May 31

The last day of the month was another uncomfortably hot day, more like the end of July than May 31. Jenny was in town, after our lunch at the plaza I went to the rink to do some preliminary cleanup work for the night's street hockey games. There were small dried-up leaves all over the rink surface, a thirty-minute Billy Goat run took care of them. I always thought falling leaves were an autumn phenomenon but apparently that's not the case around here. In the evening the spring league playoffs got underway, Yorgo's beat the Steamers to go up 1-0 in the beat-of-five East Finals. The West Quarterfinals (best-of-three series) saw the Misfits over the Pub Dawgs, the Riot over the Kings and the Killbots over the Hammerheads, all winners taking a 1-0 lead. Playoffs continue on Thursday, the fourth West series between the Owls and H&F Tire begins with Hammerheads/Killbots the odd-series out until Tuesday the 7th (with five series going and only four games a night we have to rotate the schedule accordingly). Take care, thanks for reading.

May 30

Had my usual Monday lunch at the mall, in late afternoon I headed west for another ballgame in York. The Barnstormers were playing a 2:00 Memorial Day game but since the Revs game was at 5:00 I elected to do that instead. The visiting Somerset Patriots took a 1-0 lead in the second, in their half the Revolution scored one run on a wild pitch, another on a Michael Rockett sacrifice fly and a third on an RBI double by new addition Charlie Thurber. Thurber's background caught my interest, he is from my father's hometown of Elmira, New York and a product of the same high school as Ernie Davis, the legendary "Elmira Express". The Revs' advantage didn't last long, the Patriots scored three of their own in the third and added a single in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead. In the sixth the Revs tied it on a RBI hit by ex-Barnstormer Keith Castillo and a sac fly by former Detroit Tiger Josh Wilson. From there the bullpens settled in, the game moved into extra innings still tied 5-5. There were ominous-looking black clouds approaching from the southwest during the late innings, since the game was almost three hours old as it entered overtime I decided to call it a night which proved to be a wise choice. I was one mile north of the ballpark on route 30 listening to the radio broadcast when the skies opened, the game went into a rain delay almost immediately. The rain was just about finished by the time I crossed the river, when I arrived in Lancaster things were dry as a bone. Saw on the Internet where the game was ultimately resumed, the Revs won 6-5 in THIRTEEN innings. With the rain delay figured in the game ended shortly before 10:00, almost five hours after it had started. The Barnstormers play in York over the weekend, I'll probably be there either Friday or Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 27-29

I've often said that we don't have SEASONS anymore, we just have WEATHER. The past few days have gone from one extreme to the other, over the weekend the oven door was still open. On Friday we were at the ballpark in Lancaster, the Sugar Land Skeeters were the opponent. Before the game the Barnstormers hosted the annual Salute To Veterans, the first one was in 2008 and it is always well-received. The game was delayed forty minutes at the start because the ceremonies ran long, once it began the fans were treated to some on-field pyrotechnics. The Skeeters took an early lead in the first, Caleb Gindl's home run in the bottom half evened it at 1-1. In the second the Stormers scored twice on a Mike McDade RBI hit and a Jeff Kobernus sac fly, three more were added in the third on an RBI double from Josh Bell and a two-run triple from former Milwaukee Brewer Sean Halton. Sugar Land picked up a run in the fourth and three in the sixth to close within 6-5 but the Stormers bullpen closed the door from there for the one-run victory. Starting pitcher Terry Doyle (from the Orioles system) worked six innings for the win, former big-leaguer Cory Burns earned the save. On Saturday we had our usual weekend lunch in Quarryville, in the evening Jenny and her mother made their second appearance of the season at the ballpark. On this night the Skeeters would score single runs in four different innings but the Barnstormers took advantage of one big inning for a 7-4 win. Sean Halton hit two home runs early on, a second-inning solo and a two-run shot in the fourth. With the game even at 3-3 in the seventh Mike McDade singled and scored on a double by former Dodger property Travis Witherspoon. Jeff Kobernus' RBI double plated Witherspoon, ex-Milwaukee Brewer Logan Schafer followed with a two-run homer to put the game away. Ryan Dennick (former Cincinnati property) won it in relief of starter Bryan Evans. The series continued with a 2:00 game on Sunday but as one would expect I elected to stay inside and keep cool. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 25-26

