September 1-3

The ninth month of 2014 began with the Labor Day holiday, true to form there was little happening outside of morning lunch at the mall. On Tuesday the Barnstormers returned home for a series against Somerset, the Patriots were coming in fresh from the weekend in York. The Stormers roster received more fortification on the road trip with the return of infielder Olmo Rosario, he played in Lancaster in 2013 and spent this summer in the Mexican League. This night featured a doubleheader thanks to an August rainout, the plan was to start at 6:00 and play two seven-inning games. There were storms in the forecast all day but of course nothing happened until close to game time. At 5:00 it began to rain, it stopped briefly but a second storm system moved through shortly after the first ended. As a result the opener did not start until 7:50, the Stormers took a quick 1-0 lead in the first when Blake Gailen singled and scored on an RBI double by Rosario. Keith Castillo's RBI single in the second made it 2-0 before the Patriots got on the board in the third. A four-run fifth put it away for the Barmstormers, Gailen went yard with a man on base and Brett Carroll added a two-run shot to make the final 6-1. Shunsuke Watanabe got the start and worked five innings for the win. The game ended shortly before 10:00, I decided to call it a night (the nice thing about being a spectator is I have that option). The second game started at 10:30, required extra innings and didn't end until 1:30 in the morning (I had many a night like that when I was in the industry, I didn't envy anyone there when I read about it the next morning). The only good thing is the Stormers won it and completed the doubleheader sweep, on Wednesday evening we were back for a single game at 7:00. There are occasions when things happen that simply defy logic, this game was a prime example. The Patriots came out swinging and built a 6-0 lead in the third. Andrew Clark's RBI hit put the Stormers on the board but Somerset responded emphatically, in the fifth it was 12-1 Patriots. Juan Apodaca'a three-run homer in the sixth inning made it 12-4, when the Stormers came to bat in the seventh all hell broke loose. Gailen started it with a solo home run, two batters later Brett Carroll's RBI double make it 12-6. A two-run double by Greg Golson (back in the lineup from a extended stay on the disabled list) brought the Stormers back to within four, an RBI hit by Apodaca made it 12-9. With two men on base Gailen batted again and delivered his second home run of the inning to cap an incredible eight-run rally and knot the game at 12-12. The score stayed tied through the remainder of regulation play, in the twelfth inning Olmo Rosario's two-run walkoff homer gave the Barmstormers an epic 14-12 victory. Cody Eppley (the last of six pitchers used by Butch Hobson) picked up the win. The series wraps up with another single game on Thursday, one can only wonder what may happen as an encore. Take care, thanks for reading.