July 27-29

Monday morning lunch at the mall, I saw in the newspaper where Lititz won the youth tournament's championship game on Sunday. I would have attended had there been no game in York but given the choice a pro game will win out just about any time. On Tuesday the Barnstormers returned home for the start of a seven-day homestand. When the stadium on North Prince Street opened in 2005 the naming rights were purchased by a publication called Clipper Magazine, the ballpark is invariably called "the Clip" or sometimes just "CMS" for short. A three-game series with the Bridgeport Bluefish opened on Tuesday, the 'Fish took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third. Zach Collier's two-run single in the bottom half tied the game, a two-run home run by Mike McDade gave the home team a 4-2 advantage. In the eighth the Stormers put the game away with a seven-run salvo. A bases-loaded single from McDade scored two runs, a sac fly by newcomer Charlie Cutler (recently added from the Los Angeles Angels organization) made it 7-2. The uprising was capped by a Collier grand-slam as the Barnstormers won it going away 11-2, Joe Gardner started and worked seven innings for the victory. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our usual midweek lunch date, in the evening at the ballpark the Stormers won game #2 in more mundane fashion. A sac fly by former Oakland Athletic Luke Hughes in the second inning made it 1-0, Zach Collier scored on a wild pitch in the fifth to extend the lead to two. The Bluefish got on the board in the sixth, in the bottom half Anderson Feliz's RBI hit restored the two-run lead. Another Bridgeport run in the seventh made it closer but the Stormers held the fort for the 3-2 win, Pete Andrelczyk saved it for winning pitcher Nate Reed. The series wraps up on Thursday, the Somerset Patriots arrive for a four-game set on Friday. Take care, thanks for reading.