September 28-30

A rare Saturday morning/early afternoon at home since Jenny and I did lunch on Friday instead, in late afternoon I was at the Lancaster Ice Rink. Don's son Devyn is a freshman at Millersville University, he is a member of the varsity ice hockey team. MU (or "the 'Ville") plays in the Great Northeast Collegiate Hockey Conference which is under the umbrella of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. When Devyn was in high school his team's home games were played at the Ice Rink so at least the venue was familiar if the competition wasn't. MU's opponent was Saint Joseph's University, one of Philadelphia's famous "Big Five" schools. Devyn did not figure in the scoring but even as a freshman he didn't look out of place, it's all a matter of getting accustomed to the caliber of play. MU won the game 5-2 breaking into the win column after an 0-4 start. Sunday was the proverbial day of rest with baseball and football on TV. Had Monday lunch at the mall, in the evening we started the new week and ended the old month at Reservoir Park. This was a night for crossover games between the East and West divisions, the UniLords defeated the Kings and Dominion Pizza beat Cat's Meow. Ron and Don refereed, Wally ran the clock. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 27

Jenny was in Willow Street for a morning appointment, I brought her home and we did our weekend lunch date a day early. In the evening I was at Rossmere Stadium for the first time in 2013 as the Lancaster Catholic Crusaders hosted Penn Manor. LCHS went 0-3 in their non-league games but got into the win column in their league opener, PM came into this game undefeated at 4-0. Before the game we observed a moment of silence in memory of a Penn Manor student who recently lost his life. In my years doing PA work I've presided over more of these than I care to remember, they are never easy especially when it is for one so young. The game itself was a thriller all the way. The Crusaders scored first on a TD pass from quarterback Evan Purvis to wideout Charles Scarff, Penn Manor replied in kind to tie it 7-7. In the second quarter LCHS reclaimed the lead on a Nassir Weaver touchdown carry but PM fought back to deadlock it once again, at the half it was 14-14. It stayed that way until the final moments when Manor scored to go ahead 20-14, the extra point was unsuccessful which gave LCHS the opening it needed. With twelve seconds left in regulation time Purvis found Rafael Mateo for the tying touchdown, Purvis himself kicked the extra point to give the Crusaders the lead. The subsequent kickoff went nowhere for PM as the clock ran out and the LCHS faithful celebrated a terrific 21-20 win. This was the kind of game that will be remembered for a long time by those lucky enough to have seen it. The Crusaders host Warwick on October 4, I'll be there for that one as well. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 25-26

Wednesday night at the rink with two divisional games on the docket. In the West game Dominion Pizza defeated the Kings, the East game saw Whitmoyer Auto over Cat's Meow. Don and Ron worked both games, Devyn made his first appearance as the clock operator. On Thursday Jenny and I had our usual lunch date, in the evening we wrapped up week #2 of street hockey. Three Midwest games were played with Yorgo's beating the Dek Dawgs, Brendee's over the Misfits and the Killbots won via shootout over the BallBlasters. Don and Derek refereed, Wally ran the clock. With two weeks in the books we have had no postponements thus far, that is very rare for this time of year. The long-range weather forecast looks good but we all know how quickly things can change. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 23-24

The new week started poorly with a early morning phone call from Don. Our building at the rink was broken into over the weekend, his son Derek was there and noticed a window had been knocked out. I stopped by before lunch and cleaned up the mess, it was mostly stuff from the desk drawers thrown on the floor. Nothing of any value was missing (at least nothing apparent) so all in all we were lucky. I went back after lunch and ran the billy-goat around the rink, there were a lot of leaves laying around from the rain and wind on Saturday. The evening's games went on without a hitch: in the crossovers Dominion Pizza beat the Misfits and the Kings defeated the Dek Dawgs, the East game saw the UniLords over Whitmoyer Auto. Ron and Derek worked the first two games, Steve worked the third game with Ron since Derek was playing in it. On Tuesday we had a full night, in the East the UniLords won over Cat's Meow. The Midwest games featured the BallBlasters over the Misfits, Brendee's beat the Dek Dawgs and Yorgo's defeated the Killbots. Don and Ron refereed the entire night, Wally ran the clock. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 20-22

