Tuesday night on North Prince Street for the first time in eighteen days, the Barnstormers opened the season's final homestand with a visit from our old friends from York. The Stormers went 10-5 on a very difficult five-city road trip, on this night they found themselves needing one win to clinch the second-half division title. The mere fact that the club was even in this position is nothing short of remarkable. The Stormers' 29-37 first-half mark placed them well behind first-half champ Southern Maryland, just after the second half started both Kelly Dugan and LeDarious Clark were lost to long-term injuries. Colton Shaver and Brooks Hall were signed away to affiliated leagues (both have since returned) and early in August Shawon Dunston was placed on the injured list. Somehow or another the team came together and continued to win, on this night the perseverance was finally rewarded with a division-clinching 10-4 victory. Leading the way was the just-reactivated Shawon Dunston with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI, Andretty Cordero had two doubles, a triple and four RBI. Melvin Mercedes scored three runs and had an RBI, Jake Hoover touched home three times, Trace Loehr and Anderson Feliz each contributed a run-scoring double. The visiting Revolution got solo home runs from Jhon Nunez, Nellie Rodriguez and Melky Mesa, Elmer Reyes had an RBI on an infield groundout. The starting pitchers were of record, Oscar De La Cruz for the Stormers and Ben Herrick for the Revs. The division title is the Stormers' first since 2015 and it is the first postseason appearance since 2018 when they qualified as a wild card entry. The best-of-five division championship series is scheduled to start on Tuesday the 20th, the Stormers host Southern Maryland for the first two games before the scene switches to Waldorf for whatever is needed of the last three. Before that happens there remains the matter of finishing the regular season, the series with the Revolution continues on Wednesday and Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.
