May 23-26

Out and about on Monday, it was markedly much cooler than the weekend had been. Jenny and her mother had medical appointments in Willow Street on Tuesday, the access van took them there and we did our midweek lunch date after I took them home. In the evening the Barnstormers opened a weeklong home stand with a visit from the Gastonia Honey Hunters. These teams met in the season's opening week in Gastonia, this three-game series marked the Hunters' lone visit to Lancaster and the last regular-season meeting between the clubs. On this night the visitors from North Carolina scored twice in the third, in the Stormer fourth Kelly Dugan walked, stole second and scored on Colton Shaver's RBI single to make it 2-1. That would be all the scoring on this night, starter Nile Ball took the 2-1 loss and deserved better. Ball went six innings and was followed for an inning each by Tyler Suellentrop, West Tunnell and Josh Graham. On Wednesday the Stormer bats came alive in the form of a thirteen-run salvo. In the second inning Shaver walked and scored on Anderson Feliz's RBI double, Feliz would score on a Jake Hoover two-base hit to make it 2-0. In the fourth LeDarious Clark walked and came home on Shaver's two-run home run putting the Stormers up by four. Gastonia scored a single run in the sixth, in the home half the Stormers added three to go up 7-1. Clark hit a solo home run, Shaver tripled and scored on Andretty Cordero's base hit, Cordero would eventually touch home on a sac fly by Feliz. In the seventh the Stormers ripped it wide open, after newcomer B.J. Boyd reached on an error and Melvin Mercedes walked Dugan's RBI single scored Boyd. Clark followed with a double to score Mercedes, after Shaver was retired Cordero capped it with a three-run bomb onto the berm in left field putting the Stormers up 12-1. The teams traded runs in the eighth with the Stormers' coming on a solo shot by Boyd, one last Gastonia run in the ninth brought the final to 13-3. Augie Sylk won it with five innings of two-hit ball, Oscar De La Cruz and Chase Johnson pitched an inning each in relief with Donald Goodson finishing the final two. The series wrapped at 11:00 on Thursday morning, the Stormers took the rubber match in my absence 4-1. The homestand continues over the holiday weekend with our friends from The White Rose City (AGAIN??). Take care, thanks for reading.