June 30

A much warmer day on Thursday, in the evening we were at McCaskey for the JrT's third game of the week. Conestoga Valley was the opponent, at 6:00 first pitch it was eighty-six humid degrees with only a slight breeze. On this night the boys got off to a good start with four tuns in the first inning. Lance Leidig drew a one-out walk, Adrian Rodriguez singled and Landis Fluck walked to load the bases. Janpaul Rodriguez doubled to score Lance and Adrian, one batter later Alex Demarco doubled to score Landis and Janpaul. In the visiting second CV put two of their own on the board making it 4-2, in the bottom half Rey Ortiz picked up an RBI on a bases-loaded walk putting the JrT back up by three. In the fourth Demarco drew another free ticket with the sacks full making it 6-2. Two more crossed the plate in the fifth when Avante Webb was hit by the pitch and Elias Morales singled ahead of Adrian Rodriguez's two-run double. The final score was 8-2, Adrian pitched the first five innings for the win with Janpaul working the final two. As it stands right now the club has six games left with two of them at home, one is on July 12 and the other is TBA if it is in fact played at all. Take care, thanks for reading.  

June 28-29

A nationally-known company that offers rides for hire has an outlet in our area, I established an account online with them on Monday night and scheduled a ride for 10:30 on Tuesday morning. The driver arrived right on time, within ten minutes I was at my service center checking out my car. I had never used this service before simply because I'm rarely without my car, when I need them again (and I will when the water pump is replaced in July) they will be the first place I call. It was especially important on this day because Jenny was in town at a medical appointment a half-mile from the garage, when I arrived she was already finished and we did our midweek lunch a day early. After supper I made the short trip southwest of town to Millersville, the JrT was playing at Penn Manor. The respective school districts border each other, the baseball field at Penn Manor is literally right across the road from an elementary school belonging to the city. In 2021 the club played two road games I was able to attend, this was the first one for me this time around. The boys lost to PM at home on the 22nd, on this night the result was the same although somewhat more competitive. After PM scored three in the first the JrT tied it in the second. Landis Fluck drew a walk and scored on Rey Otriz's RBI triple, Janpaul Rodriguez singled Rey home making it 3-2. Jhanel Perez kept the rally alive with another hit moving Janpaul to third, he came home on newcomer Andrew Carlisle's RBI single to tie the game 3-3. In the fourth PM took the lead back with a four-spot, another run in the fifth made the final 8-3. Jhanel started and worked into the fourth inning, Elias Morales finished it. One of the players on the club plays high school ball in a district that doesn't play in the summer league, his parents are at every home game and they always tell me how much they enjoy what I do. When they saw me on this night they asked if I was announcing and seemed genuinely disappointed when I said I wasn't. Although the result wasn't favorable I was glad to be able to get to a road game especially since it wasn't far, I was home within fifteen minutes. Wednesday was uneventful since Jenny and I had our lunch the day before, a typical morning errand run on a warm day was all that happened. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 27

Took the car to my service center for its annual inspection after we were done in Rothsville on Sunday, Don was good enough to give me a ride home from there. On Monday afternoon they called to tell me they recommend the water pump be replaced. Since that would have to be another time (and it's not a huge emergency) I told them I'd be there as soon as I could. I called a local taxi company, they said it would be a thirty-to-forty-minute wait. After an hour (and by this time it was 4:15 and the garage closes at 5:00) I called to ask where the h#ll the cab was, they said they had only one driver on duty and they didn't know when he'd be there. I told them to forget about it since there was no way I was making it to the garage before closing time, to say I was P.O.'d would be a massive understatement. Under normal circumstances it may not have been a big deal but on this night there was a game at McCaskey at 6:00 and I intended to be there after I had picked up the car. Walking to the ballfield from my place only takes about ten minutes, luckily it's close by and the weather was reasonably comfortable. The JrT hosted Lititz, during the high school season all Warwick did was win the state championship in their classification so even minus the graduated seniors one had to figure it would be a tough game. The visitors scored seven runs through the first three innings and added eight more in the fifth, the game was ended via mercy rule after five innings at 15-0. Offensive highlights were in short supply for the JrT, the club only had five baserunners. Adrian Rodriguez pitched the first two innings and took the decision, Janpaul Rodriguez finished it. The game was over around 7:45, with the walk home it was The End Of A Perfect Day. Spent the latter part of the evening online arranging a ride for Tuesday morning, we'll see how this works out. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 24-26

