June 26-30

The last week of June featured thunderstorms in the forecast for just about every day, on Monday evening in Willow Street there were dark clouds to the southwest and some light rain fell during the latter part of the first game. It was a doubleheader night for LCM and they dropped both ends of it, the opener to Peach Bottom and the nightcap to Kelly's. On Tuesday a strong storm blew through in the afternoon and wiped out the schedule for the entire evening, Wednesday night was an open date for the Southern End League but the over-60 league played its scheduled game on the lower field. On Thursday we made another trip West Of The River (patent pending), in York the Revolution hosted the Staten Island FerryHawks. This was the last of a four-game series which had started with a makeup doubleheader on Tuesday, the Revs were looking to complete a sweep but the Hawks had other ideas. Trey Martin's solo homerun to left-center gave the Home Team a 1-0 lead in the second inning, Staten Island replied with three in the fourth to go up by two. Tomo Otosaka's RBI single in the fifth brought the Revs to within one, in the sixth Martin went yard over the Arch-Nemesis in left to tie it 3-3. In the seventh the Revolution put together a four-run inning on Jhon Nunez's RBI single, run-scoring doubles by Drew Mendoza and Jacob Rhinesmith and a sac fly by Martin to go ahead 7-3. The FerryHawks did not go away quietly or any other way, two runs in the eighth and a three-spot in the ninth gave Staten Island a come-from-behind 8-7 win. Tom Sutera started for the Revs and went the first five, Tasker Strobel (the last of four relievers used) took the loss. Take care, thanks for reading

June 23-25

Friday night at the ballpark for a virtual rerun of Wednesday, the major difference being that on this night the game never got started. When I arrived the tarp was on the field and it was raining lightly, about ten minutes before scheduled game-time the umpires and managers took a walking tour of the perimeter of the infield. Shortly after that the postponement was announced and reset as a doubleheader for Saturday. There was rain in the area on Saturday as well, the planned 5:30 start was delayed until after 6:00 in anticipation of a quick-hitting shower that never materialized. In the opener the visiting Long Island Ducks took a 2-0 first-inning lead, in the bottom half Melvin Mercedes walked, stole a base and scored on Andretty Cordero's base hit to make it 2-1. LI added single runs in the third and fourth, a seven-run sixth put the Ducks ahead by ten. In the home sixth the Stormers loaded the bases with one out, Trace Loehr's three-run double and a Cordero RBI double brought the final to 11-5. Brandyn Sittinger started and took the decision, Brian Marconi finished it in relief. The nightcap started shortly after 8:30, the Ducks once again took an early 2-0 lead. In the home second Yeison Coca reached on an error and scored on an RBI single by Loehr, Trace would score on a Cordero single knotting the game 2-2. In the third Wilson Garcia doubled and touched home on Marshall Rich's sac fly giving the Stormers the lead. In the fourth Loehr drew a walk and jogged home on a Mercedes two-run home run, two batters later Ariel Sandoval singled and scored on Garcia's two-run shot onto the picnic tents in right putting the Stormers up 7-2. Long Island added a cosmetic run in the seventh but it wasn't enough, Spencer Johnston went five innings for the 7-3 win, Jesus Liranzo and Andrew Lee worked in relief. Sunday morning in Rothsville was the final week of the street hockey regular season, there were puddles on the rink from some overnight rain but nothing that couldn't be handled. Warwick beat Ephrata and Hillside won over Township, the championship games are on July 9th. At the ballpark the Stormers finished the series with a rain-shortened victory. I knew storms were in the forecast (and more are expected in the coming week) but nobody said anything about Monsoon Season. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 19-22

Monday evening softball at Garrett Park with a three-team doubleheader. The Marlins won over LCM in the opener, LCM rebounded in the nightcap with a victory over Riverside. On Tuesday the Barnstormers continued their homestand with a visit from the Gastonia Honey Hunters. The Stormers took a 1-0 lead in the first on base hits by Andretty Cordero (run scored) and Ariel Sandoval (RBI), Jack Conley's solo home run down the left-field line in the second upped the advantage to 2-0. In the home seventh the Good Guys broke it open with a four-spot, Jake Hoover started the rally with a walk and advanced to third on a Cordero base hit. A Gastonia fielding error allowed Hoover to score, Kelly Dugan followed with a two-run laser-beam onto the berm in left-center. Sandoval batted next and drew a walk, he would score on a Wilson Garcia single making it 6-0. That would be the final score thanks to the outing turned in by starting pitcher Brent Teller (seven innings, three hits allowed and four strikeouts), Jesus Liranzo and Andrew Lee locked it down with a perfect inning each in relief. Wednesday was a dreary day with rain in the forecast, it rained in Quarryville while I was with Jenny for lunch. It stayed dry in the city for most of the afternoon, around an hour before game time at the ballpark it began to mist lightly. On this night Gastonia evened the series with a 9-7 win that was not without controversy. The misty conditions stayed around all night, after six innings and with the field deteriorating the umpires halted play. Following a ten-minute delay that included heated discussion the game continued, after two batters play was again suspended and the game ultimately ruled official. The visiting Hunters led 4-0 after two innings and were never headed, the Stormers' runs came on solo home runs by Ariel Sandoval and Wilson Garcia, an Andretty Cordero single and a Yeison Coca RBI groundout, three other runs scored on Gastonia fielding errors. Dominic Disabatino went five innings and took the decision, Brian Marconi and Cole Aker worked in relief. I was absent on Thursday, the clubs finished the series with an 11:00 game. The rain was gone but it was cool and windy, Wednesday had been the first official day of summer but apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 16-18

