The fourth day of June was a red-letter day for area baseball fans, for the first time since September of 2019 there was game action at the ballpark on North Prince Street. The Atlantic League Of Professional Baseball began play in 1998 with six teams, a two-team expansion in 2000 grew the league to eight and it's been that way ever since. Franchises have come and gone over the years but two of the constants have been (since 2005) the Lancaster Barnstormers and (since 2007) the York Revolution. On this night the geographic rivals met in the Stormers' home opener. The league schedule had actually started the previous week, both clubs entered with seven games already in the books. Each team's long-standing manager has returned to the dugout, Mark Mason for the Revs and Ross Peoples for the Barnstormers. The pregame ceremonies were the high point of the evening so far as the Stormers were concerned, the Revs scored early and often in a lopsided 18-2 victory. The major factor in this game was Barnstormer pitching, seven pitchers combined to issue seventeen walks and two hit batsmen, ten of those nineteen runners scored and six of them reached with the bases loaded. Returning veteran Melky Mesa had two base hits and five RBI for the Revs, former Cleveland Indians property Nellie Rodriguez hit a three-run homer and ex-St. Louis Cardinal farmhand Edwin Figuera had three hits and two RBI. The Stormers scored both of their run in the fifth inning on RBI hits from returnees Trayvon Robinson and Anderson De La Rosa. The starting pitchers were involved in the decision, returnee Duke Von Schamann for the Revs and former San Diego property Dominic DiSabatino for the Stormers. The series continues with games on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Take care, thanks for reading.