Friday afternoon on the road West Of The River for my first 2022 appearance in York, the Revolution hosted the Staten Island FerryHawks. It goes without saying that as a Lancaster resident I am at the Barnstormers much more frequently but with the Stormers in the middle of a two-week road trip it was the perfect time to head across the bridge, a good number of the home dates in York thus far had been coinciding with other events. As a first-year franchise this was the Hawks' first-ever game in York, many of them reacted with obvious surprise when Cannonball Charlie welcomed the crowd in the middle of the first inning. The visitors had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning, after Charlie blasted the cannon the Revs quickly tied it when Elmer Reyes walked and scored on a two-run homer over the Arch-Nemesis by Nellie Rodriguez. A solo home run by Connor Lien put the home team ahead 3-2 in the third, the FerryHawks replied in kind with two in the fourth to go back up 4-3. In the home fifth Reyes was hit by the pitch, Lien followed with his second round-tripper of the evening putting the Revs back ahead 5-4. In the ninth the Hawks scratched out the tying run, in the bottom half the Revolution walked it off in stunning fashion. After one was out Troy Stokes reached on a base hit, Reyes (who was in the middle of every rally on this night) batted next and lined a hit-and-run double into the left-field corner. The speedy Stokes rounded third as the throw was coming into the infield, he beat the relay throw at the plate by an eyelash with the winning run. As the Revs celebrated the walk-off the FerryHawks argued vehemently but to no avail. Jim Fuller pitched the ninth inning, he lost the save opportunity but was the winning pitcher in relief of Eduardo Rivera. Saturday was a quiet day save for lunch with Jenny and her mother, on Sunday we wrapped up the regular season with week #9 at Lions Park in Rothsville. One new player joined up bringing the season total to fifty-three overall. Hillside beat Ephrata and Township won over Warwick, we'll have July 3 off for the holiday and be back for playoffs on the 10th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 23

It rained steadily overnight into Thursday which helped make an already busy day even more interesting. The Octorara School District is based in western Chester County, a portion of it is within Lancaster County which allows it to be a part of the Midget League. On June 7 the JrT played at Octorara, the game was suspended by rain and was being completed on this day at McCaskey prior to the scheduled game. The plan was to start at 4:30 but it was agreed to wait until 5:00 to allow extra time to get the field ready. We picked up the opener in the top of the third inning with Octorara as the "home team" leading 3-1, in the fourth they added a run to go up 4-1. In the visiting fifth the JrT came alive, Elias Morales reached on an error, advanced to third and scored on Lance Leidig's sac fly making it 4-2. After two were out Landis Fluck doubled, Alex Demarco drew a walk and Janpaul Rodriguez reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Jhanel Perez's double to left chased home three runs to put the JrT up 5-4. In the seventh an insurance run was added when Landis walked and scored on Demarco's RBI double, the final score was 6-4. Perez was on the mound when the game resumed, he finished it out and earned the win. The game ended at 6:15, the regular game began twenty-five minutes later at 6:40. The clubs traded runs in the first inning, the JrT's coming when Morales was hit by the pitch and scored on Landis Fluck's RBI groundout. Octorara took a 2-1 lead in the second which held up until the bottom of the fourth. Three consecutive walks loaded the bases for Elliott Fluck, he reached on a fielders choice scoring Perez from third with the tying run. Morales followed with a two-run single plating Lars Holland and Elliott putting the JrT up 4-2. Octorara pulled to within one with a run in the fifth, in the bottom half the JrT struck back with three more. Adrian Rodriguez was hit by the pitch and Landis Fluck walked, Alex Demarco doubled to score Adrian. Holland followed with an RBI single scoring Landis, Demarco would score on a Rey Ortiz sac fly giving the JrT a  7-3 lead. That would prove to be the final score, Adrian R. worked six innings for the win with Janpaul R. finishing it in the seventh. With it all we were done around 8:40 or so, in a way the day (and early evening) reminded me of a time long past in a place far away that I almost never talk about anymore. As it stands right now the next home game is a makeup set for Monday the 27th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 20-22

