April 27-30

Another round of rain blew through on Friday morning, the evening's ballgame at McCaskey was postponed and reset for May 1st. Jenny and I had our usual Saturday lunch date, the remainder of the weekend was quiet largely by design. The Atlantic League season started on Thursday with the Barnstormers spending the weekend in York, I was absent on Thursday because of dek hockey, on Friday because I had planned on the game at JPM before the weather hit, on Saturday because it was damp and rainy and on Sunday because it was chilly and windy. The series itself was played in full despite the less-than-ideal conditions, the clubs meet again when the Stormers open at home on May 4. On Sunday evening Don called, the four men selected as captains for our proposed Draft Division were at his place and the draft itself was ready to start. He called back about forty minutes later with the results, the captains (all former members of the now-defunct "upper" teams) were getting word out to their players and the schedule (which I had VERY SMARTLY prepared ahead of time) was made official. The Draft Division is set up exactly as as our recent summer seasons have been, the only difference is that wins and losses matter. Each team plays twelve games with the top two finishers playing for the championship, the season started on Monday with two games. There are forty-eight total players in the division, thirty-six were present which isn't bad for less than twenty-four hours notice. On this night Gold beat Red via OT shootout and White defeated Green, there are single games on the docket for Tuesday and Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 25-26

The rain that moved in on Tuesday night stayed around until Wednesday afternoon, when I got home from lunch with Jenny I got word that McCaskey's ballgame was postponed until Thursday at 4:15. Said news effectively ended the day which was a shame because the weather in late afternoon/early evening was very pleasant. Those conditions were still thankfully in evidence on Thursday afternoon for the makeup game as Conestoga Valley visited for the final division crossover game of the season. In 2016 the ballclub at McCaskey was just 1-19, in 2017 the record improved to 9-11. Thus far in 2018 the club stands at 5-5 in league play and 7-5 overall which put them in the thick of the race for league and/or district playoffs. If the club qualifies for the postseason the game on this day may be remembered as the one that turned momentum for good. CV scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to carry a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh. JPM had been held without a hit through six innings but in the seventh Seth Winters drew a walk and Caleb McFarland was hit by the pitch to put two men on base with two out. Dylan Esh followed with an RBI single (the Red Tornado's first hit of the game) to score Winters, Mason Lee batted next and stroked an RBI hit to plate McFarland with the tying run. In the ninth JPM walked it off on a one-out double by Hunter Lloyd and the game-winning RBI hit from Dylan Esh. Dylan started on the mound and went five innings, he finished the game at shortstop while Noah Bergey (who started at third base) worked the final four to get the win. The game ended around 6:50, I immediately headed for Reservior Park where the night's dek hockey schedule was already underway. Winners on this night included the Owls over the Kings, the Misfits over the Pub Dawgs and the Riot over the Hammerheads. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 23-24

Had lunch with Jenny on Monday morning, we don't usually do Mondays but this was a makeup date since we missed out on Saturday. After supper I went over to the ballpark, the Barnstormers were playing their final preseason game. The opponent was Lancaster Bible College, a well-known local institution founded in 1933. The Stormers unsurprisingly won the game easily but for the college guys it's an opportunity to play a professional team in a professional environment, an experience many of them will enjoy perhaps only once. On Tuesday we began the Spring dek hockey league at Reservoir Park. This is our 78th championship season since we started there in the fall of 1979 and for the first time since that very first season we have just one division. Over the past several years we've had two teams that were heads and shoulders above all others in terms of talent, as a result none of the other teams wanted in their division because the perception (warranted or not) was that they had no chance to win. Although we played a full crossover schedule the two so-called "upper" teams began each season knowing that they would automatically meet for a separate championship while the remaining teams had a true competition for playoff spots and a title of their own. Neither of the "upper" teams has returned for the spring season due to lack of players, the remaining six are now in what we call the "Club Division". Each club plays fifteen games, three against each opponent with games played on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On this night the Misfits beat the Riot, the Owls defeated the Pub Dawgs and the Hammerheads downed the Kings via OT shootout. We played through some light rain in the latter part of the evening but it was nothing that was going to stop us. Plans are in the works for a "Draft Division" which would be set up like our most recent summer leagues with teams formed from individuals who sign up to play, the difference is that players would be allowed to play in both divisions (no crossover play whatsoever) and unlike the summer league a championship would be awarded. Early response to the proposal has been very strong, if all goes well the Draft Division could start in the next week or two. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 21-22

