July 26-29

Monday night at the ballpark but not for the professionals, on this night it was the semifinals of the Midget Division of the annual youth baseball tournament. The tournament started in the mid-1940s under the sponsorship of the local print media, there are three divisions: Midget-Midget (age 12 and under), Junior-Midget (14 and under) and the Midget which has played its championship at the ballpark for several years. The tournament is always booked around available dates when the Barnstormers are out of town, as a rule two of the quarterfinals are played on night #1 with the other half of the bracket the next night, the semifinals and championship follow on nights #3 and #4. This time around all four quarterfinals were played in an eight-hour marathon in the afternoon heat on Saturday from which I was absent. The Junior Tornado was there as the #8 seed, they faced the top seed and saw their season ended by a score of 5-3. For me personally it was fun to be involved with the club, it's something that probably wouldn't have been possible under regular circumstances but I'm glad it happened for one season at least. On Monday night in the semifinal doubleheader Hempfield defeated Donegal in the opener, Lititz eliminated top-seed Ephrata in the nightcap. In the championship game on Tuesday Lititz shut out Hempfield 4-0 to successfully defend the title they had won in 2019. The middle part of the week was quiet but the Stormers are back for a ten-day homestand starting on Friday night. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 23-25

Not a lot happening on Friday since the Barnstormers were on the road, Saturday was a different story. After lunch Jenny and Helen rode back to town with me, the destination was Jenny's friend's house for her oldest daughter's birthday party. Back in June it was the middle daughter's fourth birthday, on this day Ann'Aliyah (the spelling is accurate, it's pronounced "ANN-uh-LEE-uh") turned seven years of age. It was much like Shania's birthday party had been, I suppose there isn't much difference from one children's birthday party to the next. On Sunday we were in Rothsville at Lions Park for street hockey playoff semifinals. During the regular season we allowed players to jump in and play for another team if they were shorthanded but for the playoffs that practice has been outlawed. The league was intended to be for fun first and foremost but if you're going to have playoffs that are meaningful a certain amount of integrity has to be preserved or else it is pointless. During the regular season seventy-one individuals played in the league, twenty-four played for two teams, nine of them played for three and one man completed The Tour by playing for all four. On this day everybody present was right where they were supposed to be, Hillside defeated Township and Warwick won over Ephrata. That sets the schedule for August 1, Township meets Ephrata in the consolation game (for the "bronze medal" if you will) with the championship between Warwick and Hillside following. There is an excellent chance that this league will play another season in the fall, the games will still be on Sundays but we may start earlier in the day so everything is over by 1:00 (all the better for everybody to be home in time for the early pro football games). We'll see what happens. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 19-22

The morning errand run was about all that happened on Monday, with temperatures approaching the 90s there wasn't any big reason to be outside any longer than necessary. On Tuesday evening we were at McCaskey for what was essentially a mini-playoff game, the Junior Tornado hosted Solanco in the final game for both clubs. There are thirteen teams in the league and (to borrow an old expression) the bottom seven in the standings were so close together you could have covered them with a handkerchief. On this night the scenario was simple: a win would keep you alive for a berth in the postseason while a loss would almost certainly end it. It was another hot one, at 6:00 game time it was 87 degrees and partly cloudy with a slight breeze from right to left. Solanco scored first with a single run in the second inning, the JrT matched it in the bottom half when Tobe Kuntz singled and touched home on Braulio Rivera's RBI double. In the fifth Rivera stroked his second double of the night and scored on Alex Ruiz's RBI single giving the JrT the lead. Solanco put a two-out runner on base in the seventh but he was cut down trying to steal for the final out as the JrT held on for the big 2-1 win. Chase Travitz worked six innings for the victory with Alex finishing it for the save (Quick Baseball Trivia: on only one occasion in major league history has a World Series ended on an caught-stealing, it was in 1926 and the baserunner was the legendary Babe Ruth). The club finishes with a 3-3 mark at home and 2-4 on the road, they qualify for the postseason as the #8 seed. On Wednesday we did our usual lunch visit in Quarryville, in the evening I was back on North Prince Street. The High Point Rockers were the last opposing club to visit in 2021, they are in their third year as an Atlantic League franchise. I don't know when monsoon season started around here but it's in full swing, on this night we were hit by a downpour between 6:00 and 6:30 that delayed the start for about fifty minutes. Once the game began the visitors from North Carolina took a 3-0 lead in the third, the Barnstormers scored in the home half on singles from Cleuluis Rondon (run scored) and Alejandro De Aza (RBI). In the fourth Kelly Dugan singled and scored on Anderson De La Rosa's RBI groundout to make it 3-2 but High Point got that run back in the fifth and added two more in the seventh, the final score was 6-2. Francisco Mendoza started for the Stormers and took the loss. The game wound down shortly after 10:30, about twelve hours later the teams were back at it for an 11:00 Camp Kids Day game from which I was absent. This was the last game of a seventeen-day fifteen-game homestand, the Stormers won 6-4 to finish the homestand at 7-8. The ballclub hits the road for a week, they come home on Friday the 30th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 16-18