Had a phone call from Don on Monday morning, he and a few others were at the park at 8:00 to salvage the scoreboard and the city work crew was already there (they just Could NOT Wait to get at it, could they?). I stopped in after lunch, by that time all that still stood were the boards in the corner where the scoreboard had been and the poles that had supported the scoreboard. Don said one of the workers told him the current plan is for the rink surface to remain temporarily but by the end of summer it will be removed and grass will be planted in its spot. That rink stood for forty-two years and it was all gone in the space of a few hours, nothing left but open space and Even The Birds Won't Be Back Anymore. All I can say is the neighborhood (hell, the city itself) clearly no longer wanted it there and they finally got their wish, I hope they'll be very happy. Tuesday was a baseball night at McCaskey, the JrT hosted Penn Manor. At 6:00 gametime it was 82 degrees with a slight breeze from right to left. This game began very similarly to the game against Ephrata which for the JrT was very unfortunate. The visitors took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, in the bottom half the JrT put four on the board. Elliott Fluck started it with a double, he would score on Adrian Rodriguez's RBI two-base hit to tie the game. Landis Fluck walked and Elias Morales was hit by the pitch to load the bases, Alex Demarco drew another walk to put the JrT ahead. Janpaul Rodriguez lined a two-run single to score Landis and Elias to make it 4-1 but in the second PM saw that bid with a four-spot of their own to go up 5-4. From there the visitors would add nine more unanswered and win it going away 14-4. Janpaul Rodriguez pitched the first four innings and took the decision with Adrian R. and Lars Holland splitting the last three in relief. The boys are scheduled at home on the 23rd weather-permitting, the forecast for that day is not good. Had lunch with Jenny and Helen on Wednesday, the sunny afternoon gave way to dark clouds and thunderstorms in the evening. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 17-19

Jenny came into town on Friday to help her friend with babysitting, she was still there on Saturday morning and we had lunch together. I went by Reservoir Park and noticed the building was gone, the side fencing at that end of the rink had been taken down to allow for its removal. On Sunday morning we were in Rothsville for week #8 of the Sunday league, I commented to Don that I had seen the end fencing removed and he told me the entire span went down later on Saturday. One of the guys who helped remove the building asked about the fence, when Don said it would undoubtedly be destroyed when the rink itself was the man offered to remove it and make use of it himself (makes sense to me, why junk something that is in perfectly good shape if it can be salvaged). On this day Township defeated Ephrata and Warwick won over Hillside, the regular season ends with week #9 on the 26th. I was back in town by 1:00 or so, after a quick turnaround I picked up Jenny at her friend's house and took her home. From there we traveled about eight miles west of Quarryville to a public park in the southern end of the county. Jenny's friend and her daughters had left their house when I picked up Jenny, they were at the park setting up for the middle daughter's birthday party. Shania (pronounced "shuh-NYE-uh") is five years old which is hard to believe, I've known her since birth but it's all just a reminder that time stops for nobody. Her mother selected this particular site for the party because it has a playground and a "splash-pad" right next to the picnic area, I was familiar with where it was but I rarely travel in that direction otherwise. The party wound down around 5:30 or so, after I had Jenny and Helen home I came back to the city and stopped by the soon-to-be-former rink. It's strange seeing it without the building and the fence (which went up in 2003) and the dek surface itself which was laid down in 2005. Just about everything salvageable is gone, the place is nothing but an empty shell at this point. We played on that rink in that park for forty-two years and when it is gone there will never be any reason to go back. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 15-16