The weather continued to be remarkably warm on Wednesday, in the morning we had our midweek lunch in Quarryville. In the evening I made the trip across the river for the ballgame in York (quick thought: if Clipper Magazine Stadium in Lancaster is "the Clip" couldn't Peoples Bank Park in York be called "the Peep"?). The Revolution hosted the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for the second game of a three-game series, the Revs took the Tuesday opener by a 10-0 score. On this night the Crabs got out to a quick start, two in the first were followed by two more in the second and three in the third. In the bottom of the third the Revs loaded the bases with one out, a grand slam onto the right-field picnic area by ex-Washington Nationals property Michael Burgess brought the home team to within 7-4. In the fifth inning former Detroit prospect Michael Rockett homered over the Arch Nemesis in left field to make it a two-run game. In the sixth the Revs' hit parade continued with four runs scoring on six base hits, two-run doubles by Brian Pounds and James Simmons were the big blows as the Revs took a 9-7 lead. That would prove to be the final score, ex-bigleaguer Micah Owings was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Matt Neil with Mike DeMark picking up the save. On Thursday we finished the regular season at Reservoir Park, two of the evening's games had no meaning in the standings while the third had major implications. Yorgo's won over the Blues, the Misfits beat the Pub Dawgs and the Killbots defeated the Owls. Playoffs are set to begin on Tuesday the 31st with the first game of the East Finals (three teams in that division, only the top two qualified) and quarterfinal openers in the West division (where all eight qualified). Take care, thanks for reading.

May 23-24

Had my usual Monday lunch at the mall, in the evening we were at the rink for the start of the season's final week. Everything is divisional from here on out and several playoff positions are still undetermined. In the East game on this night Yorgo's beat the Steamers, in the West H&F Tire won over the Kings, the Riot defeated the Pub Dawgs and the Owls prevailed over the Hammerheads. On Tuesday the weather turned dramatically warmer, daytime highs were in the 80s. At the rink in the evening five of the league's eleven teams finished their regular schedule. The Riot bested the Killbots via OT shootout, H&F Tire vanquished the Hammerheads, the Misfits beat the Kings and Yorgo's defeated the Blues. The schedule wraps up on Thursday with three games, playoffs should be good to go on Tuesday the 31st. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 19-22

Thursday evening at the rink for the final three games of week #6, in a West game the Kings defeated the Pub Dawgs. The final two crossover games were on this night as well, Yorgo's beat the Owls and the Killbots won over the Steamers. Twenty-four of the seventy-seven total games on the schedule were crossover, the East teams went a cumulative 20-3-1 against 4-18-2 for the West. It's not surprising that the East teams win the majority of these games but the crossover format is a necessary evil given the size of the league. The season has one more week to go, every team has two games remaining. If all works out we'll have playoffs ready to go after the holiday weekend. On Friday Jenny was in town and we had lunch at the plaza, on Saturday we had our usual get-together at her place. That was about all that happened on an otherwise slow (and rainy) weekend, both of the local ballclubs were on the road and there was nothing else of interest going on. Besides the week's street hockey there is a game in York on Wednesday if the weather is conducive, the Barnstormers are at home over the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 18

