March 28-31

Monday lunch at the mall as usual, the next day we were on the road north for a rare Tuesday night game at the Arena. The Elmira Jackals were making the last of their six regular-season visits, this one coming two months and five days later than originally scheduled. On this night the Royals struck in the first five minutes on a score by Ian Watters, in the early going of the second period the Jackals evened it at 1-1. Midway through the period Yannick Tifu put the Royals back ahead but another Elmira goal deadlocked the score at 2-2. The teams played through a scoreless third period setting the stage for overtime, in the extra session it took the Jackals all of twenty seconds to bag the winner and the 3-2 verdict. Adam Morrison was the goalie of record as the Royals fall to 33-24-10, 14-14-5 at home. The club has played twelve games that have gone beyond regulation time and have only two wins, both of those on the road. The boys host Norfolk for a back-to-back on April 2 and 3. On Wednesday it was a baseball day at McCaskey, the Red Tornado hosted Northern Lebanon (from Fredericksburg, about ten miles north of Lebanon proper) in a non-league contest. The game remained scoreless through the first six innings, in the seventh NL scratched out a run to take the lead. In the bottom of the inning JPM was down to their last out when Jeffrey Acevedo singled and scored a Michael Abrew double into the gap in left-center field. The momentum came crashing down in the eighth, Northern Lebanon put a five-spot on the board and won it 6-1. Daleuri Contraras pitched the first seven innings but didn't figure in the decision, David Padilla and Devin Ashba combined to work the eighth with Padilla taking the loss. JPM's record drops to 0-2, league play starts at home on April 4. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 25-27

Had a haircut appointment on Friday afternoon, later in the day we headed back to the Arena for the evening's hockey game. The Manchester Monarchs were the opponent for the last of their four regular-season visits. The Royals featured a celebration of the affiliation with the Flyers on this night, Hall-Of-Fame goaltender Bernie Parent and Flyers arena anthem performer Lauren Hart were part of the pregame festivities. The game began in very familiar fashion as the Monarchs took a 2-0 lead early in the second period, Kevin Goumas (second-year pro recently added from the Phantoms) got the Royals on the board but another Manchester score made it 3-1 midway through the game. The Royals swung the pendulum in their favor with two goals forty-five seconds apart, Yannick Tifu and Joe Rehkamp (back from an extended look with the Phantoms) went back-to-back to tie the score. Early in the third period the Royals were awarded a power play opportunity, Kevin Young cashed in on a pass from Tifu to give the home team the lead. From there Adam Morrison and the defense corps made it stand up as the Royals won 4-3, the victory is the 300th home win in the franchise's fifteen-year history. This win improves the club's mark to 33-24-9, 14-14-4 at home. The boys have off until Tuesday the 29th when the Elmira Jackals visit for a makeup game from back in January (the weekend Mother Nature took that gigantic #2 on the East Coast). We had our usual Saturday lunch in Quarryville, other than that the rest of the weekend was uneventful. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 24

Thursday afternoon at McCaskey for the first official game of baseball season. Several years ago a new concession pavilion was built at the main entrance to the football stadium, the baseball field (which is immediately next to the stadium) was repositioned to make room for it. The second floor of the building serves as the PA booth for baseball and it is an excellent vantage point for viewing the game. When they built the pavilion and installed a PA system for baseball various faculty members handled the job because it was something I couldn't have readily committed to at the time. I did one game in 2014 and two games in '15 when the regular guy was unavailable, when Jon Mitchell told me the job was open and asked if I was interested I was glad to sign on. It's only eleven games and it's not the pros but it's BASEBALL in an environment where THE GAME is the thing and for me it's a refreshing change. The game on this day was a non-league contest (the first of four on the schedule), Reading High was the opponent. RHS scored three runs in the second inning, in the bottom of the third JPM infielder Jeffrey Acevedo was hit by the pitch and eventually scored on a groundout by catcher Michael Abrew. In the fourth the Red Tornado made it 3-2, infielder Luis Padilla was hit by the pitch, advanced to third on a double from fellow infielder Chris Rosario and scored on a sac fly by outfielder Jon Dombach. RHS extended the lead to 5-2 in the fifth but JPM battled back in their half of the innng. Acevedo singled, Abrew walked and they both scored on a two-run single by outfielder Oscar Surillo. That was as close as JPM would come, RHS got two in the sixth and one more in the seventh to put it away at 8-4. Devin Ashba was the starting pitcher for JPM working five innings and taking the loss, Daleuri Contraras finished it in relief. The boys are off until Wednesday the 30th when Northern Lebanon comes in for another non-league game. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 23

