September 18-20

We had planned on starting the Fall dek hockey season by mid-September but everything is on hold for the time being. Work is underway and ongoing involving rink repairs to dasherboards, the team benches and the penalty bench. When the rink was built in 1979 there was no shelter of any kind at the benches or the penalty box, in 2002 they were rebuilt with walls, roofing and floors elevated several inches from the ground. Over time they have decayed badly and the appropriate repairs are being made, exactly when the league will start is up in the air. I was at the rink after supper on Monday and Tuesday helping out as best as I could but I freely admit I'm not much of a handyman, I'd have trouble nailing two boards together. On Wednesday I made a late-afternoon drive west across the river for game #1 of the Atlantic League playoff series in York, the Revolution hosting Southern Maryland. The home team took an early 1-0 lead in the first, Alonzo Harris singled and scored on an RBI triple by Rubi Silva. In the second the Revs added two more: Isaias Tejeda walked to start the inning, Travis Witherspoon doubled him to third and Ryan Dent was hit by the pitch to load the bases. A sac fly by Harris plated Tejeda, Jared Mitchell's RBI single scored Witherspoon to make it 3-0. The Blue Crabs picked up a run in the fourth, a two-spot in the eighth tied the score and set the stage for extra innings. In the home tenth Silva doubled with two out, Telvin Nash followed with a two-run shot to left-center giving the Revs the 5-3 walk-off win and a 1-0 lead in the series. Rev starter Jay Gause pitched six innings of two-hit ball but wasn't around at the end, reliever Grant Sides (who began the season in the Arizona Diamondbacks system) worked a spotless top of the tenth and took the decision. Game #2 is in York on Thursday with the series shifting to Waldorf for the duration on Friday. Take care, thanks for reading.