Friday night at the ballpark for the start of a new series, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs visited for their first appearance in 2021. The Crabs currently rank as the league's fourth-oldest franchise, they began play in Waldorf, MD (about thirty miles southeast of Washington DC) in 2008. In the Friday opener the vistiors went up 2-0 in the second, in the bottom half Alejandro De Aza walked and scored on an RBI double by Nick Shumpert to put the Stormers on the board. The Crabs went ahead 3-1 in the fourth, in the home sixth the Stormers posted three run to take the lead. De Aza singled and scored on Anthony Peroni's RBI double, Shumpert reached on an error and Cleuluis Rondon singled to load the bases. A fielders choice groundball forced Peroni out at home, Melvin Mercedes followed with a base hit plating Shumpert and Rondon making it 4-3 Stormers. In the eighth Kelly Dugan singled and scored on a passed ball to give the Stormers an insurance run which proved important, the Crabs loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth but could score once as the Barnstormers held on just barely for the tough 5-3 win. Dominic DiSabatino earned the victory with Gabriel Moya working out of the ninth-inning jam for the save. On Saturday there were thunderstorms in the forecast, after lunch Jenny and Helen elected to stay home and in hindsight it was a smart decision. I drove through a hard storm on the way home from their place but by 5:30 things were looking good. On this evening the Crabs again took an early 1-0 lead, in the home fourth the Stormers tied it when LeDarious Clark was hit by the pitch and Anderson De La Rosa followed with an RBI double. By this time the skies were getting darker, as the Crabs batted in the fifth it began to rain. As the rain and the wind picked up in intensity the Crabs scored three run in the downpour to go up 4-1. The Stormers were retired in order in the bottom half and by that point the infield was a quagmire, the umpires suspended play and after the required wait time the game was called official. Cody Boydstum started for the Stormers and suffered the tough-luck loss, with it all I was home well before 9:00. The series ended on Sunday afternoon with a Barnstormer win, I was in Rothsville for the final week of the hockey league's regular season. Hillside beat Ephrata and Township won over Warwick, playoff semifinals are on the 25th with the consolation and championship games on August 1. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 15

