April 30

Tuesday was the red-letter day for my mother, after six weeks at The Hotel she came home. We were leaving during the lunch period, as we were walking by the dining area many of the other residents and several of the staff took the opportunity to say their goodbyes. When we got home she paused to sit in the living room for a few moments of rest and then made her way upstairs. Right now she is very weak and frail from her inability to eat any solid food, I told her the only way she uses the steps is with me present and watching her all the way. I rearranged her bedroom to make space for her recliner from the living room and installed a television, since the only bathroom in the house is upstairs she should not need to be downstairs unless absolutely necessary. I can make sure she gets her medications and nourishment at the proper times and if I'm going to be away in the evening (as I was on this night) I can pack a cold bag with whatever she might need while I'm gone. It will be a work in progress but we'll make it happen one way or another. After supper I was out for the evening, the first stop was McCaskey for the rescheduled game from the 26th. Cedar Crest was the opponent, they scored a single run in the first but JPM answered with three in the bottom half. Dylan Esh and Alex Ruiz started it with back-to-back base hits, after two were out consecutive RBI singles by Hunter Lloyd, Dinzey Feliz and Mason Lee gave the Red Tornado a 3-1 lead. In the second CC put four on the board, in the bottom of the inning Alex Vine and Dylan Esh reached on base hits and scored on Alex Dominguez's two-run single to knot the game at 5-5. The deadlock was broken in the sixth, Cedar Crest put together another four-spot and held on for the 9-5 win. Even Proulx started on the hill for JPM, A.J. De Los Santos suffered the loss in relief. The game ended around 8:40, I immediately went to the rink for what remained of the night's dek hockey schedule. The third game was just ending as I arrived, winners included the Tradesmen over the Owls, Risky Business over the Express, the Misfits over the Knights and the Hammerheads over the Pub Dawgs (the last two in OT shootout). I was home shortly after 10:00, my mother was upstairs watching TV and everything was OK. So far, so good. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 29

Monday morning at The Hotel, I loaded some non-essential items into the car to bring home in advance of my mother's impending return. I'm not entirely convinced she should come home so soon but it's what she wants, the people in charge at The Hotel aren't voicing any objections and I trust their judgment because it's their business. After supper I was at McCaskey for the first of three consecutive nights of baseball. Warwick visited for a 6:30 start, on this night the game stayed scoreless into the bottom of the fifth. Dylan Esh started the inning with a walk, Alex Ruiz singled to put runners on first and second. Alex Dominguez's RBI double scored Esh and moved Ruiz to third, Alex Polito followed with a sac fly RBI to put JPM up 2-0. Warwick got one back in the sixth and had two men on base in the seventh but the Red Tornado held on for the tough 2-1 win. Alex Vine was the starting pitcher and worked into the fifth before tiring, Dylan took over from there and picked up the win in relief. The boys are back at it on Tuesday for the makeup from the 26th and Wednesday as originally scheduled. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 26-28