Wednesday morning lunch in Quarryville with Jenny and her mother, while I was there Helen asked me if we could run some errands (which is never a problem under any circumstances, as a rule the only time she gets a ride anyplace is when I'm there). In the evening it was a baseball night at McCaskey, the Jr. Tornado hosted Ephrata in a game rescheduled from at least two prior dates that I can recall. Ephrata's high school club qualified for the state tournament and played until June 9th, this was their first game of the Midget League season. In the dugout before the game their scorekeeper (who is a parent of one of the players) told me he was present for the high school game between the teams back in April, he shared how he thought the game-day atmosphere at JPM was the most professional of anywhere they had played. Needless to say it's a wonderful compliment and it was greatly appreciated, I've always said that just because it's not a professional game doesn't mean you treat it in an unprofessional fashion. On this night the JrT fell behind 1-0 in the first before rallying for three in the second. Janpaul Rodriguez and Jhanel Perez reached on back-to-back hits, Connor Gherardi lived on an error to load the bases. Ian Santos was hit by the pitch to force in a run, Elliott Fluck followed with a base hit to score Perez with Gherardi following on a throwing error to give the JrT a 3-1 lead. The middle innings were all Ephrata, the visitors scored nine runs from the third to the fifth to go up 10-3. The JrT got one back in the sixth, Rodriguez singled and scored on an RBI hit by Fluck but three more Ephrata runs in the seventh brought the final to 13-4. Alex Demarco was the losing pitcher in relief of Tobe Kuntz with Janpaul Rodriguez also appearing on the hill to finish it out. Thunderstorms rolled through the area overnight into Thursday, the club was scheduled for an away game which was postponed due to wet grounds. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 14

Tuesday night at the ballpark as the Barnstormers began the final series of the homestand hosting the Atlantic League's newest franchise. When Staten Island joined as the league's ninth team it created the need for an extra club to fill out the schedule. In past years the Road Warriors (last seen in 2018) were utilized for that purpose but this time around the management in Lexington offered the league the opportunity to station the extra club there as a home team when the Legends are on the road. The new team is officially known as the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes, on the league website they are abbreviated as WHG. Wild Health is a medical concern in Lexington serving as the team's corporate sponsor, the nickname is inspired by a medical term having to do with genetics (you must admit it's very unique). On this night the Stormers broke the ice in the third, Trace Loehr reached on a single and Jake Hoover was hit by the pitch. Melvin Mercedes reached on an error allowing Loehr to score, Kelly Dugan's two-run double chased home Hoover and Mercedes to make it 3-0. The Genomes put four on the board in the fourth, in the bottom half Colton Shaver doubled and scored on Trayvon Robinson's RBI hit to tie it at 4-4. In the Stormer fifth two walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases, LeDarious Clark's grand slam over the picnic tents in right field gave the Home Team an 8-4 advantage. In the seventh the Stormers added an insurance run, Clark reached on a strikeout-passed ball and scored on a wild pitch. The final tally was 9-4, Erik Manoah was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Augie Sylk. The series continues on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I should be absent from both because of midget baseball on Wednesday and my well-known absence from day games on Thursday (a friend at the ballpark once called me a vampire because I only come out at night). After Thursday the Stormers hit the road for two weeks, they return home on the first day of July. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 13

