June 15-16

Dek hockey playoffs continued at Reservoir Park on Thursday evening, the Riot defeated the Misfits to take a 1-0 advantage in the West Finals. The East Finals finally came to a head as the Unilords won over the Steamers to force a fifth and deciding game. Whenever those teams get together it gets very unpredictable, there are certain (for lack of a better term) "combustible elements" involved and on this night the well-stirred pot finally boiled over. One player was ejected and suspended, several others were given major penalties for their lack of discipline and self-control. In theory they could have (and maybe SHOULD have) been suspended as well but it's always better to have a championship decided with the teams playing at reasonably full strength. It all makes for what should be an interesting time when we reconvene on Tuesday the 20th. On Friday the Barnstormers returned home from a week-long road trip, the Long Island Ducks visited for the first time in 2017. The Stormers took the lead with a four-spot in the fourth inning, Rico Noel singled and scored on a Blake Gailen RBI double. Sean Halton's sac fly plated Gailen, K.C. Hobson drew a walk and scored on Garrett Weber's two-run home run to make it 4-0. The Ducks got one back in the fifth, the Stormers matched it in the seventh when Vladimir Frias singled and scored on Noel's RBI double. Long Island scored another single in the eighth, in the bottom half the Barnstormers put it away. Halton started it with a double and Weber followed with a walk, Trayvon Robinson's hit scored Halton. Frias' infield hit loaded the bases, Noel drew a walk to force Weber home to make it 7-2. The Ducks picked up an innocuous run in the ninth as the Barnstormers took it 7-3, Bryan Evans was the winning pitcher with Anthony Carter recording the save. The series continues on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Take care, thanks for reading.