Atlantic League baseball season is just around the corner, on Saturday the Barnstormers held their annual Fanfest at the ballpark on North Prince Street. Stormers manager Ross Peeples is back for his second year as bench boss, Josh Bell is also back as hitting coach. The training camp roster features twelve players who spent time on the club in 2017, they include catcher Anderson De La Rosa, infielders Vladimir Frias and Rico Noel, outfielders Darian Sanford, Trayvon Robinson and Blake Gailen plus pitchers Joe Gardner, Tommy Shirley, Nate Reed, Kevin Munson, John Anderson and Scott Shuman. Infielder Tyler Bortnick and pitcher Matt Reynolds are also back with the club after spending all of the '17 season elsewhere. The Stormers' opponent on this day was a traveling team known as the Black Sox, they are part of a player development organization with the goal of earning opportunities in pro baseball. The season starts on April 26, the Stormers play the first week on the road before opening at home on May 4. On Sunday afternoon I was at the Lancaster Ice Rink for a charity hockey game featuring the Philadelphia Flyers Alumni. Back in November I worked a similar game at the Regency Ice Rink, many of the local players in that game were involved on this day as well and they contacted me about working it. This was the first time I'd been in the LIR in almost five years but not the first time I had announced there. Back in 2013 a friend of mine had a son playing in high school, they played their home games at the LIR and I would go to see them whenever I could. One night the guy who was supposed to announce didn't show up, I was there and stepped in on about ten minutes notice (and it mattered because it was the team's Senior Night with the usual parent introductions, etc.). Several of the Alumni who played in the November game were in the lineup on this day as well, among them were former Flyers Larry Goodenough, Terry Carkner, Riley Cote and Mitch Lamoureux along with Bryan Helmer, Chase Watson and Jeff Corey. They were joined by former Flyer Doug Crossman, one-time Philadelphia Phantom Dave MacIssac, veteran AHL goalie Frederic Cassivi and former pro Rob MacInnis. Popular original Flyer Joe Watson had planned to play but was slowed by injury, he was on the bench as the Alumni's head coach. The Alumni won the game but what mattered most was the money raised for the cause. Jenny and her mother were out of town for the weekend, they were at a family function in Maryland. Jenny called when they got in on Sunday night to let me know they were home safe. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 20

Friday night at McCaskey for the first night game of the season. Some years ago a new concession stand was built in the southwest corner of the football stadium, that required the bordering baseball field to be repositioned with home plate moved forward about ten feet southeast of its former spot. At the same time field lights and a PA system were installed with the second floor of the concession stand becoming the PA booth. When I was in school I was involved with baseball, the thought of a night game at McCaskey at that time was a fantasy. On this night Ephrata was the opponent for another crossover game, at 7:00 first pitch it was 45 degrees with prevailing winds from the west. Ephrata scored single runs in the first and second, in the home second Jonathan Metzler doubled and scored on Noah Bergey's RBI single to put JPM on the board at 2-1. In the third the Red Tornado put together a two-out rally, Alex Dominguez started it with a base hit and Joe Cunningham drew a walk. Metzler's RBI hit scored Dominguez, Bergey followed with a two-run double and scored himself on a throwing error to put JPM up 5-2. Ephrata responded with three in the fourth and one in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. In the bottom of the sixth Evan Proulx and Zach Liss reached on back-to-back singles, Caleb McFarland's RBI hit scored Proulx to knot it at 6-6. Dylan Esh reached on a fielders choice groundout, Mason Lee followed with a two-run double to score Liss and Esh to put JPM back ahead 8-6. Ephrata put up a three-spot of their own in the seventh to go ahead by a run but in the bottom half McCaskey tied it when Proulx walked and scored on a fielding error to make it 9-9. On into extra innings (and deep into the night) we went, in the tenth Ephrata scored twice and the Red Tornado could not reply in their half. The 11-9 loss is hard to swallow because in the Ephrata seventh with two out the man at bat appeared to take a third strike which would have ended the game. The home plate umpire didn't make the call and on the very next pitch the batter had a big hit to continue the inning. Dylan Esh was JPM's starting pitcher, he was followed by Noah Bergey and Alex Dominguez with Alex taking the tough-luck loss. With it all we weren't done until almost 10:30 and I couldn't help but think of the Golden Days in Berks County before it was ruined by ego and arrogance (been there, done that, never going back). The boys have four home games left, the last three of them are 7:00 games. Maybe by them we'll have some warmer weather. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 16-19