Wednesday morning lunch with Jenny and her mother in Quarryville, in the afternoon we headed north on 222. We traveled this way on Sunday as well but on this occasion we stopped in downtown Reading as the Royals (finally) returned home after sixteen days away. The club went 4-0-1 on the road trip, on this night the Kalamazoo Wings made their lone Arena appearance of the season and their first in better than a calendar year. This game was eerily similar to the game we saw in Allentown on Sunday, the K-Wings scored twice within thirty seconds late in the first period and added another at the game's midpoint for a 3-0 advantage. That score held into the third period, six minutes in Yannick Tifu got the Royals on the board. One minute later Brandon Alderson took a shot that ricocheted off both goalposts, the referee signaled "no goal" as play continued. At the next whistle the officials conferred with the goal judge, it was decided that the puck had crossed the goal line to put the Royals within one. With six minutes left a K-Zoo player took a major penalty for boarding, the Royals were unable to take advantage as the buzzer sounded on a frustrating 3-2 loss. Adam Morrison (back on the active roster after an extended injury absence) made his first start at home since December 19 and deserved a better fate. The goaltending carousel within the Flyers organization has been spinning rapidly in recent days, thanks to injuries in Philly and Allentown both Martin Ouellette and Connor Knapp are on recall to the Phantoms. The Royals' backup goaltender on this night was youngster Matt Skoff, he was signed to an amateur tryout agreement after finishing his collegiate career at Penn State University. This is the time of year when college players get a look-see in the ECHL in the hopes of winning a contract for the next season, guys like Justin Crandall and Joe Rehkamp came to Reading in that very manner. The Royals' mark stands at 32-24-9 (13-14-4 at home), the boys stay home for a date with Manchester on Friday the 25th. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 21-22

Spring officially arrived on Sunday but the following day was no indication of that whatsoever. It was remarkably chilly and windy, I did the usual Monday lunch at the mall. In the afternoon I was at the ballfield at McCaskey, the boys were hosting the York County School Of Technology in a preseason scrimmage. I took advantage of the opportunity to clean up the PA booth (which is in reality a glorified storage area), I'd be willing to bet that the tabletop in there hadn't been cleaned since the previous spring. The wind was howling out of the west-northwest (from the rear of the booth), with temperatures in the mid-40s being inside was the best place to be. JPM plays eleven of its twenty games at home, the regular season starts on Thursday the 24th at home against Reading High (it's deliciously ironic that the first game is against a school from the city that I once considered my home in pro baseball but that was a different lifetime). I stayed for about three innings then took my leave to go home for supper. In the evening we were at the street hockey rink at Reservoir Park, we had our captains meeting for the start of the spring season. There were ten teams represented but there are always those who get in at the last minute. The wind had not died down at all, I fired up the portable heater in the building in an effort to take a little chill off the bone. Tuesday was quiet save for the morning errand run but the next few days will be busy. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 20

When the AHL releases it schedule each year in August I look for a suitable date for our annual trip north to Allentown for a Phantoms game at PPL Center. I always try to find a Sunday game at a point in the season when the Royals are away and weather should not be an issue, on the very first day they were on sale in September I got our tickets for the game on March 20. The Flyers' AHL affiliate has played under the Phantoms name since 1996, the first thirteen seasons in Philadelphia at the old Spectrum before a five-year stay in Glens Falls, New York from 2009 to 2014. The club is in its second season in the Lehigh Valley and in the second year of association with the Royals, on this day the Portland Pirates (the Florida Panthers' AHL club) was the opponent. Jenny got a picture with Phantoms mascot meLVin (the spelling and capitalization are accurate, the LV is for "Lehigh Valley" and he wears #55 which is LV in Roman numerals). Before the game there was a brief video presentation spotlighting a local eight-year-old who was recently diagnosed with an incurable disease, it was very emotional when he came into the ice for the ceremonial puck-drop. Portland scored twice in the first period, they led 3-0 early in the second before once-and-maybe-future Royal Adam Comrie lit the lamp for the Phantoms. Late in the third period former NHLer Chris Conner made it 3-2 but a Pirate empty-netter ended the comeback, veteran goaltender Jason LaBarbara took the loss for the Phantoms. Comrie, Joe Rehkamp and Martin Ouellette were the only Phantoms in uniform who have also played with the Royals, Ouellette was serving as LaBarbara's backup. The game started at 5:00 and wound down around 7:30, it was almost 10:00 by the time we were home. It's not a terrible trip since it's just about all highway but eighty miles one-way is not something I would want to do regularly, once a season is good enough for me. At least the weather cooperated, early in the week the Sunday forecast was ominous but we never saw a drop (or a FLAKE) all day. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 14-19