Friday night football at McCaskey as the Red Tornado finished a three-game homestand. I graduated from JPM in 1974, I returned in 1988 and have been involved with the football and boys' basketball programs ever since. Nobody wants to see the team be successful more than me but there are times when you simply must be realistic. The opponent on this night was Wilson HS (from suburban Reading). Wilson is without question one of the top programs in the state, they have not had a losing season in almost FIFTY YEARS. They came into this game undefeated and given JPM's struggles thus far there was little reason to expect a competitive contest. It was 21-0 after one quarter and 38-0 at halftime, the entire second half was played under the mercy rule. The lone score for the Red Tornado came in the last quarter on a Brandon Allen touchdown reception from Kyaire Bynum, another TD in the final seconds was negated by a penalty but it all mattered little as Wilson won it 45-7. The next three for JPM are on the road, the next home date is October 18. On Saturday I was with Jenny for lunch, later in the day an extended rain moved through the area. By Sunday morning it was gone, cool temperatures and cloudy skies made it a prefect day for pro football on TV. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 18-19

Made the usual errand run on Wednesday morning, in the evening we were back at the rink. On Wednesdays we'll usually have two games, on this night Yorgo's beat Dominion Pizza in a crossover game and the UniLords defeated Cat's Meow in an East division match. Don and Ron refereed, Wally ran the clock. On Thursday I was with Jenny at her place, after lunch we went to the fairgrounds. The annual Solanco fair started on Wednesday, we walked around and saw the various exhibits and livestock (with the southern part of the county being the rural area it is there were a lot of farm animals on display). Many of the merchants were handing out pens and pencils, I took the opportunity to stock up for athletic season (we use the pens at Reservoir Park for hockey, I use the pencils for the basketball scorebooks at McCaskey). In the evening we wrapped up the week at street hockey with three Midwest games. Yorgo's stayed undefeated with a shootout win over the Misfits, Brendee's beat the BallBlasters and the Killbots stayed unbeaten with a win over the Dek Dawgs. Don and Derek officiated, Wally ran the clock once again. Wally will probably be there more often than not this season, Don's youngest son Devyn is attending college in Millersville so his availability may be limited. League play continues on Monday with another 3-4-2-3 format. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 16-17

It was very dark and rainy on Monday morning, later in the day the rain moved on and the clouds lifted. In the evening we were at Reservoir Park for opening night of the fall street hockey season. As a rule the Monday format will feature crossover games, on this night we had two of those between the West and Midwest divisions plus one game featuring the East division head-to-head. In the crossovers the Killbots beat the Union Station Kings and Dominion Pizza defeated the BallBlasters (formerly Jr's Cycle Shop), in the East game Whitmoyer Auto beat Cat's Meow (the old 915 Cafe). Don and Ron refereed the entire evening, Wally ran the clock. On Tuesday we had four games on the schedule, all within divisions (one East and three Midwest). The five teams that did not play Monday made their season debuts, in the East game Whitmoyer Auto stayed unbeaten with a win over the UniLords. In the Midwest the Killbots defeated Brendee's (formerly the Lancaster Amvets), Yorgo's beat the BallBlasters via shootout and the Dek Dawgs won over the Misfits. Officiating was by committee as Steve Dellinger worked the first game with Ron and the second with Derek, Ron and Derek worked the last two. With the unusual schedule format in effect there will probably be a lot of nights with rotating officials, it all depends on who plays on any given night. The Midwest's portion of the regular season ends on October 29, the East and West play into the following week. With the interlocking part of the schedule more extensive than ever this should be one of the more interesting seasons we've had in some time. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 13-15

