July 6-10

Had the usual Monday lunch at the mall, the rest of the day was quiet since there were no ballgames anywhere. On Tuesday the West finals began at the rink, game #2 followed on Wednesday. The Kings and Killbots split the first two games, the pivotal third game was set for Thursday night but it didn't happen. Around 6:00 or so a wicked thunderstorm with high winds blew through and wiped out the evening, the series picks up with game #3 on Tuesday the 14th. On Friday morning I stopped by the rink to survey the damage, the rink surface was covered by leaves, twigs and broken tree bark. I went back after lunch and ran the Billy-Goat in an effort to clean up the worst of it. Even though we don't play again until the 14th I figured I'd get it done because it's not going to happen by itself. In the evening I made the drive west across the Susquehanna, Santander Stadium was the site for the start of the Atlantic League's second half. The Revolution hosted the Barnstormers in the opener of a three-game weekend set. Both clubs were below .500 in the first half, the Revs finished 24-46 while the Stormers stand at 27-42 with one suspended game yet to be resolved. Each team was well-represented at the league's All-Star Game: the Revs sent Stephen Penney, Logan Williamson, Luis De La Cruz, Andres Perez, Bryan Pounds and Brandon Boggs to the festivities while the Barnstormers had Pete Andrelczyk, Shunsuke Watanabe, Lance Zawadzki, Brain Cavazos-Galvez and Kevin Rivers plus manager Butch Hobson and coaches Rich Rundles and Ross Peeples. On this night in York the game stayed scoreless through seven innings, in the eighth the Stormers broke the deadlock when Wilson Batista doubled and scored on a Mike McDade RBI hit. In the ninth the Revs tied it on an Eric Patterson single and a Bryan Pounds game-tying double, with two out and the bases loaded Brandon Boggs was hit by the pitch to force home the winning run. For the Revolution the 2-1 victory is nothing less than remarkable, for the Barnstormers it is a frustrating defeat of the highest magnitude. The respective bullpens figured in the decision, Edward Paredes on the plus side and Pete Andrelczyk on the minus side. The series continues on Saturday and concludes on Sunday, the Barnstormers return home on Monday the 13th. Take care, thanks for reading.