Friday night on North Prince Street, the Barnstormers (fresh from their series in York) were returning home for the first of a nine-date homestand. The visiting Charleston Dirty Birds (what a name) scored twice in the first inning and added a single run in the third, in the home third Yeison Coca singled and advanced to second on an error, after a wild pitch Melvin Mercedes' sac fly brought Coca home putting the Stormers on the board at 3-1. In the fifth the Dirty Birds (really?) went ahead by three, the Stormers crawled back to within one in the bottom of the sixth. Coca drew a walk and took third on Mercedes' double, Andretty Cordero grounded out scoring Coca, Mercedes touched home on a dropped third strike making it 4-3. In the ninth Charleston added an insurance run and made it stand up for the 5-3 decision, Dominic Disabatino started and worked in to the eighth inning, Zach Warren and Andrew Lee finished it in relief. The series continued on Saturday night (Charleston win) and Sunday afternoon (Stormer win) but I was absent from both. Jenny's friend Courtney has three young daughters, the middle one (her name is Shania) turns six on the 19th and Saturday was her birthday party. It was held at a public park south of the city, there is a splashpad there which is very popular with children. It started around 4:00 or so, we were there until about 6:30 and nobody went home hungry. Sunday morning in Rothsville was week #8 of street hockey, Township won over Hillside and Warwick beat Ephrata. This was actually the last scheduled week, makeup games from April 30 are set for the 25th with the third-place and championship games following on July 9th.Take care. thanks for reading. 

June 12-15

The new week began with the first notable rainfall we've seen in some time, it moved in overnight and stuck around for most of the day. On Tuesday night we were West Of The River, the Barnstormers and the host Revolution began a three-game series in the Atlantic League's own particular version of the War Of The Roses. On this night in York Joseph Carpenter doubled and scored on Jake Hoover's triple in the second inning, Yeison Coca's groundout scored Hoover giving the Stormers an early 2-0 lead. In the home third Alexis Pantoja singled and advanced to third, Trey Martin's RBI hit put the Revs on the board at 2-1. The Stomers put up three runs in the fourth on RBI hits by Hoover, Coca and Andretty Cordero, in the bottom half Drew Mendoza singled and touched home on a double by Pantoja making it 5-2. In the top of the fifth Trayvon Robinson doubled and scored on a sac fly by Carpenter giving the Stormers a 6-2 lead, it would prove to be the last run the Stormers would get. In the home sixth Troy Stokes went yard to left-center with a man on base bringing the Revs to within 6-4. In the home seventh the Revolution loaded the bases with nobody out, after one run scored on a wild pitch it was Stokes coming through again with a two-run single to left giving the Home Team a 7-6 lead. In the ninth the Barnstormers put the tying run on second with one out but could not convert as the Revs took it 7-6. The starting pitchers were both long gone by the time it ended, J.T. Hintzen was the winner in relief of Pedro Vasquez with Victor Capellan earning the save, Bret Clarke took the loss in relief of Brandyn Sittinger. Wednesday was a softball night at Garrett Park, Memorial defeated Riverside in the only game scheduled. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 8-11

Thursday afternoon: it was announced that the Barnstormers game was still on but gametime was pushed back to 7:00 to allow an extra half-hour for the air quality to settle. At the ballpark the Stormers completed a sweep of the truncated series with a shutout victory over Lexington. All the scoring in this game took place in the middle three innings, the Stormers broke the scoreless tie with a four-run bat-around in the fourth. Trayvon Robinson started it with a base hit, after two were out Jack Conley doubled and Jake Hoover walked to load the bases. Yeison Coca reached on an infield single, the throw to first went down the rightfield line allowing all three runners to score (Coca was credited with one RBI). Melvin Mervedes followed with an RBI single scoring Coca with the inning's fourth run. In the fifth Robinson doubled and touched home on Joseph Carpenter's RBI single making it 5-0. In the sixth Coca and Mercedes drew consecutive walks, Coca scored on Andretty Cordero's RBI hit, a two-run single by Robinson plated Mercedes and Cordero with the final runs of an 8-0 win. On the mound Brandyn Sittinger worked five innings of one-hit ball for the decision, Bret Clarke pitched two spotless innings with Brian Marconi and Jesus Liranzo finishing it with an inning each. The ballclub hits the road for a week, the next home date is on Friday the 16th. With no baseball anywhere the weekend was very quiet save for Saturday lunch with Jenny and week #7 of Sunday hockey in Rothsville. Three new players joined the ranks bringing the total participation to fifty-three. Hillside won over Ephrata and Township beat Warwick, we're back at Lions Park on the 18th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 5-7