Back at the ballpark on Thursday night for game #3 between the Revs and Stormers (aka Another Wacky Night in the Atlantic League Of Professional Baseball). York and Lancaster are separated by about thirty miles, the respective counties are separated by the Susquehanna River. Although there has always been a certain rivalry between the cities and the ballclubs (the War Of The Roses and all that other jazz) as a Lancastrian born-and-bred I have never personally viewed the Revs as The Enemy. I've been to the ballpark in York many times, I have friends there and if I lived equally distant from each ballpark I'd probably visit both equally. I've not been to York since September of 2019, hopefully that changes before too long. On this evening in Lancaster Another Wacky Night unfolded as the Barnstormers ran out to a 4-0 lead in the first on a Caleb Gindl solo home run, an Alejandro De Aza RBI single and Anderson De La Rosa's two-run double. The Revolution retaliated with a four-spot of their own in the second on a James Harris RBI hit, a bases-loaded walk to Yan Sanchez (ex-Arizona Diamondback property) and a two-run double from Melky Mesa, Wellington Dotel's solo home run in the third put the Revs up 5-4. The visitors added three in the sixth on a Carlos Castro solo homer and a two-run shot by Josue Herrera to go up 8-4, in the home seventh De Aza's two-run single brought the Stormers back within two. In the eighth Gindl delivered an RBI double to make it 8-7 but in the top of the ninth Mesa went yard to give the Revs an insurance run and a 9-7 lead. The last rounds in the chamber belonged to the Barnstormers with an improbable two-out rally in the bottom half, consecutive base hits from De La Rosa, Nick Shumpert, Cleuluis Rondon and Gindl plated three runs giving the Stormers a incredible 10-9 victory. Each team used five pitchers, Scott Shuman was the winner with Victor Capellan (another former Diamondback property) taking the loss. The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs come to town on Friday night. Take care, thanks for reading

July 12-14

Had my car at the service center on Monday for its annual inspection, I had actually taken it there on Sunday when I came back from Rothsville. I like to arrange for the earliest appointment time and have the car there the night before so they can get to work on it as quickly as possible. On Tuesday night the Junior Tornado played at home for the first time in two weeks, Elizabethtown was the opponent. It was a very warm and uncomfortable evening, game time temperature 89 degrees with a slight breeze coming in from centerfield (and the fact that the ballclub wears BLACK shirts makes me sweat just looking at it). The JrT trailed early 5-0 and eventually fell 7-3, all three runs scoring in different innings with Kye Watson involved in each. In the third he walked and scored on a bases-loaded walk to Cole Hatfield, in the fourth Braulio Rivera singled and scored on Kye's RBI hit, in the seventh Kye walked again and scored on Hatfield's sac fly. Alex Rodriguez started and took the loss with Braulio finishing it in relief. The JrT was scheduled to finish its regular season at home on Wednesday, the game was called off by mutual agreement because of a lack of available players with a makeup date TBA. It's that time of year (family vacations, etc.), the club had played on Tuesday with no subs. Jenny and I had lunch on Wednesday, in the evening (with no game at McCaskey) I was on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers hosted the York Revolution. In the Atlantic League roster movement is a way of life, since we last saw the Revs they have remade a good part of their positional roster much as the Stormers have been searching for reliable talent on the mound. The Revs had won the opening game of the series on Tuesday, on this night the visitors from West Of The River took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by ex-Atlanta Brave property Carlos Castro. In the second J.C. Encarnacion (recently added from the Orioles system) ripped an RBI hit to give the Revs a 2-0 advantage. The Stormers scored in the bottom half on a Cleuluis Rondon RBI double but the Revs got it back in the third on a solo home run from Melky Mesa. James Harris (late of the Oakland As organization) extended the Revs' lead to 5-1 with a two-run homer in the fourth, Caleb Gindl went yard with a man on in the bottom half to draw the Stormers back to within two. In the sixth the Revs went up 7-3 on another RBI double by Castro and a bases-loaded walk to Josue Herrera (another ex-Oriole property), a solo shot by Rondon in the bottom half brought the Stormers back to within 7-4 but there would be no further scoring. Edward Paredes was the winning pitcher for the Revs in relief of starter Johan Lopez (Chicago Cubs organization), Stormers starter Nile Ball (most recently with Gary of the America Association) took the loss. The series concludes on Thursday evening. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 9-11

