May 17-19

Friday night at the ballpark for the first time since opening weekend, the Barnstormers hosted the Somerset Patriots for the first of a four-game series. The Atlantic League began in 1998 with six teams and expanded to eight in 2000, the Patriots (based in Bridgewater, New Jersey) are the last "original six" franchise still active. On this night Somerset scored three in the fourth and one in the sixth, the only runs for the Stormers came on a Caleb Gindl two-run home run in the seventh. Jake McCasland started and took the 4-2 loss. On Saturday Jenny and her mother were in town for the first time since my mother came home, she had talked about coming downstairs and sitting there for a while but didn't feel up to it. In a way I don't like leaving her at home alone when I leave the house but as long as I make sure she has whatever she might need in terms of nourishment everything should be OK because whatever else she might require is upstairs within reach. At the ballpark in the evening the Stormers finally broke out offensively as they built a big lead through four innings and won going away 10-3. In the third Caleb Gindl tripled and scored on Joe Terdoslavich's RBI single, in the fourth Anderson De La Rosa doubled and moved to third on an infield hit by Darian Sandford. Ex-bigleaguer Michael Martinez (who played for the Phillies from 2011 to 2013) drew a walk, ball four was a wild pitch allowing De La Rosa to score making it 2-0. Dan Gamache's RBI hit plated Sandford, a sac fly by Gindl scored Martinez to up the lead to four. Terdoslavich reached on a base hit and Josh Bell walked to load the bases, K.C. Hobson followed with a grand slam onto the pavilion in right field to break it open at 8-0. The Patriots chipped away with two in the fifth and a single run in the seventh but Caleb Gindl's two-run shot in the eighth put the cap on the win, starting pitcher Kyle Davies (ex-MLBer with Atlanta and Kansas City) worked seven innings for the win. When we arrived at Jenny's house she called my mother to let her know I was on my way back, when I got home everything was in good order. Sunday was my typical "personal" day at home, at the ballpark they played a doubleheader necessitated by a earlier rainout in Bridgewater. The good times did not last for the Stormers as the Pats took both ends and left town with three wins on the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.