Monday night softball in Willow Street, LCM beat Riverside and Peach Bottom won over Memorial. On Tuesday the ballpark on North Prince Street was the site for the opener of a three-game series. The Lexington Legends began as an affiliated MiLB club in 2001, the franchise kept that identity when it came to the ALPB in 2021. During the offseason the organization elected to rebrand as the "CounterClocks" (don't ask), they were in town earlier in May but I missed the series entirely due to other commitments. Recent wildfires in Canada have been a major concern as the smoke and haze has filtered south over the Mid-Atlantic, as the night progressed and the lights took effect it was very noticeable. In the first inning Melvin Mercedes walked and Andretty Cordero singled, Kelly Dugan's RBI single and a Trayvon Robinson fielders-choice groundout gave the Barnstormers a 2-0 lead. The Clocks struck for two of their own in the second, the bottom half started with Jack Conley and Jake Hoover drawing back-to-back walks. Yeison Coca reached on an error allowing Conley to score, consecutive sacrifice flies by Mercedes and Cordero put the Stormers ahead 5-2. A run for Lexington in the fifth made it a 5-3 game, Dugan's two-run shot into the picnic deck in the last of the inning gave the Stormers a four-run advantage. Each team scored single runs in the seventh and eighth, the Stormers' coming on a solo shot by Dugan in the seventh and a Mercedes RBI double in the eighth. The final was 9-5, Nile Ball started and went six innings for the win with Cole Aker and Tyler Laporte in relief. On Wednesday there were reports all over about the air quality, big-league games all along the East Coast were being postponed. About forty-five minutes before game time the Barnstormers announced their game was off, I found out when I arrived in the parking lot. There were softball games scheduled at Garrett Park, I drove down to see if anything was happening. The over-60 league (!!!) was at the lower field getting ready for their 6:15 start, around 6:40 the teams scheduled for 7:00 on the upper field began to filter in. This was a one-game night for the SEL, Memorial defeated Riverside. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 1-4

There are two fields at Garrett Park in Willow Street, the "upper field" which has lights and a scoreboard is used by the Southern End League and the lower (no lights or scoreboard) is used by an over-60 league. On Thursday the 1st there was no action in the SEL but the over-60 league had a single game at 6:15. The league uses several modified rules due the ages of its players and it was entertaining in its own right, at my own age I can appreciate the fact that those guys are still playing a sport they obviously enjoy. On Friday the Barnstormers returned home after eleven days away, the Long Island Ducks were the opponent. The Atlantic League started in 1998 with six teams, Long Island joined via expansion in 2000 and they are currently the league's senior franchise (all of the original six are long gone). In 2022 the Barnstormers played a weekend series in July as the fictional "Lebanon Ironmasters", that promotion was repeated on this weekend complete with special uniforms. Melvin Mercedes and Yeison Coca started the Friday game with consecutive base hits, Andretty Cordero's infield groundout scored Mercedes and Coca touched home on Kelly Dugan's RBI single putting the Stormers up 2-0. The visitors from Central Islip, NY countered with three in the second, in the bottom half Joseph Carpenter (the Lebanon native) walked and Jack Conley singled him to third, an errant pickoff throw to first allowed Carpenter to score the tying run. In the third Trayvon Robinson doubled with two out, Chris Proctor singled Trayvon home and Carpenter followed with a two-run home run onto the berm in left field making it 6-3. Cordero started the fifth inning with a solo home run putting the Stormers ahead by four, in the sixth Long Island pulled to within 7-6 but could come no further. Brent Teller went the first six on the mound and picked up the win with Brandyn Sittinger, Mike Adams and Andrew Lee (save) each working a scoreless frame in relief. On Saturday in game #2 the Stormers again went up 2-0 on Carpenter's second-inning two-run homer, his second in as many games on Lebanon Weekend. Two runs for Long Island in the fifth evened the score, a single run in the sixth put the Ducks ahead 3-2. In the Stormer sixth Cordero doubled and Dugan reached on an error, Andretty scored on a wild pitch to tie it and a sacrifice fly by Proctor plated Kelly to put the Stormers back up 4-3. The pesky Ducks tied it in the seventh but in the bottom of the eighth Dugan fired a one-out missile over the picnic tents in right field giving the Stormers a 5-4 lead. Lee worked a perfect ninth for the save, Mike Adams was the winner in relief of starter Jared Lakind. The Stormers completed the series sweep on Sunday, I spent the morning in Rothsville at Lions Park. After a week off for the holiday we were back for week #6, Township beat Ephrata and Warwick won over Hillside. Take care, thanks for reading.