It was dark and rainy on Friday morning, I made my errand run and stopped in at The Hotel. In the afternoon word came down that the scheduled 6:30 ballgame at McCaskey had been called and reset for Tuesday the 30th. They have tarps for the pitcher's mound, home plate and the three bases but the rest of the infield is exposed and takes a beating from the rain. At the professional level the budgets are more extensive, as the rain ended later in the afternoon the full infield tarpaulin at the ballpark on North Prince Street allowed the Barnstormers' 15th home opener to go on as scheduled. I of course had not planned to being in attendance but sometimes things work out that way. On this night the game-time temperature was in the high-50s but the wind howling in from left field made it feel much colder. The High Point Rockers were the opponent, the league's newest team playing the first game in their franchise history. In the Stormers half of the third Darian Sandford drew a walk followed by base hits from newcomer Dan Gamache (from the Washington Nationals organization) and returnee Caleb Gindl to load the bases with nobody out. Joe Terdoslavich (back with the club after spending the second half of 2018 in the NY Mets system) grounded into a double play scoring Sandford to give the home team a 1-0 lead. That would be the only score for the Barnstormers as the Rockers tallied two in the fourth, one in the seventh and four more in the eighth for a 7-1 win. Veteran returnee Jonathan Albaladejo (who is also serving as the club's pitching coach) started for the Stormers and took the loss. On Saturday we did our usual lunch in Quarryville, in the afternoon Jenny and Helen made what should be their last visit to The Hotel. In the evening they made their season debut at the ballpark for game #2 with High Point. On this night the Rockers came out rolling. by the middle of the sixth the Barnstormers were trailing 8-0. Dan Gamache doubled and scored on Caleb Gindl's RBI hit in the sixth to get the Stormers on the board, in the ninth a five-run uprising made the game a seat-squirmer. Player-coach Josh Bell started it with a walk, local product Zach Shank (graduate of Warwick HS in Lititz) singled and newcomer Parker Morin (from the KC Royals chain) walked to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by newcomer Melvin Mercedes (Oakland A's) scored Bell to make it 8-2, Gamache followed with a two-run double scoring Shank and Morin, Gindl batted next and went yard to right-center to bring the Stormers to within 8-6. The High Point bullpen held on from there to claim victory, Stormers starter Jake McCasland (from the SF Giants system) was the pitcher of record. The Stormers salvaged the finale on Sunday but I was absent taking a personal day at home. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 22-25

Monday evening at McCaskey for the first night game of the season, Elizabethtown visited for a division-crossover game starting at 6:30. Offensive highlights were in short supply for both teams on this night as the Red Tornado eked out a 1-0 win. In the home half of the third Dylan Esh singled and was forced out at second on Alex Ruiz's fielders-choice ground ball. Alex Dominguez drew a walk to put runners at first and second, Alex Polito's RBI single plated Ruiz with the lone run of the night. Dylan started on the mound and went all the way on a four-hit shutout, he struck out seven and walked none. Tuesday was a day for the books in more ways than one. My mother had an eye appointment in the morning at 10:30, at 3:00 she saw the throat doctor and of course all of this was booked in before we knew that the dek hockey season was starting that night. We got lucky in that the throat doctor had her in virtually on time and out by 3:30, by the time we got back to The Hotel and I was at home I had about forty minutes to relax and eat supper. At Reservoir Park we started at 6:15 and played four games, winners included Risky Business over the Pub Dawgs, the Knights (formerly the Riot) over the Express, the Misfits over the Owls and the Tradesmen (new squad) over the Hammerheads. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our midweek lunch visit, after that I stopped in at The Hotel and from there I spent the rest of the day at home relaxing doing absolutely nothing and enjoying every last minute of it. There was rain forecast for Thursday afternoon, we had some hard rain around 3:30 but by 5:00 it was all but out of the area. Night #2 of dek hockey went on as scheduled, the Owls beat the Hammerheads via OT shootout, the Express defeated the Misfits, the Pub Dawgs upended the Knights and the Tradesmen outlasted Risky Business. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 18-21

Not much going on Thursday and Friday outside of the typical errand runs and visits to The Hotel. My mother's time there is scheduled to end on the 30th, if things work out the right way she'll be going home. She claims her back and ribcage area is feeling much better and her overall attitude seems much improved, as long as she continues on the right path we can't ask for much more. Don and I firmed up the spring dek hockey league format, we have eight teams (all seven from the fall season plus one new squad). Everybody plays everyone else twice, games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning on the 23rd with Mondays open for makeups. On Saturday the Barnstormers held their annual Fanfest with an exhibition game against the Black Sox, a traveling independent team that serves as a training ground for aspiring professionals. Jenny and her mother missed out on Fanfest in 2018 because of a family event but they were in attendance on this day. The Stormers host the High Point (North Carolina) Rockers in the home opening weekend, the Rockers are the league's newest franchise and effectively replace the now-defunct Bridgeport Bluefish who dropped out after the 2017 season (the Atlantic League Road Warriors kept the seat warm in '18). After the ballgame we checked in at The Hotel and from there we had our usual lunch during the supper hour. Sunday was my typical "personal" day, I went to the rink in the afternoon and did some preliminary work for the start of the season. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 15-17