The rain arrived overnight as predicted but by late morning it was gone, I made my way south for lunch with Jenny. After supper we were at McCaskey for the final game of baseball season. The weather over the last few weeks has reeked havoc with the schedule, all told the club had seven of its twenty games postponed including three that were banged TWICE before finally being played. This night was one of those, it was originally set for May 11th when it was moved to accommodate a divisional game. The makeup date on the 13th was called due to wet grounds and their was some question at that point whether the game would be rescheduled at all. This was a non-league game with city-rival Lancaster Catholic, LCHS qualified for league playoffs but were eliminated in the quarterfinals which opened the door for this game to be played on this night. Given my association with LCHS football it wasn't surprising that their coaches recognized me, one in particular from my formative days doing the PA for softball at Conlin Field in the 1970s. Before the game started at 7:00 we had the usual Senior Night ceremonies as Devin Ashba, Jeffrey Acevedo, Oscar Surillo and cousins David and Luis Padilla were recognized. The visiting Crusaders took a 1-0 lead in the second, in the bottom half Chris Rosario singled and scored on an error to tie the game. LCHS put two on the board in the third, JPM got one back in their half when Ashba singled and scored on Acevedo's RBI double. The Red Tornado pulled even in the sixth when Surillo drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a wild pitch and a flyout and scored on Rosario's sac fly to make it 3-3. In the seventh LC took advantage of a walk, a hit baseman and a base hit to regain the lead, that would be the final marker in the 4-3 LCHS win. Luis Padilla was the starting pitcher for McCaskey with Acevedo and Ashba in relief, Devin took the hard-luck loss. The Crusaders are a top seed in their bracket for the district playoffs later in the month but for JPM the season is over with a final mark of 1-19. The record is needless to say a disappointment but for me personally it felt good to be back working baseball even if it was "just" high school instead of the pros. It's always nice to have your efforts be appreciated, I can attest from personal experience that it doesn't happen everywhere (especially where it should happen the most). If things pan out properly I plan to continue with the program in 2017, I know I'll be welcome. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 16-17

Did my usual Monday lunch at the mall. in the evening we were back at the rink for the official start of week #6. This week's schedule features the final round of crossover games, on both Monday and Tuesday we had two crossovers and two games from the West. Monday's crossovers saw Yorgo's over the Kings and the Blues over H&F Tire, in the West games the Misfits beat the Hammerheads and the Riot defeated the Owls. On Tuesday the weather was very similar to the previous Friday, in the morning we had some steady rain but as the afternoon wore on it moved east and out of our area. By 5:00 it was long gone and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds, we started right on time at 6:15. A few of the guys commented on how they were in areas east of ours during the day and they never thought we would have a prayer of playing on this night. In the West games the Killbots beat the Riot and H&F Tire outlasted the Hammerheads, in crossover play the Misfits defeated the Steamers and Blues won over the Pub Dawgs. They are calling for some more rain overnight into Wednesday, hopefully it gets in and out in time to allow the baseball game at McCaskey to go without issue. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 13-15

Friday dawned cool and rainy, in early afternoon it was announced that the ballgame at McCaskey was postponed due to wet grounds. In mid-afternoon the rain moved east, the sun broke out and it was apparent that the evening would be pleasant, after supper I headed west across the river for my first visit of the new season in York. The Revolution is celebrating its tenth year in the ALPB, they are doing a series of commemorative bobblehead figures of notable persons in the city's history. On this night the giveaway was a likeness of Revolutionary War figure Gilbert du Motier, best known as the Marquis de Lafayette. The ballpark in York underwent a name change in the off-season, what opened in 2007 as Sovereign Bank Stadium and later became Santander Stadium is now Peoples Bank Park (the new sponsor is headquartered in York). On this night the Sugar Land Skeeters were the opponent in the opener of a three-game series. The Revs took a 2-0 lead in the second, returnee James Simmons reached on a error and scored on an RBI double by ex-Barnstormer Keith Castillo, a base hit from Jason Repko (a 2013-14 Rev who has returned to York) scored Castillo with the second run. The Skeeters tied it in the fourth and put five on the board in the fifth, a two-run homer by returnee Telvin Nash in the bottom half brought the Revs back to within three at 7-4. Sugar Land got those two runs back in the sixth and went on to win 9-4, Beau Vaughan was the losing pitcher for the Revs in relief of starter Tony Pena. The organization did away with its 5:00 starts on Sundays so I'll be picking my spots on when I can get there, it will mostly be oddball weeknights and Fridays when the Barnstormers are on the road. Lunch with Jenny was about all that happened on Saturday, on Sunday we had three makeup street hockey games at the rink. When I arrived the local bike polo group was there, they have been using the rink on Wednesdays. They did not know we had games scheduled but things were amicable, they finished their activities in good order and we played hockey without delay. These were the games postponed from April 28, in the West the Hammerheads beat the Kings and the Killbots won over the Pub Dawgs, in a crossover Yorgo's defeated H&F Tire. Week #5 is now officially in the books, all teams have ten games played and four remaining. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 11-12

