Friday night baseball on North Prince Street on a date best known for triskaidekaphobia (did I spell that correctly?), the Barnstormers opened a three-game set with the York Revolution. There has always been a certain civic rivalry between the two cities (War Of The Roses and all that jazz) but although I'm a lifelong Lancastrian I have never viewed the ballclub from York as The Enemy, I visit the ballpark there several times each summer and never have a bad time. On this night the Barnstormers took a 1-0 lead in the first, Melvin Mercedes singled and scored on an RBI single by Andretty Cordero. It stayed that way until the visiting sixth where the Revs exploded for six runs after two were out. Melky Mesa started the uprising with a double, Nellie Rodriguez drew a walk and Carlos Franco followed with a three-run homer to right-center putting the Revs up 3-1. Jack Kenley and J.C. Encarnacion kept it going with back-to-back doubles making it 4-1, Lenin Rodriguez put the capper on the inning with a two-run jack over the pavilion tents in right field giving the Revs a 6-1 advantage. The teams traded two runs each in the ninth with the Revs scoring on RBI hits from Elmer Reyes and Mesa, the Stormers on a two-run single by Cordero. The final was 8-3 with the respective starters involved in the decision, Jorge Martinez for the Revolution and Nile Ball for the Barnstormers. A quick-moving storm moved through my neighborhood around 5:15 but it was gone as fast as it arrived, when I got to the ballpark after 5:30 it was virtually dry there. During the middle innings there was a light mist but nothing that threatened play. The series continues on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon but I will be elsewhere for hockey, Saturday on ice and Sunday on asphalt. Take care, thanks for reading.