The JrT was scheduled for a Monday night game at home, in the morning I got word that the game was postponed. That news effectively ended the day, with nothing else happening it gives me a moment to speak on the subject of Reservoir Park. The game of street hockey became popular in our area in the early 1970s, in 1974 the city's recreation commission sanctioned an organized league that played on basketball courts at two different city parks. In the fall of 1979 the commission oversaw the construction of a rink specific to the sport at Reservoir Park, at that time I was hired as the league's supervisor of operations. I had been involved previously as a player but my own playing career was very brief and very unspectacular, I realized early on that I simply didn't have the ability to be successful in that regard. From there I refereed for a season or two and later spent time helping out with a team called Chestnut Street, as an assistant on the bench I kept stats and called out line changes. The beginning at Reservoir Park was bumpy at times as I gained experience and learned what needed to be done to keep things running smoothly and in an organized manner. In 2000 Lancaster Dek Hockey Incorporated was formed and took over operations of the league and the rink, I stayed on as supervisor and the league continued seamlessly. In forty-two years we've had our share of mischief and vandalism, in the early seasons with the macadam surface the big problem was broken bottles. It came to the point where we would not play on October 30 or 31 because we were essentially a siting target for every egg, rock and bottle-thrower in the neighborhood (and don't even bother calling the police, there aren't enough cops in the city to handle everything that happens on Halloween). We could tolerate the mischief and the vandals to a degree but in recent years it got increasingly worse. We played our fall season in 2019 and didn't play again until the fall of 2021 thanks to the virus BS, during the hiatus the rink was badly vandalized. We made the repairs (substantial as they were) and played the fall '21 season, when we were done in November the rink was broken into again within a week. During the winter the damage continued, there is supposed to be a neighborhood group around there that watches for stuff like this but strangely they never seem to see anything. In April we met at the rink and surveyed the damage, it was decided that we can no longer play there because it simply isn't worth the trouble. The city was informed and the league was served notice that the rink will be demolished later this summer, we must be out by June 19. The dek surface was removed over the weekend, the process was finished on Sunday after the games in Rothsville. All that remains is the trailer we used as an office and the scoreboard, Don wants to get those out and from there the city will level it to the ground. The League Itself is not dead, there are options for a new home on the table and one way or another We'll Be Back. In the meantime I'll miss it as I did when we were down during The BS but I will never miss Reservoir Park at all, that place had a brand of BS all its own and anywhere we go will be Hockey Heaven by comparison. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 11-12

Saturday began on a rather somber note, in the morning Don and several others were at Reservoir Park for a work party. The object was to remove and salvage the dek surface and whatever else with the rink's eminent demolition on the horizon. I was there for about two hours myself helping out with whatever a man my age can do, about half of the surface was removed and loaded into a truck. One of Don's sons has room on his property to store it while we await whatever the league's future may hold. From there I was with Jenny and Helen for lunch, with rain in the forecast they elected not to come into town for the ballgame. There had been some light precipitation while we were at the rink, between that and the cloud cover it was much more tolerable than it could have been otherwise. At the ballpark in the evening the rain stayed away (at least during the game itself), the Barnstormers reached double-digits for a second straight night with a 12-2 win over Lexington. In the third Shawon Dunston singled and scored on Kelly Dugan's sac fly, Trace Loehr's two-run homer in the fourth gave the Stormers a 3-0 lead. LeDarious Clark's solo shot in the sixth made it 4-0, in the seventh the club broke it open with four more. Jake Hoover started it with a triple and Dunston walked, they both rode home on Melvin Mercedes' two-run double. Dugan walked and Andretty Cordero singled to score Mercedes, an RBI double by Colton Shaver plated Dugan to make it 8-0. In the eighth the hits just kept on coming, singles by Hoover and Mercedes put runners on the corners with one out. Hoover scored on a fielders-choice groundout by Dugan, after Cordero singled he and Dugan were chased home on Clark's two-run double. Shaver batted next and put the punctuation on the inning with another RBI double scoring Clark to put the Stormers up 12-0. The visitors broke the shutout in the ninth with a pair of runs but it mattered little, the final was 12-2. Bret Clarke won it in relief of starter Brooks Hall (a 2018 Stormer recently returned), newcomer Cole Aker worked an inning as did West Tunnell and Erik Cha. The rain finally arrived and moved through overnight, on Sunday morning we had the brooms and blowers out at Lions Park in Rothsville. The games started about ten minutes late but they were played as scheduled, Ephrata won over Warwick and Township beat Hillside. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 10

