August 28-29

The comfortable temperatures and lower humidity were still in evidence at the start of the new week, on Tuesday night the Barnstormers continued the homestand as the Charleston Dirty Birds visited from the depths of the darkest mines of West Virginia (sometimes I think there must be some sort of competition within Minor League Sports to see who can come up with the strangest and most convoluted identity). On this night the Stormers put together a filthy first inning, after leadoff hitter Melvin Mercedes was retired Yeison Coca and Andretty Cordero posted back-to-back singles, a fielding error on Cordero's hit allowed Coca to score the inning's first run. Ariel Sandoval followed with a double to plate Cordero with run #2, after Wilson Garcia was hit by the pitch Joseph Carpenter stroked an RBI single scoring Sandoval with the third run. Chad Sedio skied to left for out #2, Shawon Dunston JR batted next and homered down the line in right to make it 6-0. That lead held up until the sixth when Charleston posted a single run, two more in the eighth made it a 6-3 game. In the home eighth the Stormers answered with three of their own, Garcia started it with a solo shot to right. Sedio was hit by the pitch and Dunston singled, Jack Conley's RBI double scored Sedio and sent Dunston to third, a wild pitch allowed Shawon to score the inning's third run. Charleston scored a cosmetic run in the ninth but it was nowhere near enough as the Stormers took it 9-4. Matt Swarmer earned the win with fine innings of no-hit ball, relief support came from Brian Marconi, Garrett Granitz and Nick Duron earing the save. The game started at 6:30 and was over before 9:00 largely thanks to the new "speed-up" rules being used throughout pro ball these days. Much was made of them when they were first implemented but now that everyone has become acclimated it never seems to be much an issue anymore and the games in general are moving at a much better pace. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 26-27

Saturday night baseball on North Prince Street, the Barnstormers hosted the Gastonia Honey Hunters in game #2 of the weekend series. The Stormers had lost on Friday in my absence, on this night they evened the series with a come-from-behind win. The visitors from the Tar Heel State carried a 2-0 advantage into the bottom of the fourth, Wilson Garcia reached on an error and scored on Trayon Robinson's two-out double putting the Stormers on the board at 2-1. Andretty Cordero's solo home run in the sixth tied the game at 2-2, a four-run Stormer seventh gave the club all the insurance it would need. Chris Proctor (back from an extended injury absence) doubled with one out and Melvin Mercedes drew a walk, after a Gastonia pitching change Cordero doubled to left-center scoring both runners to give the Stormers the lead. Ariel Sandoval batted next and sent a laser-beam onto the picnic pavilion in right putting the finishing touches on the 6-2 victory. Brandyn Sittinger worked two innings and won it in relief of starter Jaret Lakind, Nick Duron finished it with a scoreless ninth. On Sunday afternoon the teams convened for a 3:00 game, I elected to make another rare day-game appearance. Gametime temperature was 85 degrees, the same as Friday night at the football game but the differences were (1) much lower humidity, (2) a beautiful breeze blowing from right to left and (3) since I had missed Friday it was a makeup game of sorts. On this afternoon each team scored in the second, the Stormers' run coming on a double by Garcia and Robinson's RBI groundout. Gastonia went ahead 4-1 in the fourth, in the home half Joseph Carpenter went yard with a man on to make it 4-3, Robinson followed with a base hit and scored on a Shawn Dunston sac fly to even it at 4-4. It stayed that way until the ninth when the Honey Hunters pushed across the lead run and held it for a 5-4 win. Nile Ball started and went six, Mike Adams took the loss in relief. The club stays home for a series with Charleston starting on Tuesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 21-25

Another relatively quiet midweek led into a busy and very HOT Friday evening. This was opening weekend of my thirty-sixth year on the mic for football at McCaskey (already?), the Red Tornado hosted John Bartram (from Philadelphia) in a non-league game. In 2022 JPM won one game, that was over Bartram in overtime in Philly. The last time the program had a winning season was 2010, in the twelve years since the mark is just 25-94. The game on this night began at 7:00, gametime temperature was 85 degrees and there was ABSOLUTELY NO AIR in that stadium. The lack of anything that remotely resembled a BREEZE made the press box a sauna bath and the fact that the game lasted better than two-and-a-half hours made it all the more uncomfortable. When I work a football game I watch the plays develop through binoculars, when the lenses fog up from the heat and my eyeglasses are already fogged up from sweating it makes a tough job all the more a challenge. JPM lost the game 26-12, both scores for the Red Tornado coming on TD passes from quarterback Jalen Cintron to wideout Quimeak Talton. Neither team apparently had much confidence in its kicking game, Bartram scored four TDs and went for two after each with one successful conversion while JPM was 0-2 in two-point tries. The club plays its next two on the road, the next home game is September 15 versus division rival Hempfield. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 16-20

