August 29-31

Nothing special on the schedule on Friday, on Saturday morning I met Marty at his place and from there we made our way northwest to the state's capital city. In the olden days of the Central Penn Football League McCaskey and Harrisburg played each other on a yearly basis, on this day the schools met for the first time since 1993. The Red Tornado was looking for its first win since the eighth week of the 2012 season but it was not to be as Harrisburg won handily 46-21. JPM trailed 6-0 in the second quarter but tied it on a La'Detrius Sibley touchdown pass to Brandon Allen, Max Chalfont's extra point made it 7-6 McCaskey. From there it went south in a hurry as H-Burg scored forty unanswered points, JPM scored two late TDs on receptions by Kyaire Bynum and Randolph Speller but it was not enough to prevent the club's fourteenth consecutive loss. McCaskey plays in York on September 5, the home opener is on the 12th. When we got back to Marty's place I headed to Quarryville, since Jenny and I couldn't do our usual Saturday lunch we did Saturday supper instead. On Sunday I was in York for the final late-afternoon Sunday game of the season, the Revolution hosted the Somerset Patriots. This was my thirteenth visit to Santander Stadium in 2014  and the ninth on Sundays, the Patriots were the last team in the league I had not yet seen in York. This was one of those crazy, last-shot-wins games as the Revs took it 12-11. It was 4-0 York in the third but the Pats fought back to within 6-5 in the sixth. The Revs went up 10-5 but a four-run eighth got Somerset back in the game, in the ninth a last-ditch Patriot rally fell just short. Offensive stars for the Revs included Eric Patterson (three hits, a home run and three RBI), Johan Limonta (two doubles and three ribbees), Chad Tracy (a home run and two RBI) and Justin Greene (three hits and an RBI). York manager Mark Mason used five pitchers, Beau Vaughan saved it for winning pitcher Scott Gorgen. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 26-28

Tuesday night baseball on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers returned home for a series with the Bridgeport Bluefish. This was actually the fifth straight game between the clubs, the Stormers won four in Connecticut over the weekend. Many of the foreign leagues are ending at this time of year, the Barnstormers roster has been bolstered with the return of Blake Gailen and Wilson Batista from Mexico (Gailen was with Tijuana, Batista with Oaxaca) and pitcher Derrick Loop from a stint in Japan. On this night all three appeared as the Stormers made it five in a row over the 'Fish with an 8-7 win. Brett Carroll's three-run homer in the first gave the home team the early advantage, after the Bluefish got on the board in the second Carroll's third-inning RBI double upped the lead to 4-1. Bridgeport fought back with one in the fourth and four in the fifth to go ahead 6-4 but the Stormers replied quickly in their half. RBI hits by Yusuke Kajimoto, Gabe Jacobo and Blake Gailen put the club back in the lead, a solo homer from Lance Zawadzki in the sixth made it 8-6 Stormers. The Bluefish got one back in the eighth but that would be it, in the ninth Jason Urquidez closed it out for winning pitcher Cory Wade. On Wednesday night the Barnstormers again took an early lead on Cole Garner's first-inning two-run homer but the Bluefish tied it in the fourth. A Gabe Jacobo sac fly put the Stormers back ahead, run-scoring hits by Garner and Andrew Clark upped the lead to 5-2 in the seventh. The Bluefish refused to go quietly, a two-run Bridgeport eighth made it a one-run game. In the ninth Urquidez earned a save for a second consecutive night, Shunsuke Watanabe started and went six for the win as the Barnstormers prevailed 5-4. Jenny and I did lunch as usual on Thursday morning, in the evening we had our Fall street hockey organizational meeting at the rink. There were about eight or nine teams represented but there are always a few stragglers who never attend the meeting and wait until the last minute to get in. We'll know more as we get closer to opening night which is tentatively set for September 15. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 21-25

High school fall sports season is underway, on Thursday evening I was at Rossmere Stadium. Over the last four years McCaskey and Lancaster Catholic were regular-season football opponents (first as a non-league game then as division-mates), league realignment has separated them in 2014 so on this night they met in a scrimmage. It felt strange standing on the sideline in a stadium where I'm usually in the press box on the PA but a scrimmage is much less formal than an actual game. Both teams play the first two weeks of the regular season on the road, I'll be at McCaskey on September 12 and back at LCHS for their debut as a member of LL Section Two on the 19th. The weekend was thoroughly underwhelming, outside of Saturday lunch with Jenny in Quarryville it was about as big a zero as you could imagine. Monday lunch at the mall was the extent of that day as well but the middle part of the week should be busier, the Barnstormers return home for three days leading into the holiday weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 17-20