Every year the month of March tends to be sporadic in terms of activity. Basketball season is over, the Royals are on the road and spring sports are not yet started, as a result the last few days were about as boring as they get. McCaskey's baseball team had a scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday at home but it was postponed due to wet grounds and reset for Monday the 21st. Jenny and I had our lunch dates on Tuesday and Friday instead of the usual Wednesday/Saturday, Tuesday was her idea and Friday was mine. On Saturday my old friends from the local APBA baseball league were having their annual draft, they had contacted me about it earlier in the week. I played in the league the first six years it existed, I help with the paperwork at the draft whenever I'm available. The entire proceeding runs smoother if someone who isn't concerned with making selections can moderate things. The draft is usually on a Sunday but this occasion was different which is why Jenny and I did Friday lunch. Earlier in the week they were forecasting sloppy weather with a chance of snow for Sunday but as the week progressed the forecast for that day became more favorable. That is good for me because Sunday figures to be a busy day. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 9-13

The usually warm weather was still around on Wednesday, in the morning I was with Jenny for lunch in Quarryville. In the evening we convened at McCaskey for the trip east to Coatesville and the final game of basketball season. JPM lost to Simon Gratz 64-56 ending our season in the second round of the state tournament. For three quarters the game was just about even but in the fourth Gratz kicked it into another gear and we seemingly had no answer. Any season-ending defeat is disappointing but there is much to be proud of. The final mark of 22-8 brings Coach Powell's career record to 458-212, a .684 winning percentage. It was the thirteenth twenty-win season in his twenty-four years at the helm, the team won its eleventh division title and ninth league championship under his watch. Kobe Gantz finishes his high school career with 1589 career points, Randolph Speller ends with 1019 at McCaskey and 1218 overall including his freshman year at Lancaster Catholic. Kobe and Ran are two of six departing seniors and there is no question that they leave behind big shoes to fill but with three remaining starters eligible to return plus talent coming up from a 14-3 junior varsity squad the future is not bleak. In 2013 we had a group that went 26-4, the following year we had one player (that's ONE) back from that team. A lot of programs would be 4-18 or 3-19 under those circumstances, our club went a respectable 15-10 and laid the foundation for the success we had in 2016. We'll see how it all comes together when the new season begins in December. The weather turned cooler and more seasonable later in the week, outside of lunch with Jenny on Saturday the weekend was of little importance. The Royals played three games on the first leg of their road trip and won them all, they have two more to go before the next home date on the 23rd. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 6-8

Any weekend featuring three home games in three days is rough enough to begin with, when it's actually a FOUR-in-three it's particularly challenging. We were back at the Arena bright and early on Sunday, the day started with the eleventh edition of the Battle Of The Badges. Gordon Kaye was one of the creators of this game back in 2006 and it is always a well-received event on the calendar. The Reading Police won over the Reading Fire Department on this day by a count of 6-2 but the RFD still leads the all-time series 6-4 with one tie. In the main event the Royals got off the schneid with a 3-2 win over the Norfolk Admirals. The Ads took a 1-0 lead early in the second period, in the late going Jesper Pettersson (Stockholm, Sweden native on assignment from the AHL Phantoms) scored on a breakaway to tie the game. In the final period the Royals assumed the lead on goals by Kevin Young and Joey Sides, Norfolk cut the advantage to one midway through but the Royals held on for an important victory. Martin Ouellette returned from the Phantoms and picked up the win as the club's mark improves to 28-23-8, 13-13-4 at home. In past years the Royals home schedules were notoriously backloaded but this season is an exception. Between February 20 and March 22 (a span of thirty-two days) the club had only these three home dates, the next five games are on the road before we host Kalamazoo on the 23rd. On Sunday it was announced that McCaskey's second-round state playoff on Wednesday the 9th is at Coatesville HS. The opponent is Simon Gratz (a well-known program from Philadelphia), they defeated Lower Merion in their first-rounder. In terms of travel it's about even, Coatesville is a 25-mile trip east for us and maybe a little further for them but at least it's somewhat equitable (unlike the first round where we may as well have played in our opponent's gym). We played Gratz in the state playoffs back in 2006 (when current pro player Lamar Patterson was a freshman at JPM) but in high school sports ten years is three lifetimes ago, what happened then means nothing now. On Monday the weather turned remarkably warm, daytime highs reached into the 70s (way too high for this time of year). Take care, thanks for reading.

