April 26-30

The weather conditions during the last week of April were like riding in an elevator: up-and-down, Up-And-Down. On Wednesday temperatures were in the low 80s, by Friday we were back in the wind tunnel. Friday was a baseball night at McCaskey, Cedar Crest was the opponent for a divisional game. At first pitch it was 56 degrees and partly cloudy with winds straight out to center at 27 miles per hour, it was very much like the game against Lebanon on the 21st except that this was a 6:30 start. JPM took an early lead in the second when Eliam Santana singled and scored on a double by A.J. De Los Santos, A.J. came home on Kolby Esh's RBI groundout to make it 2-0. CC replied with three in the third and three more in the fourth, in the home fourth the Red Tornado put together a two-out rally. Landis Fluck drew a walk, Kolby followed with a base hit and Albert Rosario walked to load the bases, back-to-back RBI hits from Yordy Beltre and Orion Frailey brought the club to within 6-4. Cedar Crest put it away with a three-run seventh, the final was 9-4. Esh started on the hill and took the decision with Orion working in relief. The overall record drops to 7-8 and it will be a quick turnaround for the ballclub as they play next on Saturday at noon. The wind was whipping all night long, the front of the pavilion behind the plate was a popular spot for spectators since it provided a degree of protection. Being upstairs in the booth afforded me shelter from the wind but since it isn't insulated you still feel the cold. When I got into the car after the game I was glad to be there and when I was home I was even happier. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 23-25

Jenny was in town at her friend's house on Friday morning, I took her home and we had our weekend lunch date. In the evening it was game night at McCaskey, Lampeter-Strasburg made the short into town from the southeastern suburbs. Weather conditions were much more comfortable than Wednesday had been, at 6:30 first pitch it was 64 degrees with clear skies and a prevailing wind from right to left. This was the last of the three home dates against Section Two opponents which by league decree are glorified non-league games since they don't count towards the divisional record. L-S entered as the first-place club in their division and on this night they showed why by scoring six runs in the first three innings and winning it going away 10-1. The lone marker for JPM came in the sixth inning when RayJay Marmolejos walked, advanced to third on an error and scored on A.J. De Los Santos' sacrifice fly. Alex Vine was the starting pitcher and suffered the loss, Kolby Esh and A.J. wrapped it up in relief. The loss ends the club's four-game winning streak and evens the overall record at 6-6. The next home game is set for the last day of the month on Friday the 30th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

April 21-22

The warmer temperatures from the early part of the week disappeared in a big hurry on Wednesday, I was out and about over the lunch hour and drove through a quick-hitting rainstorm that was gone as rapidly as it arrived. When I got home it was ten degrees cooler than it had been an hour before, by 3:00 it was down another five degrees. I went over to McCaskey for the 4:15 ballgame, Lebanon was the opponent for a non-divisional matchup. At game time it was 48 degrees and partly cloudy with a prevailing wind out to left field and a wind-chill factor of 41 degrees. The visitors took a 1-0 first-inning lead, in the home second JPM put three on the board. A.J. De Los Santos started it with a double, Landis Fluck walked and Kolby Esh reached on an error to load the bases. Albert Rosario's two-run single put the Red Tornado on top, RayJay Marmolejos' RBI groundout scored Esh to make it 3-1. Lebanon tied it in the third and took a 4-3 advantage in the fourth, in their half the Red Tornado recorded another three-spot. Esh singled and scored on Yordy Beltre's triple into the gap in right-center to tie it at 4-4. Marmolejos drew a walk and Alex Vine followed with an RBI hit scoring Beltre, a Lebanon error allowed RayJay to walk home with run #6. The ballclub added an insurance run in the sixth on back-to-back hits by Beltre and Marmolejos, the final score was 7-4. Xavian Padilla started and worked into the fourth inning, A.J. picked up the decision in relief. The win is the club's fourth straight and improves the record to 6-5 overall, the next home game is a 6:30 start on Friday the 23rd. As I was walking to my car after the game the wind was still kicking from the northwest, I have to admit that as a spectator I probably wouldn't have been there because it was just flat-out C-O-L-D. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 16-20

Had a haircut appointment on Friday afternoon and got word via e-mail that the Saturday ballgame versus Harrisburg was postponed. Apparently someone on their side got sick and these days that's enough to bring The Entire World to a screeching halt, there was no immediate word on the makeup date. Jenny and I had planned on doing supper after the game on Saturday, we ended up doing lunch as usual instead. Temperatures in the early part of the new week were uncommonly warm for this time of year, I was out and about on Monday and Tuesday without need of any windbreaker or coat of any type. Jenny and her mother had medical appointments in Willow Street on Tuesday morning, the access van took them in and I took them home with our midweek lunch date once again coming a day earlier than usual. Take care, thanks for reading. 