Sunday afternoon baseball in York as "that team from across the river" (as the Revs once referred to the Barnstormers) hosted Bridgeport in the finale of a weekend series. This was the Revolution's eighth late-afternoon start at home, I have been to all of them. On this day the Revs finished a three-game sweep with a 5-1 victory. The Bluefish got on the board in the first inning, Bryant Nelson's second-inning solo home run drew York even. A four-run Revs fourth inning broke the game open. Wilson Valdez's bases-loaded triple scored three runs, Valdez would score the final run on an Eric Patterson RBI double. Jorge Martinez was the winning pitcher with relief support from Ian Durham and Edward Paredes. On Monday my mother had a morning eye appointment, things are coming along but there is still a ways to go. On Tuesday night Marty and I made another trip west, the Barnstormers were in York for the teams' final regular season series. The Stormers won the opener on Monday, on this night the Revs evened the series. York took a first-inning lead on Bryant Nelson's RBI hit, the Barnstormers tied it in the sixth on a RBI single by Brett Carroll. In the bottom of the eighth Sean Smith tripled and scored on a Justin Greene single, the Stormers could not reply in the ninth as the Revs earned a tough 2-1 win. Beau Vaughan won it in relief of Logan Williamson, ex- MLBer Mark Hendrickson picked up the save. Chris Schwinden took the hard-luck loss for the Barnstormers. Jenny had a foot doctor appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning, we did our weekday lunch a day earlier than usual as a result. As I spent the evening at home the Stormers-Revs series finished in York, the Revolution won the game to finish the season series with a 13-7 advantage. Every year the clubs play for the Community Cup, this marks the second consecutive season York has won it and the fourth time overall (the Barnstormers won it in '07, '09, '11 and '12). Take care, thanks for reading

August 15-16

Friday night baseball on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers hosted Southern Maryland in the first game of the Blue Crabs' final regular season visit. The Stormers' offensive struggles were magnified on this night as they could manage just three base hits. Cole Garner hit a solo home run in the first inning and Ben Francisco went yard with the bases empty in the ninth but in-between it was all Crabs as they won it 7-2, Cory Wade was the losing pitcher. Saturday was a red-letter day on the calendar, it's was Jenny's birthday. I was with her for morning lunch, in the afternoon she and her mother came back to town for the evening's ballgame. My mother gave Jenny a pack of ice cream bars and I got her a music CD she had wanted (modest gifts but then again Jenny has modest tastes). At the ballpark it was another frustrating night for the homeboys as the Stormers suffered a fourth consecutive loss on the homestand. It started well enough with an Andrew Clark two-run homer in the first, Gabe Jacobo's RBI hit in the third made it 3-0. The Blue Crabs got on the board in the fourth and tied it in the fifth but Brett Carroll's double in the home fifth gave the Barnstormers a 4-3 lead. SM tied the game in the eighth and took a 5-4 lead in the ninth, in the bottom of the ninth the Stormers loaded the bases with one out but could only manage the tying run on Carroll's RBI groundout. In extra innings the Blue Crabs pushed across two runs and won the game 7-5, Ross Peeples was the pitcher of record. Both Friday and Saturday featured postgame fireworks shows but needless to say we never saw them, Jenny is no more a fan of them than I am (if you've seen one you've seen them all). Take care, thanks for reading.