Friday night on North Prince Street as the Barnstormers began the second half of their two-week homestand, the Lexington Legends were the opponent. When I was a kid we lived on the 600 block of North Queen Street, had it existed then I could have walked from my front door to the front gates of the ballpark in less than five minutes since Queen and Prince are separated by only one block. Of course when we moved from that neighborhood in 1967 there was no way of predicting what would be literally around the corner thirty-eight years later. On this night the Stormers took a 1-0 first-inning lead on a Kelly Dugan home run, the visitors from Kentucky replied with two in the third to go up 2-1. In the bottom half Dugan drew a walk and scored on Andretty Cordero's RBI hit to tie the game, from there it was all Barnstormers in emphatic fashion. In the fifth Dugan went yard again with a man on to put the Stormers 4-2, in the seventh the club broke it open with a five-spot involving some new additions. Dugan started it with a single, after two were out Trayvon Robinson drew a walk. Newly-added Dennicher Carrasco tripled into the gap scoring two runs, after Anthony Peroni walked Jake Hoover stroked a two-run double. The rally was capped by an RBI triple by Shawon Dunston Jr. (another new addition, he's the son of the former big-leaguer of the same name), after seven the Stormers led 9-2. One final tally was tacked on in the eighth, Dugan reached on an error and scored run #10 on Robinson's RBI double, Nile Ball worked five innings for the win, newcomer Erik Manoah pitched two innings in relief with Tyler Suellentrop and Donald Goodson rounding it out with an inning apiece. This night was Boy Scout Night with an overnight sleepover on the field, on Saturday the Girl Scouts have their turn (and wouldn't you know they are calling for rain). Take care, thanks for reading.

June 9

Thursday night at the ballfield at McCaskey for County Midget League action, the Jr. Tornado hosted Strasburg-Willow Street (the summer league equivalent of Lampeter-Strasburg). It was a great night for a ballgame, sunny with low humidity and a good breeze from the northwest. This was a game that started out as a Grade-A clunker but ended up as a classic. SWS scored two in the first and added four more in the second, trailing 6-0 the JrT finally broke through in the fourth. Tobe Kuntz was hit by the pitch, after a walk and another hit batsman Rey Ortiz drew a bases-loaded walk scoring Tobe to make it 6-1. SWS got that run back in the fifth but the JrT continued to punch away in the bottom half. Lance Leidig and Adrian Rodriguez drew back-to-back walks, Lance scored on an Elias Morales base hit and Adrian came home on an Alex DeMarco groundout to pull the JrT within 7-3. In the sixth Lars Holland and Ortiz reached on base hits, after two were out Adrian Rodriguez singled to score Holland making it 7-4. Landis Fluck followed with a triple into the gap in right-center plating Ortiz and A-Rod, entering the seventh inning it was a 7-6 ballgame. SWS was held scoreless in their half, in the bottom end the JrT walked it off in outstanding fashion. Kuntz started the rally with a walk and DeMarco doubled to score Tobe with the tying run. After walks to Janpaul Rodriguez and Holland loaded the bases with nobody out Rey Ortiz hit a slow grounder to the shortstop who had no play to home, pinch-runner Adarious Williams crossed the plate with the winning run for a remarkable 8-7 comeback win. Adrian Rodriguez was the starting pitcher, he went three innings with Janpaul working the last four and earning the decision. The club's next home game is scheduled for Monday the 13th but one never knows for sure, right now there are four teams who have yet to play any games due to their involvement in high school postseason (the JrT has several makeup games already and a few of them have not yet been officially rescheduled). We'll stay abreast of the situation and play it as it comes. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 6-8

