Tuesday night at the ballpark for the start of a new series, the Stormers hosted one of the league's newest teams. The Gastonia (North Carolina) Honey Hunters are one of three new clubs debuting in the Atlantic League, they replace the now-defunct New Britain franchise. Gastonia has a long and decorated history in affiliated minor league baseball, the city last hosted a pro club in 1992 and in recent years a summer college league team has played there. On Tuesday night the opener of the series began forty minutes late thanks to a quick-moving rainstorm, by the time it ended five hours and five minutes later at 12:15am it was beyond description. Any attempt to recap it with any kind of play-by-play would be sheer buffoonery, all you need to know is Gastonia won 16-14 (that is not a misprint). The teams combined to score thirty runs on twenty-nine base hits, the pitching staffs (eight Hunters, five Stormers) issued thirty-five (that's 35) walks and hit three batsmen. The Barnstormers got home runs from former Milwaukee Brewer property Blake Allemand (a solo shot in the second inning), Kelly Dugan (with a runner on in the third) and Trayvon Robinson (with a runner on in the sixth) but it was nowhere near enough, ex-Minnesota Twin property Andro Cutera started and took the loss. On Wednesday in game #2 the Honey Hunters took a 3-0 first-inning lead and were never headed in a 10-3 decision. The Stormers' three runs came in the third on a LeDarious Clark RBI hit and a two-run single from Kelly Dugan, Dominic DiSabatino started on the mound and took the loss. On Thursday night the downbeat continued as Gastonia completed the series sweep with a 16-3 win, the Hunters were up 8-0 in the fourth and the outcome was never really in doubt. The Stormers got RBI hits from Melvin Mercedes and returnee Devon Torrence, the third run scored on a home run by fan favorite Blake Gailen. It was noteworthy because it was Blake's 100th home run as a Barnstormer, he came to Lancaster in 2012 and in-between affiliated assignments has played parts of eight seasons in a Stormer uniform. Starting pitcher Dan Taggart (Adelphi University product) was of record as the Stormers finish the homestand 2-4 and it isn't difficult to pinpoint the problem. The club's ERA ranks last in the league and the staff leads the league in walks and hit batsmen. The ballclub hits the road for a four-city twelve-game road trip, they come home on Friday the 25th. Take care, thanks for reading.