They say you're never too old to learn something and the early part of the week gave me a chance to prove it. I was contacted recently by Jon Mitchell at McCaskey, the young lady who does the PA for track and field was going out of town and he asked me to sit in for two meets in her absence. My knowledge of track and field is absolute zero but I took him up on it, I worked a varsity meet against Penn Manor on Monday and a freshmen meet against Warwick on Tuesday. It was a matter of announcing the start of each event, the results as they were given to me and recording them in the official scorebook, the scoring system is relatively easy once you get the hang of it. I'll admit I winged the PA part of it just about all the way through but those who commented said I did a good job. I guess it proves another old axiom I know: when in doubt FAKE IT BABY FAKE IT. On Wednesday Jenny and I did midweek lunch, on the way home I checked in with my mother at The Hotel. After supper I went over to the ballpark on North Prince Street, the Barnstormers hosted Lancaster Bible College for an exhibition game. The Stormers opened training camp on Monday, manager Ross Peeples has thirteen players in camp who have played for the club previously. The ballclub opens its fifteenth season in the Atlantic League on April 26. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 11-14

Thursday evening at Reservoir Park for the dek hockey league's organizational meeting, if all goes as planned we'll start the week of the 22nd. Friday was another dank and dreary day, there was some rain early in the afternoon but the ballgame at McCaskey went on as scheduled. Lebanon was the opponent for another divisional crossover, before the game their coach was telling me that he was missing three starters due to injury and he had only ten in uniform. The game was decided very quickly, JPM won via the mercy rule 12-0. The guys scored three in the first, added six in the second and tacked on three in the third, they had only nine hits but took advantage of four walks, three hit batsmen, three wild pitches and two fielding errors. On one hand you have to feel badly for a shorthanded opponent but on the other hand this is the kind of game you have to win if you consider yourself a contender.  Alex Polito had a big day with a hit, two runs and three RBI, Alex Ruiz had two hits, scored twice and picked up a ribbie. Hunter Lloyd had two hits and scored two runs, Alex Dominguez had a base hit and touched home three times. Dylan Esh registered a hit, a run and an RBI, Alex Vine singled once and scored twice. James Silfies and Noah Raymond got into the fun with an RBI apiece and Mason Lee had a base hit. Dylan started on the mound and worked all five innings, that gives him credit for two complete games for the week (although both came under unusual circumstances). Heavy rain moved through the area overnight into Saturday but it was gone by morning, at 11:00 we were back at the ballfield. Central Dauphin East visited from suburban Harrisburg for a game rescheduled from March 25, the field wasn't in prime condition but the band played on. JPM went up 1-0 in the first on back-to-back doubles from Alex Ruiz and Alex Dominguez, in the third Dylan Esh singled and scored on Ruiz's RBI hit. Two batters later Mason Lee was hit by the pitch, he and Ruiz would touch down on James Silfies' two-run single to make it 4-0. CDE scored twice in the sixth but could come no closer, A.J. De Los Santos pitched into the seventh inning for the win with Alex Dominguez picking up a two-out save. The club hits the midpoint of its season at 4-6, the next home game is on Monday the 22nd. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 8-10

Had my mother's taxes done on Monday morning, I had done mine the week before but waited for hers until I was sure they could be handled in her absence (I have her POA but I still wanted to make sure there would be no mistakes). On Tuesday afternoon I had her to a dietitian appointment as ordered by her family doctor, ever since she went to The Hotel her appetite has been non-existent and the throat irritation hasn't helped matters. She was given dietary suggestions, most of it is liquid because that's about all she can handle right now. As soon as she was done I got her back to The Hotel and from there I was at McCaskey. This was the resumption of the suspended game from the 5th, I found out about it on Monday afternoon (obviously my mother's appointment was booked way before any of this happened). When we resumed in the bottom of the fourth JPM trailed 2-1 and had two on base with one out but could do nothing with it, in the sixth Hempfield added two runs and won it 4-1. Dylan Esh had started the game on Friday, he picked it up on regular rest and ended up pitching a complete game the hard way. We started at 4:15 and were done at 5:00, the whole thing took forty-five minutes. On Wednesday Jenny was in Willow Street for an appointment of her own, after we had lunch I was back in town quickly because it was another game day at JPM. This was a scheduled crossover game against Section II, Solanco was the opponent. The Red Tornado trailed 2-0 in the second, back-to back doubles by James Silfies and Seth Winters put JPM on the board. SLC picked up a run in the third, in the bottom half Alex Polito's out-of-the-park solo home run brought JPM within 3-2 (the ballfield at McCaskey is very spacious as high school fields go, if you hit one over the fence there you've accomplished something). Solanco put the game to bed with a three-run seventh inning, Seth Winters started on the mound and took the 6-2 loss. The boys play at home again on Friday the 12th (scheduled) and Saturday the 13th (makeup game). Take care, thanks for reading.