The new week began with comfortable temperatures and low humidity, on Tuesday there was a late-afternoon rainstorm which delayed the start of the ballgame on North Prince Street. Staten Island (one of the five boroughs of New York City) had a team in affiliated baseball from 1999 to 2019, the franchise was eliminated when MiLB was reorganized in 2021. SI's new ALPB club is known as the FerryHawks, on this night they were making their first-ever appearance in Lancaster. The pregame rain delayed the 6:30 start to 7:20, after the Hawks took a 2-0 lead in the first the Barnstormers replied on an RBI hit by Andretty Cordero. The teams traded runs in the fourth with the Stormers scoring on a Colton Shaver home run. In the fifth LeDarious Clark singled and scored on Kelly Dugan's two-run home run giving the Stormers a 4-3 lead. In the visiting seventh the game turned on a dime, the FerryHawks took advantage of two two-out errors to score three runs, they would hold that 6-4 lead to the very end. Oscar De La Cruz started for the Stormers but did not figure in the decision, Tyler Suellentrop took the loss in relief. On Wednesday there were no weather issues whatsoever, there was brilliant sunshine when I was with Jenny for lunch and later in the day at the ballpark. On this night the visitors from The Big Apple took a 1-0 lead in the first, in the home second Jake Hoover doubled and scored on Devon Torrence's RBI single to tie the game. The Hawks scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth to go up by three, Melvin Mercedes' solo home run in the bottom of the fifth brought the Stormers to within 4-2. In the eighth Cordero singled and touched home on an RBI double by Shaver but the Stormers came no closer, the final was 4-3 Staten Island. Augie Sylk started and took the decision. The series wraps up on Thursday but I will undoubtedly be absent, the Jr. Tornado is scheduled for a home game at McCaskey. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 4-5

Had our usual Saturday lunch date in Quarryville, in the evening I was back at the ballpark for game #2 with Southern Maryland. The Blue Crabs joined the Atlantic League in 2008 and currently rank fourth in league seniority behind Long Island (2000), the Stormers (2005) and York (2007), on a side note this is the Stormers fourth weekend at home and it's the first one not involving the Revs as the visitors. On this night the Barnstormers took a quick 2-0 lead in the first on back-to-back home runs by Andretty Cordero and Kelly Dugan. In the middle innings the Crabs took control scoring nine times from the fourth through the seventh. In the eighth the Stormers tried to climb back into it, LeDarious Clark started the rally with a double and Cordero singled him to third. Dugan's sac fly scored Clark, Colton Shaver followed with an RBI double plating Cordero, Trayvon Robinson's two-base-hit chased Shaver home making the score 9-5. In the home ninth Clark worked a walk and scored on an RBI hit by Cordero, Andretty would come home on Dugan's second home run of the night but the rally fell short as the Crabs held on for the 9-8 win. Cameron Gann started for the Barnstormers and took the loss. On Sunday afternoon SM completed the series sweep but I was typically absent, after a week off for the holiday we were back at Lions Park for Sunday street hockey. On this day the league hit the two-thirds pole as each team played its sixth of nine games. Two new players joined up bringing the league total to forty-nine, Township defeated Warwick and Ephrata beat Hillside via OT shootout. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 3

Friday night at the ballpark on North Prince Street, the Barnstormers were back from a quick three-game road trip for the opener of a lengthy homestand. The club has twelve straight home dates through June 16, the only off-days being the two Mondays within that span. On this night the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs made the first of their three series visits. The game was 0-0 entering the top of the fourth inning where the Crabs exploded for five runs. In the bottom half the Stormers rallied back with three of their own, Colton Shaver doubled and scored on an RBI single from the recently-returned Trayvon Robinson. A walk to Trace Loehr and a single by newcomer Ed Reichenbach loaded the bases, Anthony Peroni followed with a two-run single bringing the Stormers to within 5-3. The Crabs added on with single runs in each of the next four innings, the Stormers were only able to score twice more on a Kelly Dugan two-run home run in the seventh. The final score was 9-5, losing pitcher Augie Sylk worked into the fifth with support from Donald Goodson plus new additions Erik Cha and Bret Clarke. Got word later in the evening that the Midget League ballgame at McCaskey on Saturday had indeed been postponed, makeup date TBA. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 2

