Saturday afternoon at McCaskey for a non-league ballgame at High Noon, Harrisburg made the 40-mile trip southeast from the commonwealth's capital. This game was originally scheduled for April 17 but was changed because of health concerns. The wind was still kicking from the northwest at 15 miles per hour and game time temperature was 57 degrees but the saving grace was we had brilliant sunshine which made it much more comfortable. The Red Tornado came out strong in the first inning and put a five-spot on the board, the rally started with back-to-back walks to Orion Frailey and Yordy Beltre and a base hit by A.J. De Los Santos to load the bases. Consecutive RBI hits from Eliam Santana and Landis Fluck made it 2-0, Kolby Esh reached on an error allowing A.J. and Eliam to score and a wild pitch plated Landis with run #5. The visitors scored twice in the second, in the bottom half JPM replied in kind. Janpaul Rodriguez drew a walk and Frailey was hit by the pitch, they were chased home on Alex Ruiz's two-run double to make it 7-2. Harrisburg posted a run in the third, in the fourth the Good Guys added two more. Frailey was hit by the pitch (again) and Beltre singled, A.J. De Los Santos' groundout scored Frailey and Beltre came home on another wild pitch to put JPM up 9-3. Another three-spot in the sixth put the game away, A.J. reached on an error before Santana and Fluck drew back-to-back walks loading the bases. Kolby Esh reached on an infield hit to score A.J., Braulio Rivera followed with a two-run double giving the Red Tornado a 12-3 lead. Rivera and Rodriguez have largely been JV players but right now they're getting varsity opportunity because some of the regulars are hampered by injury. Harrisburg did not go quietly, they scored three in the seventh but it was nowhere near enough, the final score was 12-6. A.J. pitched six innings for the win, Xavian Padilla and Alex Ruiz finished it up in the seventh. The club stands at 8-8 overall, the final home game is on Wednesday the 5th against Penn Manor. Take care, thanks for reading.