Friday night at the ballpark for the start of a new series, the Gastonia Honey Hunters were in town for the second of their two visits in 2021. Another late-afternoon thunderstorm with high winds delayed game time until almost 7:30, once it started the Hunters ended it in a big hurry. The visitors from North Carolina scored three in the first, five in the second and four more in the fourth on the way to an 18-2 blowout. The Stormers did not record a base hit until the seventh inning, the two runs came in the ninth on an RBI hit by Trayvon Robinson and an Anderson De La Rosa RBI groundout. Junior Rincon started and took the loss. On Saturday it was Farm Show Night at the ballpark, several area agricultural concerns were represented and there were various farm animals on display on the berm in left field. To our friends in the major metropolitan areas it might not seem like a big deal but agriculture has always been one of Lancaster County's major industries and around here it's taken very seriously. The first three innings of the game itself were a roller-coaster ride worthy of any amusement park in the country. Gastonia led 2-0 in the first, in the bottom half the Stormers tied it on back-to-back bases-loaded walks to Anthony Peroni and Anderson De La Rosa. The Hunters made it 6-2 in the second, Blake Gailen replied with a two-run home run to bring the Stormers within two. Gastonia added two more in the third but the Stormers chipped away on a Nick Shumpert RBI hit and De La Rosa'a sac fly to make it 8-6. Neither team (incredibly) scored in the fourth, in the home fifth the Stormers put together a six-spot. One run scored on a wild pitch, another on an RBI hit by Shumpert, the third on Trayvon Robinson's RBI double and the Big Blow was a three-run bomb to right-center from Alejandro De Aza. Two more were added in the sixth on RBI hits from Cleuluis Rondon (single) and Caleb Gindl (double) making the score 14-8, one final run scored in the eighth on an error. Gastonia scored four cosmetic runs in the ninth but the Stormers prevailed 15-12, Dominic Disabatino worked five innings for the victory. There was a note earlier in the week that in home games the Stormers and their opponents have combined for an average of twenty runs scored per game, all you need to know is the Stormers lead the league in both runs scored and runs allowed. The series ended with a Gastonia win on Sunday, my afternoon was spent at Lions Park in Rothsville. After a week off for the holiday we were back for week #9 of street hockey with Warwick winning over Ephrata and Hillside over Township. The regular season ends on the 18th, we'll have playoffs on the 25th and August 1. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 7-8

I see this is the forty-seventh entry in this blog for 2021, noteworthy only because it's early July and it surpasses the total for all of That Year Which Will Not Be Mentioned. Wednesday evening at the ballpark for game #2 with Lexington, on this night the Barnstormers trailed 8-0 in the fifth and never seriously threatened in a 16-7 loss to the visiting Legends. In the fifth inning Nick Shumpert doubled and scored on Cleuluis Rondon's sac fly, two more were added in the seventh on Blake Allemand's RBI single and a two-run double by Blake Gailen. In the ninth the Stormers put together another three-run inning with one scoring on an error, the second on a Devon Torrence groundout and the last on an RBI hit from LeDarious Clark. Starting pitcher Augie Sylk (former Kansas City Royals property) worked into the seventh inning and took the loss. On Thursday the clubs met in the rubber match and a completely different kind of game unfolded. A quick-hitting storm blew through around 5:45 which delayed the start from 6:30 until 7:10. Lexington took a 3-0 lead in their half of the third, in the bottom half the Stormers scored six runs thanks to an error, a hit batsman, six walks (three of them with the bases loaded) and an Anderson De La Rosa two-run single, the only base hit in the inning. In the fourth Anthony Peroni singled and scored on an error giving the Stormers a 7-3 lead, in the fifth Lexington scored four to tie the game 7-7. It stayed that way until the tenth, after the Legends took a one-run lead the Stormers tied it and then walked it off 10-8 on a two-run shot to right field by Blake Gailen. Former Texas Ranger property Francisco Mendoza started on the hill, Gabriel Moya picked up the win in relief. The ballclub stays home to host Gastonia on the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 5-6

