some personal history as well. On Sunday morning I made it a point to pick up a copy of the Reading newspaper, they published a commemorative section in celebration of the Royals' Kelly Cup championship. In the evening Jenny and Helen came into town for the ballgame on North Prince Street. The Barnstormers were seeking a third consecutive win over the Bridgeport Bluefish but it was not to be. Bridgeport scored three runs in the third and three more in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead. The Stormers got on the board in the sixth on an RBI single by Kevin Howard, in the eighth Travis Denker added a solo homer but that was as far as the club could come as the Fish won it 6-2. Alan Johnson worked five innings and took the loss, he was followed for an inning each by Brian Tallet, Derrick Loop, Reading-area native Nate Reed and Yoslan Herrera. The ballclub continues its homestand on Monday but street hockey at the rink will continue as well. Take care, thanks for reading.