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.