Let's get right to the point: hockey season in Reading is over, for the first time since 2011 the Royals were defeated in a best-of-seven playoff series in a four-game sweep. In Game #3 at the Arena on Monday the Royals took three separate one-goal leads thanks to Matt Wilkins, Chris McCarthy and Nolan Zajac, on each occasion Manchester replied in kind. The game (naturally) went into overtime, in the eighteenth minute of extra play the Monarchs netted the winner to take the 4-3 decision and a 3-0 series lead. The End came on Wednesday in game #4, the Royals were held scoreless for the first time at home since January 12 as Manchester won 3-0 to finish the sweep. It was a 1-0 game into the final minute when the Monarchs scored two empty-net goals to make the final score more misleading than it really was. This was probably one of the most competitive four-game sweeps you might ever see, discounting the empty-net scores the Royals lost each game by one goal with three of the losses in overtime. John Muse played the entire series in net for the Royals and could not possibly have been any better, in the minutes-played equivalent of five-and-a-half games he surrendered just eleven goals. The Royals were beaten by a team that played brick-wall defense and got the breaks when it counted, had one bounce here or there at any point gone the Royals way the series could very well have had a different result. It's always sad when a season ends (especially as early as this one did) but October will be here before we know it. On Thursday we were at McCaskey for baseball, the Red Tornado hosted Lampeter-Strasburg in a divisional-crossover game. This game was originally scheduled for Monday the 16th but was rained out, that's twice a game I would have missed for hockey was PPD and reset for a date I was available. At 4:15 game time it was in the mid-40s with the winds howling from the northwest at better than twenty miles per hour, being in the PA booth affords me some comfort for being inside out of the wind but the fact that it is not insulated means it's still COLD. In the first inning Dylan Esh and Mason Lee reached on base hits. Alex Dominguez's RBI single scored Esh and Joe Cunningham followed with a sacrifice fly RBI plating Lee to give JPM a 2-0 lead. L-S went up 3-2 in the third, in the home fourth Noah Bergey doubled and came home on Esh's RBI hit to tie it 3-3. In the fifth Dominguez doubled and scored on Seth Winters' RBI single to put JPM up for good, the final score 4-3. Winters started on the mound and worked into the seventh inning picking up the win with last-out relief from Dylan Esh. The boys stay home to host Ephrata on Friday at 7:00 (bring the extra blankets and the hot chocolate). Take care, thanks for reading.

April 11-15

Wednesday lunch with Jenny as is per usual, at 4:15 we were back at McCaskey for the third consecutive day. The league schedule is generally a Monday-Wednesday-Friday pattern but weather has played hell with the routine, JPM has already had three postponements. The weather was similar to Tuesday: chilly and windy but at least we were playing under clear skies and sunshine. Warwick was the opponent for a divisional matchup. after two straight losses the Red Tornado rebounded with an important victory. In the first inning Dylan Esh started things with a base hit and Mason Lee was hit by the pitch, they both scored on a Warwick fielding error to put JPM up 2-0. Warwick scored single runs in the third and fourth to tie the score, in the bottom of the fourth JPM put together a two-run rally to retake the lead. Noah Bergey singled and Evan Proulx was hit by the pitch (if that sounds familiar refer to the first inning), Lee's RBI double scored Bergey with the lead run, Proulx came home on a wild pitch to put the Red Tornado ahead 4-2. The roller-coaster ride continued with Warwick scoring two in the fifth, in the bottom of the sixth JPM went ahead for good when Caleb McFarland walked and scored on Esh's RBI double into the gap. Seth Winters started on the mound and went five innings, Alex Dominguez worked the last two and retired all six batters he faced to pick up the win in relief. The rest of the week was uneventful except for lunch with Jenny on Saturday, temperatures over the weekend incredibly reached into the high-80s. Earlier in the week we were playing baseball in snow flurries and frigid wind, five days later it felt like the middle of July rather than April. The Royals played the first two games of their playoff series in Manchester over the weekend and on both occasions the script was eerily familiar. In game #1 the Royals lost in double overtime 3-2, in game #2 they lost (again) in double overtime (again) 3-2 (again). In the first game the Royals scored the apparent OT winner which was called back on goaltender interference, in game #2 Manchester's OT winner was by all accounts scored under very similar circumstances and was allowed to stand. The series comes to the Arena for games on the 16th, 18th and 19th (if needed). Take care, thanks for reading.