April 14-15

There was some light rain in the area on Wednesday morning but not enough to affect the 4:15 ballgame at McCaskey. At game-time it was mostly cloudy with a breeze from right to left and temperatures right around sixty degrees, the lights were on from the outset thanks to the overcast conditions. Solanco visited from SOuthern LANcaster COunty (the school is in Quarryville, not far from where Jenny and her mother live) for a league crossover game and on this day it was all JPM from the word Go. In the first inning the Red Tornado put together a three-spot, RayJay Marmolejos and Alex Vine began it with back-to-back singles and Alex Ruiz was hit by the pitch to load the bases. Starting pitcher Xavian Padilla drew a walk to force RayJay home with the first run, two batters later Landis Fluck (pronounced "fluke") walked to score Vine with run #2. Ruiz later scored on A.J. De Los Santos sac fly making it 3-0. Yordy Beltre started the second inning with a base hit, Marmolejos and Vine each walked to load the bases. A sac fly from Ruiz scored Beltre, Padilla followed with an RBI hit scoring RayJay to extend the edge to 5-0. In the fourth Padilla walked, Eliam Santana doubled and Fluck was hit by the pitch to load the bases once again. Back-to-back walks to A.J. and Kolby Esh forced in runs #6 and #7, RayJay's two-run double put JPM up 9-0. In the bottom of the sixth the club "walked it off" via the mercy rule when De Los Santos walked and advanced to third on a base hit by Beltre, the relay throw to third was wild allowing A.J. to score the game-ending run. The final score was 10-0 but that was only half the story, lost in the celebration was the fact that Xavian Padilla had very quietly pitched a no-hit no-run game. Over the six innings he worked Xavi struck out two batters and allowed only six baserunners: four reached on fielding errors, another on a fielders choice and another on the only walk he allowed. I don't know the last time a McCaskey pitcher threw a no-hitter (and it still counts even though it was curtailed by the mercy rule) but it's something to be very proud of because it's not something you see every day. The boys are back home on Saturday the 17th straight-up at noon versus Harrisburg. On Wednesday evening Jenny returned home from a two-day baby-sitting stint at her friend's house, we had lunch together on Thursday for the first time in six days, Take care, thanks for reading. 

April 12-13

A band of thunderstorms passed through the area late Sunday night into Monday morning, in the afternoon word came down that the scheduled ballgame at McCaskey was postponed to the next day due to wet grounds. Tuesday dawned bright and clear, the ballgame with Hempfield went off as planned at 4:15 (one of only three "after-school" home games we have). It was an almost perfect day for baseball, game-time temperature was in the low-60s with partly cloudy skies and a slight breeze out to right field. Things started well for JPM, in the first inning RayJay Marmolejos doubled and scored on Alex Ruiz's RBI single. Eliam Santana followed with a double into the gap plating Ruiz to give the Red Tornado a 2-0 lead. Through two innings Hempfield had six baserunners but could not cash in, in the third the roof came crashing down. The visitors sent fourteen batters to the plate and scored ten runs, in the fourth another round of fourteen batters added eight more. The game was ended via the mercy rule after four innings, the final score was 18-2. Orion Frailey started on the hill and took the loss, he was followed in relief by Albert Rosario, A.J. De Los Santos, Alex Ruiz and Kolby Esh. The result finishes the first half of division play with a record of 1-4 and an overall mark of 2-5, the boys are right back at it at home on Wednesday with a crossover game against Solanco. Take care, thanks for reading. 

April 9-11

Jenny had a morning appointment at the health clinic in Quarryville on Friday, when she was done I had lunch with her and her mother a day early because Saturday was a game date at McCaskey. We were at it bright and early, game time on Saturday was at 11:00 for a non-league game with Governor Mifflin. This game was originally set for March 26 but had been postponed on that day due to wet grounds. Mifflin is located in Shillington (a southern suburb of Reading), the school is named in honor of this commonwealth's first governor. Game time temperatures were in the high-50s under cloudy skies with a cool wind blowing in from left field. The club had won a division game on the road on Friday but the momentum did not carry over to this day. In the first inning JPM scratched out a run when Alex Vine walked and scored on a Mifflin error, that 1-0 lead stood up through six innings. In the top of the seventh Mifflin put together a five-spot from which JPM could not recover, the final score was 5-1. Starting pitcher Xavian Padilla took the loss but certainly deserved a better fate, A.J. De Los Santos finished it in relief. The loss drops the club's overall mark to 2-4, the boys stay home for division games on Monday and Wednesday of the new week. Take care, thanks for reading.

April 1-8

The fourth day of April was the Easter holiday, I spent a portion of the day with Jenny and her mother at their place. They had been invited to a relative's house but an illness in the family changed the plans, Helen decided to cook at home and asked me to join them. She made a very good meal of sliced ham, scalloped potatoes and succotash with plenty of it to go around. On Tuesday Jenny was in town for a medical appointment, I took her home and we did our midweek lunch date a day early (we usually do Wednesdays and Saturdays but that's not necessarily etched in stone). On Wednesday it was another baseball night at McCaskey, the Red Tornado hosted Warwick in a divisional game. When I saw we were playing some 6:30 home games early in the season I noted how unusual it was but on this night you couldn't have complained at all, at game time it was seventy degrees with a slight wind blowing in from left field. JPM lost on the road on Monday, on this night the losing streak reached three with an 8-5 loss. The game was eerily similar to the game against Township, Warwick scored seven runs through the first four innings. In the home fourth Xavian Padilla was hit by the pitch, Eliam Santana followed with a base hit. Kolby Esh walked to load the bases, consecutives RBI hits from Yordy Beltre and Alex Ruiz scored Padilla and Santana to make it 7-2. In the fifth Alex Vine and Padilla both reached base as hit batsmen, Santana's second RBI hit plated Alex to bring JPM within four. A.J. De Los Santos was hit by the pitch (!!!) to load the bases, Esh and Beltre followed with consecutive RBI groundouts scoring Padilla and Santana to close to within 7-5. Warwick added an insurance run in the seventh, in the bottom half the first two batters reached base but the rally went nowhere from there. Orion Frailey started on the hill and suffered the loss with Vine, Ruiz and Esh working in relief. The boys play on the road on Friday the 9th, the next home game is the following morning at 11:00 with Governor Mifflin. Take care, thanks for reading.