July 19-23

Saturday was a notable day for my mother, she turned 80 years of age (and there are many who would say she doesn't look it). In the afternoon Dick came into my place, from there we made our way southeast to Wilmington. We had planned a visit there back in June but the weather forecast ruined it. On this night the Wilmington Blue Rocks hosted the Lynchburg Hillcats in Carolina League action. Before the game there was a POW/MIA salute, part of it was the unveiling of a stadium seat which will remain symbolically unoccupied in memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. In the game itself the Rocks fell behind early, a late comeback fell short as the Hillcats won 6-4. On Sunday Jenny and I had our weekend lunch a day later than usual, on Monday I had my usual midday meal at the mall. In the evening I was at the ballpark for the youth tournament championship game. Whenever a championship is contested the fervent hope is that it will be competitive, nobody enjoys a one-sided blowout (except the team that is winning). On this night the fans in attendance were treated to a memorable game. The first three innings were scoreless, the fourth and fifth innings were mirror-image. Hempfield scored three in the fourth and one in the fifth, Strasburg/Willow Street put one on the board in the fourth and tied it with three of their own in the fifth. In extra innings Hempfield loaded the bases with one out but a SWS double play ended the threat. In their at-bat SWS got a runner to second with two out, a bloop single into shallow right field scored the winning run as SWS won it 5-4. Not much going on Tuesday or Wednesday save for another eye appointment for my mother (Tuesday) and a dental checkup for me (Wednesday), the Barnstormers are at home over the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.