Friday was the big day for Triskaidekaphobia, it was the thirteenth day of the month. In the evening it proved to be unlucky for football at McCaskey as the Red Tornado lost to Exeter (from suburban Reading). Every time JPM plays a Berks County opponent I invariably run into people I know, this night was no different. This season is shaping up as one long learning process for JPM as they fell behind early once again, in the second quarter Exeter led 21-0. The Red Tornado got on the board on a Joseph Gray touchdown reception from Kyaire Bynum, Connor Zahm added the PAT. Exeter extended their advantage to 35-7 in the fourth before Bynum found La'Detrius Sibley for a TD to make it 35-14, a late Exeter score brought the final to 42-14. The loss drops JPM to 0-3 and the road will not get any easier anytime soon with league play beginning on the 20th. On Saturday I was with Jenny in Quarryville, we celebrated her mother's birthday albeit a day early (Helen is 76 on Sunday). On the way back to the city I got a can of gas for the Billy-Goat at the rink and took it there, two of the teams in the league were scrimmaging when I arrived. I checked the scoreboard clock to make sure it was working and gave everything the once-over in anticipation of Monday's season openers. Sunday was a do-nothing kind of day, with pro football and baseball on TV (not to mention exhibition hockey games getting underway) there was plenty to watch. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 9-12

Monday morning: made a trip to Hershey to get our hockey tickets for the AHL season. Every year they hold a presale for ticket plan holders, on this occasion it was at the box office at the adjacent stadium since the arena parking lot was hosting an RV/camper convention. I always try to get there on the first day of the presale, all the better to get the seats we want. The box office opened at 10:00, I arrived at 10:10 and got into line. I figured there would be a wait since there were a good number of people there but I never expected it to last TWO AND ONE-HALF HOURS!!! They had four windows open and it seemed like every transaction took forever, when I finally made it to the head of the line it took me all of ten minutes to accomplish what I wanted. I can't ever remember being there any longer than thirty minutes any other year, why it was so interminable this time is anybody's guess. I finally got into my car at 12:50 and headed home thankful that this is only a once-a-year thing. We'll be attending three games this season, the first of them is the home opener on October 5 only because the Phantoms are the opponent. On Monday evening Don and I firmed up the schedule for the fall street hockey season, we start on Monday the 16th (one week later than originally planned). We'll have eleven teams in three divisions and a format unlike anything we've had before. It is a partial crossover in that one division will play the other two but those two will not meet each other. We've done crossovers before but never one that impacted every team, it will be interesting to see how it plays out. On Tuesday the weather warmed up considerably, Wednesday temperatures hit the lower 90s. On Thursday Jenny was in town for a morning appointment, I took her home and we had our usual lunch date. Thunderstorms rolled through in the afternoon and brought temperatures down, weekend highs are expected to be in the lower 70s. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 7-8

Had Saturday lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the evening they made their final appearance on North Prince Street for the season as the Barnstormers hosted the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in game #2 of the weekend series. After winning the opener on Friday the Stormers lost on this night 7-2. Before the game there was a ceremony saluting local heroes, among the honorees were two young men who rescued a small child from abduction and a firefighter who suffered severe burns in performance of duty. In the game itself the Barnstormers trailed 3-0 in the fourth, a Kevin Howard RBI double and a run-scoring single by Dayton Buller made it 3-2. That would be all the club could muster as the Crabs put it away in the late innings, Jeff Bennett got the start and took the loss. On Sunday afternoon the clubs met in the series' rubber game at 1:35. During my days in the industry I was never a big fan of day games especially during the peak summer months, between the heat and humidity and the usually quick turnaround from the night before I was never crazy about them in the least. On this day in Lancaster it was partly cloudy and cool with low humidity, since it was the Stormers final home game there was really no reason not to be there. In pregame ceremonies pitcher Dwayne Pollok and outfielder Ryan Harvey were named the team's co-Most Valuable Player, outfielder Jerry Owens was honored with the club's award for community service. The Barnstormers took a 1-0 lead in the first under strange circumstances: Olmo Rosario singled, took second on a error, stole third and scored when the throw from the catcher hit him in the head and ricocheted into the stands (fortunately he was uninjured thanks to the protection his batting helmet provided). The Crabs responded quickly to take a 2-1 lead, in the sixth Gustavo Molina's RBI hit tied the game. In the ninth inning Atlantic League history was made as original Barnstormer Ross Peeples (the last remaining member of the inaugural 2005 team) entered the game in relief. This was his 312th career pitching appearance in the ALPB which established a new league record. The game was finally resolved in the eleventh when the Blue Crabs pushed home two runs to win it 4-2. Rich Rundles started for the Stormers, Brodie Downs was the pitcher of record. The Barnstormers finish the season on the road, with six games left to play they have an outside shot at a playoff spot but the odds are not in their favor. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 6