Hockey season in Reading is over, the Royals were eliminated on Wednesday night in Wheeling. The club lost game #6 on Monday, the bitter end came in overtime in game #7. It is of course always disappointing to see a season end but all things considered the club went further than most might have expected. The franchise's sixteenth season begins in October, the schedule has already been released and Opening Night at the Arena on October 15 will be here before you know it. We did our usual lunch visit in Quarryville on Wednesday morning, in the evening I was at the ballpark on North Prince Street. It was a cool night but with no street hockey going and the Barnstormers at home it was an easy choice. The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs were the opponent for the second of a three-game series. The Crabs took a quick 3-0 lead in the first, in the bottom half Caleb Gindl went yard to get the Stormers on the board. SM added single runs in the sixth and eighth to build the advantage to 5-1, in the bottom of the eighth former Blue Jays property Michael Crouse walked and scored on Gindl's RBI groundout to make it 5-2. The Barnstormers picked up one more in the ninth on a Charlie Cutler RBI hit but the Crabs held on for the 5-3 win, Bryan Evans worked the first seven innings for the Stormers and suffered the loss. I got home just in time to read the bad news from Wheeling so my "reverse black-cat" theory (if I wasn't home listening to the game online something good might happen) proved futile. On Thursday it was markedly warmer, in early evening I was at the rink sweating in the sunlight but once the sun was down it was cooler although not as chilly as Wednesday night. We finished week #5 of street hockey with an East game and two Westies: Yorgo's beat the Blues, H&F Tires won over the Killbots and the Misfits defeated the Owls. We have three makeup games on Sunday the 15th, week #6 starts in earnest on Monday. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 9-10

Monday morning breakfast at the mall, in the evening we began week #5 of street hockey at the rink. All of the games for the week are divisional, there are still crossovers to be played but they resume in week #6. In the East game on Monday Yorgo's beat the Steamers, in the West the Hammerheads defeated the Pub Dawgs, the Kings won over the Owls and the Misfits outlasted the Riot. On Tuesday there were four more games on the schedule but I was absent at the outset because of baseball at McCaskey. The unsettled weather conditions over the past few weeks have played hell with the schedule, on May 5 the boys played a home game in my absence that had been postponed twice previously. On this night JPM hosted Warwick in a game rescheduled from Friday the 6th, it was a 7:00 start under the lights. The club has struggled offensively all season long, this night was more of the same in a 4-0 loss. Only three batters reached base over seven innings (a base hit, an error and a walk) and there was never any real scoring threat. Devin Ashba started on the mound and worked into the sixth inning, Jeffrey Acevedo finished it in relief. The team plays at Cedar Crest on Wednesday in another rescheduled game, they finish the season at home on Friday in a non-leaguer against Lancaster Catholic (that game was scheduled for Wednesday but was moved to accommodate the CC game because the divisional contest takes precedence). The game wound down shortly after 8:30, I arrived at the rink just as the third game of the night was ending and stayed for the duration. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 7-8

