Back at the ballpark on Saturday night for game #2 with Southern Maryland, Jenny and Helen came into town for their second game of the season. They like to do Saturday games but a lot of it depends on the weather, on this night it was warm but very comfortable with some cloud cover and a good breeze from the south. Talked with Stormers broadcaster and longtime friend Dave Collins before the game, he noted that Ross Peeples' ejection on Friday was his first-ever as a Barnstormer in any capacity (and both Ross and Dave have been in the organization since it started in 2005). He also pointed out that the ballclub was finishing a stretch of thirty home games in the last forty-five days, from June 27 through August 8 the club played just ten games on the road (in July alone the club had eighteen home dates). The Barnstormers were looking to rebound from the controversial loss on Friday, on this night they jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third. Anderson De La Rosa and Cleuluis Rondon reached on base hits, Caleb Gindl tripled into the alley in right-center and scored himself on a wild pitch for the third run. The Crabs pulled to within 3-2 in the fifth, in the seventh Gindl went yard over the picnic pavilion in right putting the Stormers up 4-2. In the eighth it was the home team's turn to put up a six-run inning, RBI hits from Jake Hoover and Kelly Dugan plus a grand-slam to right-center by LeDarious Clark put the capper on a 10-2 victory. Dominic DiSabatino worked seven innings for the win with support from Gabriel Moya and Scott Shuman. On Sunday afternoon we were in Rothsville for the Grand Finale of the street hockey season, no weather issues on this day as Warwick and Hillside met for the championship. We had planned on a third-place game as well but after the rainout the previous week those teams mutually agreed to cancel it since both had been undermanned and they didn't expect a much better turnout on this day. There are those who would downplay this league because it's mostly older players with less intensity and a slower pace of play but this game was everything a championship contest should be. Warwick scored in each of the first two periods and carried a 2-0 lead into the third, Hillside got on the board in the first minute of the period to pull within 2-1. For the final nine minutes it was as good a game as anyone could want, Warwick held on and took it by that 2-1 score. Right now it looks like there will be a Fall season in Rothsville as well, we'll see what happens. Take care, thanks for reading.