Friday night football at McCaskey as the Red Tornado hosted York. Back in the days of the old Central Penn League the schools were league rivals, that ended when the CP folded in the 1970s. Whenever the cities of York and Lancaster meet in competition it's always called The War Of The Roses in honor of the Houses of York and Lancaster in England and their history back in the 1300s. For me it was the start of my twenty-sixth year behind the mic for JPM, it's hard to believe it's been that long already. McCaskey is a very young squad with a lot of new players in new positions, it stands to reason that it will be a struggle early on as the team finds its identity. That was front and center on this night as the Red Tornado lost 28-7. York scored the first fourteen points and the last fourteen, the only JPM score came in the second quarter on a five-yard carry by halfback Pedro Martinez. The club's record drops to 0-2 and clearly the only way to go is up. The club stays at home to face Exeter in the final non-league game on the 13th, LL league play begins on the 20th. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 4-5

Wednesday afternoon: Dick met me at my place, from there we headed south into Maryland for one final affiliated-league game in 2013. The Aberdeen Ironbirds hosted the Lowell Spinners (Boston Red Sox affiliate) on the final night of the New York-Pennsylvania League season. In minor league baseball the higher-level affiliated leagues always end on Labor Day, lower levels like the NY-P usually run a few days past that. Before the game Ironbird firstbaseman Trey Mancini (a first-year pro from the University Of Notre Dame) was named the club's MVP. The 'Birds won the game 5-4, Mancini had two hits to establish a new club record in that category. On Thursday Jenny and I had lunch together, in the evening the Barnstormers wrapped up their series with Somerset. After the tough extra-inning loss on Tuesday the ballclub rebounded with a 2-1 Wednesday win to even the series. In the rubber game on Thursday the Stormers trailed 2-0 in the seventh, a Jerry Owens RBI single and a Joe Thurston two-run double made it 3-2. The Patriots would tie it in the ninth and score twice in the tenth, the Barnstormers got one back on a Dayton Buller base hit but Somerset held on to win it 5-4. Dwayne Pollok worked into the seventh inning in search of his nineteenth win but it was not to be, Jason Richardson took the loss in relief. The ballclub hosts Southern Maryland for three games on the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 3

Tuesday night at the ballpark as the Barnstormers opened a series with the Somerset Patriots, this was the first time I had a chance to see Somerset this season. This was the Patriots' third visit to Lancaster in 2013, the first two were midweek series back in May and June during street hockey season. The Barnstormers have had their share of difficulties this season, this game may have been the definitive example. It was scoreless into the fourth inning before Somerset scored three runs, another three-spot in the fifth made it 6-0 Patriots. In the seventh the Stormers climbed back into it on a three-run home run by Kyle Russell, a three-run bomb into the wind and onto the hill in left field by Ryan Harvey tied it 6-6 in the eighth. In the ninth inning the Barnstormers loaded the bases with one out but were unable to end it, the second out came on a line drive directly at a perfectly-positioned fielder and the inning concluded on a loud fly ball caught at the base of the wall in right field. In the tenth inning the Patriots had their opportunity and capitalized, the Stormers could not respond in their half as Somerset won it 7-6. Rich Rundles started and worked into the fifth inning, Brodie Downs suffered the tough-luck loss in relief. The series continues through Thursday before Southern Maryland visits for the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 1-2

The ninth month of the year began on a Sunday, in the evening the ladies were in town for the ballgame on North Prince Street. The Barnstormers were looking to complete a three-game sweep but Bridgeport had other ideas. In the third inning the Stormers took the lead on an Olmo Rosario RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Joe Thurston. From there it was all Bluefish as they tied it in the fourth, single runs in the seventh and ninth innings put the lid on a 4-2 Bridgeport win. Jeff Bennett started for the Stormers but wasn't involved in the decision, recently-added reliever Cody Eppley took the loss. Eppley pitched in the major leagues earlier in the season, he was most recently in the Minnesota Twins organization. Monday was the annual Labor Day holiday and the unofficial end of summer (at least that's the way I've always looked at it). The ballclub had an off-day and with nothing else going on it was a day to stay in and watch ballgames on TV.  Take care, thanks for reading.