March 27-30

The first day of the new week was supposed to be Opening Day at McCaskey but Mother Nature had other ideas. We were all there when a lightning strike about an hour before game time forced the mandatory thirty-minute delay, during the delay a hard rain blew through and ended the day before it ever really started. Both teams were open the next day, the respective coaches readily agreed to use it as the makeup date. On Tuesday the rain was gone but it was a typical March day, at 4:15 it was fifty degrees with a sharp wind out to right field. Octorara visited (for the second straight day) from Chester County for the non-league matchup and scored three quick runs in the first inning, The Red Tornado answered with a score in the bottom half, Elliott Fluck walked and came home on Adrian Rodriguez's RBI single. In the third JPM had the bases loaded with one out, a Rodriguez fielders-choice groundout scored Avante Webb, Tobe Kuntz followed with an RBI double chasing home Janpaul Rodriguez making it a 4-3 game. Single runs in the fourth and seventh gave Octorara some insurance, in the last inning a sac fly by Kuntz scored Janpaul R. from third with the game's final run. Adrian R. started and took the 6-4 loss, Eli Morales worked in relief. The club had twelve players in uniform on this day including ten who were members of the Midget League club in the summer of '22. The boys play at home again on the 31st but I'll be away for hockey, my next game would be on April 5th. Wednesday was a hockey night in downtown Reading, the Royals opened a four-game homestand with the Adirondack Thunder visiting for the last of their six appearances. For the first time since April of '22 a game at the Arena required extra time, in the OT Adirondack prevailed 4-3. Max Newton, Jacob Gaucher and Alec Butcher were the Royals goal-scorers, Bailey Brkin was goaltender of record. The record stands at 37-22-5 (19-10-1 at home), the Trios-Rivieres Lions visit for a three-in-three weekend starting on the 31st, Take care, thanks for reading.

March 20-26

Saw recently where this blog has surpassed 35,000 views since its debut in 2010. As I've mentioned before: I don't know who reads the tripe and drivel I write about around here but obviously I have an audience and I appreciate it. With the Royals on the road for the week it was another slow go, the only noteworthy event was a Tuesday afternoon baseball scrimmage at McCaskey. The club had a scrimmage at home on the 14th but I was not there, it was a bitterly cold and windy day and I simply thought better of it. As it turns out I didn't miss much, one of the assistant coaches told me they actually called it early because of the brutal conditions. The weather on this day was much more spring-like, it was about sixty degrees with only a slight breeze. Gilbert Vega is back for his second year as the head coach, when the scrimmage started I actually sat in the dugout for the first few innings (a rare view for me since I'm obviously upstairs in the booth during a regular game). The league schedule has a new format, similar to basketball the crossover games with Section Two have been eliminated. Each team in our division now plays three games against each opponent, for JPM that means two home games each with Penn Manor and Cedar Crest plus one each with Warwick, Hempfield and Manheim Township. The club also has five non-league games, three of those are at home which evens out the overall schedule at ten home and ten road. It all starts for real at home on Monday the 27th. The Royals went 2-1 on the road trip, they come home for four straight beginning on Wednesday the 29th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

March 6-19

There are times when it barely pays to come online and blog, what is there to write along when there is so little going on. The Royals went 2-1-1 on a four-game road swing through Trois-Rivieres and St.John's, on Friday the 17th the club returned home for another three-in-three. The Atlanta Gladiators (from the league's Southern Division) were the weekend's opponent, this was their first visit to the Arena since February of That Year We Don't Talk About. This is the time of year for newcomers from the amateur ranks, players from just-completed University and Junior programs filter in for look-sees and the chance to impress and earn a contract for next season. On Friday the Royals left little to the imagination by scoring the game's first six goals and rolling to an 8-2 win. Devon Paliani and Evan Barratt tallied twice each with single scores from Charlie Gerard, Jacob Gaucher, Brendan Hoffmann and newcomer Ted McGeen (University of Guelph). Saturday was St "Hattricks" Night, a lucky fan could have won $10,000 had a Royal scored three goals. The team as a unit only scored three but it was enough for a tough 3-2 verdict. Tyler Heidt (another new face from the University of Regina) opened the scoring in the first period, in the second Barratt struck again to make it 2-0. Alec Butcher's third-period strike was the game-winner as Pat Nagle picked up his second win of the weekend. The series wrapped up on Sunday afternoon with the visitors from the Peach State victorious by an identical 3-2 score, Butcher and Heidt were the goal-scorers for the Royals. New addition Bailey Brkin (pronounced "burr-kin") made his team debut in net, he was added recently via waivers from the Wheeling Nailers. The weekend results bring the club's mark to 35-21-4 overall, 19-10 at home. The next three are on the road, the boys return home on Wednesday the 29th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

March 1-5

Back at the Arena on Friday the 3rd for the season's first three-in-three home weekend, the Trois-Rivieres Lions visited from La Belle Province for the first time since February of 2022. It figured to be an eventful weekend and it was all of that with emphasis. On a rainy Friday evening it was perhaps only appropriate that it would rain goals inside the Arena as well. After one period the game was tied 3-3, after two it was 5-5, in the third period the Royals broke the pattern with two scores to claim a 7-5 win. Charlie Gerard led the effort with two goals, single strikes came courtesy of Shane Sellar (the GWG), Brendan Hoffmann, Jacob Gaucher, Colin Felix and Evan Barratt. Saturday was Autism Awareness Night, the in-arena atmosphere was toned down somewhat but the Royals' offensive fireworks were again on full display. On this night it was Barratt (a December assignee from the Phantoms) taking the lead role with a hattrick, the first by a Royal in '22-23. Gerard and Alec Butcher also found the net in a 5-1 victory, Pat Nagle was the winning goaltender for both games. On Sunday the clubs reconvened for a 3:00 afternoon game marred by controversy. Goals from Girard, Barratt and newcomer Sam Hu (recently acquired on waivers from the Norfolk Admirals) had the Royals up 3-1 entering the third period when all hell broke loose. The period started with the Royals playing a man short, another quick penalty gave Trois-Rivieres a two-man advantage. The visitors quickly cashed in to make it 3-2, on the ensuing faceoff the Royals were penalized again to restore the two-man advantage. TR promptly lit the lamp again to tie it, another quick score on the remaining five-on-four put the Royals behind 4-3 (the three Trois-Rivieres goals coming in a span of thirty-three seconds). Another Lions goal put the Royals behind by two, in the late going Barratt scored his second of the game to make it close but a TR empty-netter with one second left ended it at 6-4 (Curiosity: entering the weekend all of Barratt's goals had been scored on the road, over the weekend he scored six in three games at home). Rookie goaltender Ryan Kenny (recently signed from Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland) made his professional debut and suffered the loss which was not his fault in any way, shape, form or fashion . The club's mark stands at 31-19-3, 17-9 at home. A four-game road trip lies ahead before the next home game on the 17th. Take care, thanks for reading.