August 11-14

Had my car at the service center on Monday morning for the annual inspection, it didn't take long since the emissions had been checked when I had the oil change done in June. That plus lunch at the mall was the extent of the day's activities. The weather turned nasty on Tuesday, rain arrived overnight and stayed around all day. The Barnstormers were supposed to open a series with the Somerset Patriots but shortly before 5:00 it was announced that the game was postponed. Incredibly this was the first home rainout for the Stormers, since the Patriots return in September the makeup doubleheader will be during that series. On Wednesday the rain was gone but the temperatures were much cooler, in the evening we were at the ballpark for game #1 of the truncated series. The Stormers went 4-3 on their recent road trip, on this night the ballgame stayed scoreless until the sixth inning when the Patriots took a 1-0 lead. Gabe Jacobo's RBI double in the bottom half tied the game but Somerset went back ahead with one in the seventh, two more in the ninth salted away a 4-1 Pats victory. Dan Osterbrock worked into the seventh inning and took the loss but deserved a better fate. Recently the Barnstormers have struggled to score runs, on Thursday night that was on display as the club suffered a maddening defeat. Ben Francisco's two-run double in the fourth inning broke a scoreless tie, that 2-0 advantage lasted until the ninth when Somerset plated three runs (the last one on a throwing error) and escaped with a 3-2 win. Chris Schwinden pitched seven shutout innings but in the ninth Jason Urquidez was victimized and took the loss. The homestand continues on the weekend as the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs visit. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 5-10

The middle part of the week was quiet save for an eye appointment for my mother on Tuesday (in the late afternoon at 4:00) and a Thursday morning lunch visit with Jenny and her mother in Quarryville. On Friday Marty and I made a trip across the river, the York Revolution hosted the Sugar Land Skeeters in the finale of a three-game series. The Skeeters took an early 1-0 lead in the first but the Revs replied quickly on RBI doubles by Eric Patterson and Travis Garcia. The home team added single runs in the third on an double-play groundout, the fifth on another Patterson RBI double and the sixth on a Justin Greene base hit. Chad Tracy's two-run homer in the seventh ended the scoring as the Revs won it 7-1, Logan Williamson worked eight innings for the victory. On Saturday Jenny and I had our usual weekend lunch, on Sunday Marty and I returned to York County for another "Santander Sunday". The Long Island Ducks were the opponent in the middle game of a three-game set. This was one of the Atlantic League's oddball weekends for scheduling, each new series started on Saturday instead of Friday. The Ducks took a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning, it stayed that way until the fifth when the Revs tied it on an Alberto Espinosa sac fly. In the seventh a two-run single by Travis Garcia gave York the lead, Chad Tracy followed with a two-run homer to clinch a 5-2 victory. Alain Quijano (the hero of the Revs' first-half playoff clincher) was the winning pitcher with support from Ian Durham and Rommie Lewis. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 1-4

Friday morning: the first day of the new month, I was with Jenny and Helen for lunch. We were doing our weekend date a day early because the ladies wanted to utilize Saturday for getting caught up on things around the house. On Saturday the Barnstormers returned home from a brief road swing for a three-game series, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs were the opposition. This was the Stormers' ninth Saturday home date and the first one Jenny and her mother missed, it's not really a big thing because the Crabs are back in on the next Saturday home date as well. On this night on North Prince Street the fans were treated to a roller-coaster ride disguised as a baseball game. The Barnstormers took a 2-0 lead in the second on a Lance Zawadzki RBI double and a solo home run by Juan Apodaca, the Crabs replied with two of their own in the third to tie it. Brett Carroll's run-scoring double gave the Stormers a 3-2 lead in their half of the third but SM put three more on the board and led by two into the bottom of the fifth. Back-to-back RBI hits from Gabe Jacobo and Ben Francisco knotted the game at 5-5, in the seventh the Crabs took the lead back at 6-5. In their half of the seventh the Stormers seemingly broke it open, RBI hits from Francisco and Carroll, a Blue Crabs error and a bases-loaded hit batsman gave the home team a 9-6 lead. In the eighth the game boomeranged in a big way as the Crabs put up a six-spot and held on for a wacky 12-9 victory, Pete Andrelczyk took the loss in relief of Starter Dan Osterbrock. Sunday was the typical stay-in-and-do-nothing day, the game at the ballpark started at 1:00 but I (of course) was not there. On Monday I did my usual lunch at the mall, in the evening I was back at the ballpark for the series' rubber game (the Barnstormers had won on Sunday afternoon). On this night Southern Maryland ended the suspense early with a 5-0 second-inning lead. The Barnstormers got on the board in the fourth on an Andrew Clark two-run homer but that would be it as the Crabs took it 5-2, Cory Wade started for the Stormers and suffered the loss. The ballclub takes to the road for seven days, the next home date is Tuesday the 12th. Take care, thanks for reading.