April 6-7

Called the hospital on Saturday morning, Helen was still there. I went over and was told she would be discharged in early afternoon. I brought Jenny into town and took her to the hospital so they could be together, from there I went to The Hotel for about an hour to check on my mother. Around 1:30 I was back across town where Helen and Jenny were waiting, we had a quick lunch and came back to my place. Helen said they couldn't figure out what the problem was but she's had these episodes before. I wouldn't have blamed her had she chosen not to go the game but she felt up to it, at 4:00 we headed north on 222 for what was to prove to be the final night of ice hockey season at the Arena. The Royals had to win their game and get help in order to qualify for playoffs, they held up their end with a victory over Adirondack but the outside help failed to materialize. The boys fell behind early 2-0 before Michael Huntebrinker lit the lamp but another ADK tally made it 3-1 Thunder after one. Brayden Low scored in the opening seconds of the second period to bring the Royals within one, midway through the frame Steven Swavely (back from the AHL Phantoms) and Tyler Brown went back-to-back twelve seconds apart to give the club the lead. Chris McCarthy's empty-netter in the closing moments put the exclamation point on a 5-3 win, Jamie Philips was the goaltender of record. The final mark: 34-28-10 overall, 16-15-5 at home. On New Years Day the club was 15-9-7 but they struggled badly in January and February at 8-14-2. The ship was righted in March and April with an 11-5-1 mark including a 7-0-1 record in the final eight games but there was too much ground to make up and they simply ran out of time. It's the first season since 2008-09 that the franchise misses the postseason (and that year there was no question about it, we had the worst record in the league).Forty-six players made an appearance for the club including eight goaltenders. The end of the season is always a sad time but October will be here before you know it. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 1-5

The new month began on Monday, I had my mother at doctor appointments on that day and Thursday. On Wednesday Jenny and I had our midweek lunch, in the evening the McCaskey boys basketball program had its end-of-season banquet. Freddy had mentioned it to me back in February, he asked me to be sure to keep April 3 open on my calendar. All the members of the varsity and JV teams were recognized along with the ninth-grade team. I was sitting with Gloria (Coach Powell's widow who I've known for thirty years), she was called forward for recognition and became very emotional when she was presented with a framed photograph of her husband. I was singled out as well, they said I didn't have to say anything unless I wanted to and I pointed out that I'm most accustomed to speaking when my audience is looking in the other direction. On Friday there was rain in the forcast, I was at The Hotel in the morning and by early afternoon the predicted rainfall had arrived. There was a ballgame at McCaskey at 4:15, by 2:45 there was no word on a postponement so I made my way to the ballfield. It was still raining at game time and it never stopped the entire time we were there, visiting Hempfield took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. The Red Tornado got on the board in the third, Mason Lee singled and scored on Alex Ruiz's fielders choice groundout. In the fourth JPM had two men on with one out when the umpires conferred with both coaches and called a halt to play. Conditions were deteriorating badly and there's no question they made the right call, one can only wonder why (given the forecast) the game was ever started. We'll get word eventually on whether the game is considered suspended or wiped out completely, the next home game is on Wednesday the 10th. When I got home there was a phone message from Jenny, her mother took ill and was in the ER here in town. Helen has had heart trouble and has an occasional hiccup ever now and then, hopefully this is one of those. We'll know more on Saturday morning. Take care, thanks for reading.