March 5

Saturday was a day of mixed results much like those old good news/bad news jokes, we'll do the good news first: McCaskey won its first-round state playoff game over Abington Heights 50-46. The game was played at a college facility in Scranton, about 120 miles from Lancaster and about six or eight from our opponent's home base. It marks the second straight year the boys have played and defeated a district champion in their backyard, the win puts us into the second on Wednesday the 9th with site and opponent to be determined. The bad news of the evening came in downtown Reading as the Royals suffered a second straight home-ice loss to the Wheeling Nailers. Before the game Gordon Kaye became the newest member of the Royals Wall-Of-Honor, GK was the club's general manager from 2005-2010. The induction ceremony was originally scheduled for January 23 but Mother Nature had other ideas, as a resident of Denver, Colorado I'm sure Gordon knows all about snow. In the game itself the Royals fell behind 1-0, Yannick Tifu's goalmouth tip-in tied the score at the first intermission. The Nailers retook the lead in the second, two more Wheeling scores early in the third put the Royals in a three-goal hole. Joey Sides scored with five minutes to go to bring the club within two, Brandon Alderson's goal with two seconds left brought the final score to 4-3. The club's goaltending situation has been remarkably unsettled since the new year started, with Martin Ouellette in the AHL, Adam Morrison on the injured list and Connor Knapp less than 100% rookie Alex Vazzano (Sacred Heart University product) got the start in goal. The club hosts Norfolk on Sunday after the annual Battle Of The Badges game at 12:30. Take care, thanks for reading.

March 4

When the ECHL released its season schedule last summer I noted four occasions where the Royals were booked for three home games in a three-day period. One of them was in November, another two were in January (and one of those was altered thanks to that blizzard) and this weekend was the last of the four. On Friday the Royals played their first home game in two weeks as the Wheeling Nailers visited for the opener of a back-to-back set. The Royals went 3-1 on the road trip, on this night at the Arena they suffered a frustrating 7-4 loss. Cam Reid gave the Royals the early lead but the Nailers struck back to take a 2-1 advantage into the second period. In the middle stanza Reid lit the lamp again, Brandon Alderson's goal made it 3-2 Royals entering the final frame. The third period was just about all Wheeling, three Nailer goals in quick order made it 5-3. The Royals scored with the extra attacker to get within one but two Wheeling empty-netters made the final score more lopsided than it really was, Connor Knapp got the start in net and took the loss. The fourth Royals goal was originally credited to Robbie Czarnik, after the game video review confirmed that Cam Reid had been the last to touch it on its way into the net. It is the first Royals hat-trick at home in some time and nobody realized it until well after the game had ended. The boys have a chance to get even with the Nailers on Saturday, on Sunday the Norfolk Admirals visit at 4:00. Take care, thanks for reading.

February 26-March 3

The last few days of February and the early part of March was very quiet, with a week off from basketball and the Royals out of town there was very little happening of any note. The only real highlight was a Sunday night meeting at the newspaper office in Reading. Since 1967 the Philadelphia Phillies' AA affiliate has called the city home, 2016 is the franchise's fiftieth anniversary season. From 1978 to 2012 I was proudly associated with the organization as the team's public address announcer. It was a time in my life that meant a great deal to me, I loved and cared for it deeply. My time there ended in November of 2012 largely because of ego, arrogance and the need for certain parties to push their own agenda with no regard for history, tradition or the concerns and feelings of others. After THIRTY-FIVE YEARS of service to the organization I always thought my departure would be on my terms but sadly that was not the case. Few people know the entire story because I never took it public (and I never will), those who are aware are completely understanding of the bitterness I feel towards those responsible. I realize I'm not the first person who was ever done dirty but that knowledge doesn't make it any easier. I miss the ballpark and the GOOD people I worked with greatly and I would go back tomorrow under the right circumstances but those circumstances no longer exist (and they will not as long as certain people remain involved). The meeting on Sunday night was because the newspaper's baseball beat writer (who I have known for many years) is planning a series of stories spotlighting the fifty greatest players in franchise history and I was invited to be a part of the selection committee. He explained it as something completely independent from anything the organization may be planning. It is heartwarming to know that some people value my feelings and opinions, I can attest from personal experience that it doesn't happen everywhere (especially where it SHOULD but doesn't). The meeting was very productive and it was good to renew acquaintances with some old friends from happier days. On Monday I got a call from Jon Mitchell at McCaskey, he wanted to know if I was interested in doing the PA for the varsity baseball games. A few years ago the playing field was remodeled and a sound system was installed, I have substituted here and there when needed but it was something I really couldn't commit to on a regular basis. Things are somewhat different these days so I told Jon I'd be willing to take it on. There are no schedule conflicts as of now but that could change, we'll work those out as they come about. The ballclub has a scrimmage at home on the 16th, the first official home game is on the 24th. Take care, thanks for reading.