There were thunderstorms in the forecast for Thursday, they didn't arrive until late afternoon. We had a quick-hitter roll through around 4:45 or so, at 5:00 I was at McCaskey for the Lancaster Jr. Tornado's County Midget League season opener. Circumstances permitted me to work these games in 2021, I didn't expect it to happen again this time around but with The Saga Of Reservoir Park being what it is I'm available (and besides, it's for the kids). The "JrT" (as I abbreviate it) was scheduled to start its season on May 19 but all of its games to this point had been postponed, most of them for the fact that the opposing district's high school team was still involved in postseason play. The league has two divisions, one with six clubs and the other with seven, everybody plays their division-mates twice and the teams in the opposite division once. On this night the JrT hosted Hempfield Black (not to be confused with Hempfield RED), despite the earlier rain the game started on time at 6:00. JPM head coach Gilbert Vega is the head man with the JrT as well, he has seventeen players on the roster with most of them from the McCaskey program and several others added on a co-op basis from districts not participating. We had a brief stray rainfall during the early innings but it was gone as quickly as it arrived, as the sun broke out there was a brilliant rainbow to the southeast. The rainbow was perhaps the highlight of the evening as the JrT lost 11-0, the game was called via mercy rule after five innings. Lars Holland started on the mound with Adarius Williams, Elias Morales and Jhanel Perez working in relief. The boys have a home game set for Saturday the 4th but there is a chance it may be rescheduled, we'll know more later. Take care, thanks for reading. 

May 30-June 1

Monday marked the end of the holiday weekend and the Unofficial Start Of Summer, at the ballpark the Barnstormers and the Revolution finished the weekend series with a rare Monday game (in the Atlantic League Monday is almost always an off-day, this and a July 4 game in York are the only Mondays either club plays in 2022). Game time on this sultry afternoon was at 5:00, in the third inning LeDarious Clark went yard with a man on to put the Stormers up 2-0. In the fourth the Revs tied it on an RBI hit from Jack Kenley and a bases-loaded walk issued to Josue Herrera. In the visiting sixth Herrera's RBI hit put the Revolution ahead 3-2, in the home half the Barnstormers answered on Colton Shaver's run-scoring double. The Revs took the lead again in the seventh when Elmer Reyes singled and scored on an error, in the Stormers eighth Kelly Dugan singled and advanced on a steal and a wild pitch, Shaver's sac fly plated Dugan to square it at 4-4. In the top of the tenth the Revs started with the "ghost runner" at second and cashed it in on a groundball double play to go ahead 5-4.  In the bottom half the Stormers started with Jake Hoover on second, Devon Torrence's base hit put runners on the corners with none out. A sac fly by B.J. Boyd tied the game, after Clark flied out Dugan singled to center scoring Torrence with the walk-off winner 6-5. Starting pitchers Austin Nicely (York) and Augie Sylk (Lancaster) were both long gone by the time it ended, Josh Graham was the winning pitcher with Jim Fuller taking the loss. There was a postgame fireworks show scheduled, it had been announced that it wouldn't begin before 8:45 to allow for darkness to set in. The game was moving at a good pace and for a while it looked like there might be some down time but thanks to the extra inning the game didn't end until almost 8:30. The midweek had little going on outside of Wednesday lunch with Jenny and her mother, with temperatures approaching 90 degrees my outside time was as minimal as I could make it. Take care, thanks for reading.