Not much happening on Monday outside of the morning errand run, on Tuesday we had our lunch date in Quarryville a day early. Jenny was coming into town for another babysitting session at her friend's house, she rode in with me in the afternoon. In the evening the Barnstormers returned home from a weekend road trip for the start of a fifteen-game homestand. Thus far the club has played thirty-five games with twenty-three of them on the road, this run at home will (weather-permitting) bring the schedule to a more balanced 27-23 split by the time it ends on the 22nd. On this night the brand-new Lexington Legends visited from the Bluegrass State for the opener of a three-game series. Lexington joined the Atlantic League under the same circumstances as the West Virginia Power, both are former affiliated franchises eliminated as part of minor league baseball's Big Reorganization. The Legends began in 2001 as an affiliate of the Houston Astros, they were more recently associated with the Kansas City Royals. It's interesting to note that the ALPB's North Division consists of the league's four oldest franchises, the South features the four newest (although geography plays a part in it as well). The Kentuckians scored a single run in the top of the first, Caleb Gindl's solo home run in the bottom half evened it at 1-1. The Legends took a 3-1 advantage in the fourth, in the home fifth the Stormers put four on the board. Anderson De La Rosa doubled and scored on an error, Devon Torrence singled and former Atlanta Braves property Nick Shumpert walked. Blake Allemand was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Blake Gailen followed with a two-run single to give the Stormers a 4-3 lead. Trayvon Robinson's RBI hit scoring Allemand extended the lead to two, in the sixth Lexington drew to within 5-4. It stayed right there until the bottom of the eighth when the Stormers seemingly blew the game open. Robinson started it with a walk, singles from Alejandro De Aza and Torrence made it 6-4. Shumpert walked and Cleuluis Rondon followed with a two-run single scoring De Aza and Torrence. LeDarious Clark's base hit loaded the bases, Allemand drew a walk forcing Shumpert home with run #9. Gailen put the capper on an eight-run salvo with a grand-slam over the picnic canopy in right field making it 13-4. The Legends did not go quietly in the ninth, they put a five-spot on the board before Donald Goodson (Northeastern Junior College product) finished it for winning pitcher Cody Boydstun. The series continues on Wednesday and Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 1-4

The second half of 2021 began with rainy conditions in the morning, around 3:30 or so I got word that the evening's ballgame at McCaskey was postponed due to wet grounds and the discouraging forecast. By 5:30 nothing further had transpired, I made my way over to North Prince Street where the Stormers were planning to proceed with the final game of their series with Long Island. With regards to the weather forecast the teams mutually agreed to play a seven-inning game which proved to be a factor in the result. The game started reasonably on time at 6:35 (advertised for 6:30 but baseball games never start on the exact minute), there was some rain during the middle innings but nothing that halted play. Long Island took a 1-0 lead in the first, in the home fourth Kelly Dugan's two-run double scored Blake Gailen and Alejandro De Aza to give the Stormers a 2-1 advantage. In the fifth Melvin Mercedes' two-run single and an RBI hit by De Aza extended the lead to 5-1, in the sixth the Ducks chipped away with a single run to make it 5-2. In the seventh the game fell apart, LI scored four times and left town in the rain with a 6-5 win. Scott Shuman suffered the loss in relief of starter Cody Boydstun. Jenny and I did lunch on Friday which was just as well considering what happened on Saturday. I came out in the morning and discovered my left rear tire flatter than the proverbial pancake. I called a tow truck which arrived within twenty minutes, I was at the tire center shortly before 1:00. The shop steward told me there were four cars ahead of me and it would probably be about a two-hour wait, since the center is just outside the mall I walked across the parking lot and spent about forty-five minutes inside. They got my car into the shop around 3:00 or so, within a half-hour it was ready to go. When I left the house I had only intended to make a brief errand run which was eventually accomplished, the only problem was it took place about four hours later than I figured on. Nobody ever plans on having a flat tire but at least it happened on a day when there was no major business on the schedule. Sunday was a quiet day at home, since it was The Nation's Birthday there was no hockey in Rothsville (a good thing since afternoon temperatures hit the high-80s). Take care, thanks for reading