April 10

The miserable weather from Monday was long gone on Tuesday, in the afternoon we were back at McCaskey for game #2 of our mini-homestand. This was the makeup game from April 4 which I would have missed, the postponement that day allowed me to get it back (although I lose the game on the 16th I could have worked because of playoff hockey in Reading: easy come, easy go). At 4:15 game time it was chilly and windy but the difference as opposed to Monday was that we had clear and sunny skies with no snow flurries in sight. Cedar Crest was the opponent and for a second straight day the Red Tornado fell behind early as CC scored single runs in the first and second innings. In their half JPM got on the board, Jonathan Metzler singled and scored on a Seth Winters RBI groundout to make it 2-1. In the visiting fourth Crest put five on the board, the Red Tornado picked up a single in the bottom half when Dylan Esh was hit by the pitch and scored on Noah Bergey's RBI groundout. A two-run fifth for Cedar Crest made it 9-2 but JPM battled back in their half. Caleb McFarland and Mason Lee started the rally with back-to-back base hits, Evan Proulx walked to load the bases. Alex Dominguez's two-run double scored McFarland and Lee, Esh followed with another walk to reload the bases. Proulx scored the inning's third run on a double-play grounder (no RBI), after five it was 9-5 CC. In the seventh Crest added four runs and it looked like the issue might finally be decided but the Red Tornado simply refused to go quietly. Proulx started the home seventh with a base hit, Dominguez followed with a single, after Esh flied out Metzler's RBI hit scored Proulx to make it 13-6. Bergey was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Winters followed with a double into the gap to score Dominguez and Metzler. Alex Polito walked to reload the bases, McFarland picked up an RBI on a fielders choice grounder when Bergey beat the throw to home plate. Winters scored on a wild pitch to make it 13-10, Lee kept the line moving with another walk to reload the bases with one out. Proulx struck out for the second out, Dominguez was hit by the pitch to force home Polito. Esh popped out in foul territory for the final out as the six-run inning brought the final to 13-11. Esh started on the mound and took the loss with relief support from Bergey and Metzler. On the one hand the club gave up thirteen runs for a second straight day which is not encouraging but on the other hand the guys never gave up and battled to the last out. The club stays home for a date with Warwick on Wednesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 9

Had my taxes done on Monday morning, I could have had it done much earlier but since my mother no longer drives we decided to go at the same time (and of course she was waiting for that phantom receipt that was allegedly mailed yet somehow never showed up). It was a cold and windy day, not the sort of day one would associate with baseball but later in the afternoon I was at McCaskey for the first of three straight scheduled home dates. When I left the house at 3:00 it was beginning to flurry, by 4:15 game time it looked like someone shook one those holiday snow globes (it was dark enough that the field lights were on from the outset). Between the 40-degree temperature, the sharp wind from the west and the snow flurries it was a day good for little else but staying inside but the game started on time and went without interruption until it was completed. Unfortunately for JPM the completion came about as a result of the mercy rule, visiting Manheim Township scored early and often and won it going away 13-1. The lone run for the Red Tornado came in the second inning, Noah Bergey singled and scored on a Caleb McFarland RBI groundout. Evan Proulx was the starting pitcher, he was followed in relief by Nate Santiago and Hunter Lloyd. Cedar Crest visits for a makeup game on Tuesday followed by Warwick for a regular-schedule Wednesday game. When the game ended I didn't have the opportunity to go home immediately, I cranked up the heat in the car as I drove to the dek hockey rink at Reservior Park. We had our Spring League organizational meeting at 7:00 with just about all of the usual suspects in attendance, the season should start the week of the 23rd if all goes as planned. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 7-8

Saturday night hockey at the Arena for the final game of the '17-18 regular season, the Norfolk Admirals were in town for their first and only appearance of the year. The Ads are out of the playoff running so for them it was THE last game, for the Royals it was a chance to solidify their position for the postseason. Before the game we observed a moment of silence in honor of the Humboldt Broncos, the junior league team in Saskatchewan recently involved in a tragic bus accident where sixteen lives were lost. Matt Willows gave the Royals a 1-0 lead late in the first period, early in the second Chris McCarthy upped the advantage to two. Norfolk replied quickly with a marker of their own, at the second intermission it was 2-1 Royals. Midway through the third Steven Swavely made it 3-1 but the Ads (playing for nothing but personal and professional pride) battled back to within one. Thirty seconds later newcomer Jack Riley scored his second goal as a pro, he joined the Royals in mid-March from Mercyhurst University where he was team captain. Riley comes from a hockey family, his father is the head coach at Army-West Point and his grandfather coached the gold medal-winning USA hockey team at the 1960 Olympics. Norfolk pulled the goaltender in the closing moments for an extra attacker, Matt Wilkins' score into the empty net put the wrap on a 5-2 Royals win. The guys on the ice all surrounded Wilkins in celebration of his goal, it was his 20th of the season allowing him to join Willows, McCarthy and Michael Huntebrinker in the 20-goal club. Mark Dekanich got the win in net as the club closes at 39-24-9 overall, 24-10-2 at home and 15-14-7 on the road. The Royals finish in third place in a very tough division and meet the Manchester Monarchs in the first round of the playoffs beginning on the 13th in Manchester. The top four finishers in our division were separated by a mere seven points, Adirondack placed first with 89, Manchester 88, the Royals 87 and Worcester 82. By comparsion the spread from first to fourth in the league's other three divisions were by 26, 27 and 43 points. The winner (or maybe I should say survivor) of our series meets the Worcester-Adirondack winner in the second round but that's a long way off. The immediate concern is the Monarchs in a best-of-seven, the format is 2-3-2 with games at the Arena on the 16th, 18th and 19th if needed. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 5-6

Sometimes things happen that are simply so incredibly stupid you can do no more but shake your head at the ineptitude. It's the kind of stuff you could send to a well-known newspaper feature and they would return it saying "We Don't Believe It". Several months ago my mother paid a tax bill for which she was told she'd receive a receipt in the mail. She was getting her information together recently to have her taxes done and realized she never got the receipt. Since it was a school-related tax I decided to call the athletic office at McCaskey and speak to the secretary, her name is Wanda and I've known her since she came to JPM in 2015. I explained the case and that I knew it wasn't necessarily her bailiwick but maybe she would know who I could contact in this matter, she suggested I call the school district's business office. They told me that the billing for this tax had been outsourced to an independent agency, they gave me the number and I called them. They said they could mail a copy of the receipt and my mother would have it in about a week, since this was April 5th and the tax deadline is on the 15th I can see where that could be a problem. I asked if I could come to their office and get it in person and they said that would work, the only problem is that the nearest office is in Exton, about forty miles east of Lancaster. I immediately got into the car and made the trip, since there was nothing else going on and my mother was at her wit's end I figured to get it taken care of once and for all. Luckily I had a fair idea of where I was going, all I had to do was pinpoint the exact address. It's been quite a while since I was in that area but I'm reasonably familiar with it from passing through on trips to Philadelphia when I was younger. I have to give them credit, when I arrived they had it ready to go so I was only there for about three minutes. With it all I was gone about two hours or so, the drive back was a little longer with the later afternoon traffic figured in. They say all's well that ends well but the fact that I had to pull teeth to get something that was supposed to be delivered months ago is a wonderful example of corporate bungling at its finest. The Royals finished the road portion of the regular-season schedule with a win Norfolk on Friday evening, the clubs meet at the arena on Saturday night. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 1-4

The new month began on a Sunday, the next day saw a rare April snowfall. I was awake around 5:30 or so for a nature call and I saw the snow falling, at that point it looked like something that might be plowable. By the time I was up for good it was all over and melting down quickly, the morning drive was of no issue at all. The weather forced postponement of McCaskey's baseball game, they were scheduled for a Monday road game that was reset for Thursday the 5th. Tuesday was another dreary day with rain in the area, on Wednesday Jenny and her mother were in town for a morning appointment. By all accounts Helen is feeling no ill effects from her episode from the previous week, we did our usual lunch date and came back to my place since it was a hockey night in Reading. Found out in the afternoon that McCaskey's home ballgame (which I would have missed because of hockey) was called due to wet grounds and rescheduled for Tuesday the 10th. That sets up a three-in-three at home for the club since they are already playing at home on the 9th and 11th but for me it's good because I should be available to work it. In the evening we were at the Arena for the Royals' next-to-last home game, the Worcester Railers were the opponent for the last of their eight appearances. The Railers have been on a good roll lately, they are in contention for a playoff berth after being way behind as recently as a month ago. On this night Worcester prevailed in overtime 2-1, the lone score for the Royals came courtesy of Steven Swavely as Branden Komm took the loss in net. Despite the loss the Royals gain a valuable standings point as they solidify their playoff position, the record sits at 37-24-9 and 23-10-2 at the Arena. The boys finish the regular season with a home-and-home set versus the Norfolk Admirals, Friday in Virginia and Saturday back at home. Take care, thanks for reading.