Had our usual Saturday lunch in Quarryville, on the way back into town we drove by a ballfield where a city youth league plays on weekend afternoons. As we were approaching it I saw a man wearing a jersey with "ZAWADZKI #7" on the back, when he turned around I recognized Barnstormers infielder Lance Zawadzki. He is one of Jenny's favorite players, she had a photo opportunity with him at a game in 2015. We immediately pulled over to see what was happening, it was a fundraiser for the league and Lance was there representing the Stormers along with pitcher Pete Andrelczyk and newcomer Justin Jackson (Justin is a former Toronto Blue Jays property and a rarity in pro ball, a pitcher who also plays other positions). We talked with the guys for a few moments before they had to leave, Lance said he actually remembered the photo with Jenny. Sometimes it's funny how things happen, had we driven by there five minutes later we would have never known the ballplayers had even been there. In late afternoon we made the trip north to Reading for game #5 with Wheeling, a raucous Arena crowd witnessed a scintillating 3-1 Royals victory. One had to wonder how the clubs would respond after the Game #4 marathon on Thursday, the off-day before this game had to be welcome. On this night the Royals drew first blood, Cam Reid's goal twelve minutes in made it 1-0. The Nailers took advantage of a power-play chance to tie the game early in the second period, seven minutes later Justin Crandall scored on a backhander to restore the Royals' lead. From there Adam Morrison and the defense corps held the fort, in the closing minutes Kevin Goumas found the empty Wheeling net to cement the victory. The Royals take a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series, the final two are in Wheeling on Monday the 9th (for sure) and Wednesday the 11th (if needed). The club has an overall stronger record on the road than at home but obviously there are no guarantees, there is still one more win required for the club to play any more games at the Arena. On Sunday we had brilliant sunshine and temperatures in the 60s, after better than a week of unsettled weather maybe the monsoon season is finally over. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 4-6

Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Arena for games #3 and #4 with the Wheeling Nailers. The clubs entered Wednesday with the series tied at a game apiece and ended Thursday still even at 2-2. In the Wednesday game the Royals never trailed in a 4-1 win, goals from Mike Marcou, late-season addition Michael Pelech, Maxim Lamarche and Cam Reid (the game-winner) supported an outstanding effort in net by Adam Morrison. Thursday's game was one for the ages as the Nailers got even with a 2-1 victory in TRIPLE overtime. Wheeling took a 1-0 lead in the second period, with seven minutes left in regulation Brandon Alderson found the net to tie the score. The teams would battle through two complete extra periods, the marathon finally ended in the fifth minute of the third overtime on a Wheeling breakaway score. Martin Ouellette started in goal on this night and suffered the hard-luck loss but still earned the game's #2 star. The 104:22 of time played is the longest game in Royals history and marks the first time the club had played triple overtime, the four hours and twenty-two minutes of actual time elapsed (7:00 start to 11:22 conclusion) is almost certainly a record as well. The series is now essentially a best-of-three, the pivotal game #5 is at the Arena on Saturday the 7th. By the time I had Jenny and Helen home and myself as well it was past 1:00, a late NHL playoff game was still going on TV and I was in no mood for bed just yet. That game ended up in triple OT, it actually went longer than our game had and didn't after shortly past 2:00 at which point I could finally call it a night. I slept until almost 10:30 on Friday morning, the late-morning/early-afternoon errand run was the extent of the day's activities. Rain moved into the area overnight and stayed around just about all day and night so it was a miserable day all the way around. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 1-3

Saw where the ballgame on Saturday night ended up going twelve innings, Somerset put up an eight-spot in the twelfth and won it 10-3. On Sunday the new month began cool and rainy, they played an afternoon game at the ballpark but I was not there. I'm well known as a non-fan of day games but had the weather been better I might have gone since we're not into the hot, sticky and humid conditions just yet (once that stuff arrives it's another matter entirely). Monday was another gloomy day with light rain in the area but the evening forecast was somewhat more encouraging, we were at the rink for the start of week #4. In West division play H&F Tire beat the Kings and the Owls defeated the Misfits via overtime shootout, it took the regulation three rounds plus ten more to determine the winner in that game. The night's crossovers saw the Steamers over the Hammerheads and Yorgo's over the Pub Dawgs. Some light mist fell during the latter part of the night but it didn't stop us, it was annoying more than anything else. Steady rain fell overnight into Tuesday, the rest of the day was virtually a rerun of Monday. We played the evening's schedule at the rink without incident, in crossover play the Blues won over the Kings and the Steamers beat the Riot. In West action the Misfits prevailed over the Killbots and the Owls defeated the Pub Dawgs. Once again we had some light precipitation during the late going but we managed to muddle through. The league continues on Thursday but I am absent for playoff hockey in downtown Reading. The Royals split the first two games of their conference semifinal in Wheeling, they lost the opener 4-1 but rebounded with a 4-2 win in game #2. The middle three are at the Arena on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading.