July 1-3

The second half of 2018 started on a Sunday, with temperatures in the mid-90s and the heat index in triple digits there was absolutely no reason to leave the house. On Monday I had an afternoon dental appointment of my own, just the usual periodic checkup and cleaning (there are better ways to spend an hour). On Tuesday there was baseball on North Prince Street, the Barnstormers were at home for the first time in nine days. The Stormers were eliminated from first-half playoff contention during the road trip, on this night the Road Warriors were the opponent for a makeup doubleheader. This was a twinbill necessitated by a rainout on June 10, the first game got underway at 6:00 in 95-degree heat. The Barnstormers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth, Rico Noel doubled and scored on Ryan Casteel's RBI two-bagger. The Warriors (who are not based in a city called Road) scored two in the fifth, in the bottom half the Stormers matched it on Noel's two-out single scoring Tyler Bortnick and Darian Sandford. In the top of the seventh (the last inning of regulation in a doubleheader game) the Road Warriors tied it setting the stage for extra innings. In the ninth the Stormers loaded the bases with one out, K.C. Hobson's RBI single to right field plated Noel with the winning run as the Home Team prevailed 4-3. Kevin Munson worked the ninth inning and picked up the win in relief of starting pitcher Joe Gardner. I had planned on staying for part of the second game but since extra innings had forced the second game back to a 9:25 start and it was still ridiculously warm I decided to bag it and head home to the air conditioning. In a way I felt badly for those who were required to stay, I lived that life for thirty-five years and I can definitely relate. Take care, thanks for reading.