August 16 is always an important date on the calendar, it's Jenny's birthdate, When I first knew her she would look forward to her birthday but in recent years not so much, I guess she feels there is a stigma of some kind attached to "getting older". We marked the occasion with a visit to an Italian-style restaurant in Willow Street, the same place we'd been to the year before. At the ballpark in the evening, the first order of business was the competition of the suspended game from Tuesday. When last we left the long Island Ducks and the Lancaster Barnstormers the visitors had rallied from a two-run eighth-inning deficit to take a one-run lead. The resumption on Wednesday was anticlimactic, it only took about twenty-five minutes with no further scoring for Long Island to win it 7-6. Jaret Lakind had started the game on Tuesday, Zach Warren pitched the fateful eighth and took the loss. The regular game started right on time at 6:30 and for the Stormers the offensive highlights were in short supply. The club had only three base hits while the Ducks scored an equal number of runs for the 3-0 win. Nile Ball worked into the eighth inning and deserved a better fate. The series (and the homestand) finished on Thursday night with the Stormers again falling behind by two runs early, Ariel Sandoval got one of them back with a first-inning RBI single. Long Island extended the lead to 3-1 in the second, in the home third the Stormers tied it on solo home runs by Yeison Coca and Wilson Garcia. Each team scored twice in the fourth, the Barnstormer runs coming on a Jack Conley RBI single and an Andretty Cordero sac fly. In the sixth the Good Guys took the lead for good when Conley reached on a fielders choice and scored on a Melvin Mercedes single, after Coca drew a walk he and Mercedes pulled off a double-steal with Melvin scoring from third to make it 7-5. The Ducks kept it close with a run in the seventh but the Stormers added two in their half on RBI hits by Conley and Mercedes. The final was 9-6, Jeff Bain went six for the win with Brandyn Sittinger and Mike Adams (save) in relief. The weekend was uneventful except for the standard lunch with Jenny on Saturday, the ballclub is back home on Friday the 25th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

August 14-15

A typical Monday off-day in the Atlantic League was followed by the start of a new series at the ballpark on Tuesday. The Long Island Ducks (first-half North Division champion) were in town for a game that started slowly and ended unresolved for at least another day. Through five innings the score stood 2-0 in favor of the visitors but from there the runs (and eventually the weather) came fast and furious. A two-run single in the home sixth by Wilson Garcia drew the Barnstormers even at 2-2, in the top of the seventh the Ducks answered in kind with two of their own to reclaim the lead. After the stretch it was the Stormers turn, Yeison's Coca' two-out two-run single with the bases loaded evened the score at 4-4. Andretty Cordero batted next and lined a double into left-center to score two more putting the Stormers up 6-4. In the eighth the madness reached its peak as Long Island scored three two-out runs to go ahead 7-6. Just as the lead run crossed the plate it began to rain lightly, within the next thirty seconds the skies opened and it was a deluge. The tarp crew rushed to get the field covered but the rain was coming too quickly, by the time the tarp was down the infield had been thoroughly wiped out. After the required wait time the game was ruled suspended to be completed ahead of the scheduled game on Wednesday beginning at 5:00. The storm only lasted for about ten minutes or so, it was gone just as quickly as it arrived but it hung around just long enough to do its damage. Take care, thanks for reading. 

August 12-13

Saturday night at the ballpark for game #2 with the ALPB club By Any Other Name from Frederick, Maryland. The team actually began the season with no nickname, they were the "Frederick Baseball Club" and wore generic uniforms with question marks all over them (? indeed) while ballyhooing The Big Reveal in late June. Right now it appears the "Spire City" Ghost Hounds are sticking around for 2024 and beyond, with neighboring Hagerstown scheduled to join up as well the league may look a little different when April rolls around. On this night the visiting Hounds scored two runs each in the second, fourth, fifth and eighth innings, a six-run ninth ripped it wide open as SC won it going away 14-4. The Stormers scored twice in the third on an RBI triple by Melvin Mercedes and a wild pitch, single runs came in the fourth and eighth on run-scoring hits by Joseph Carpenter and Shawon Dunston JR. Berks County native Matt Swarmer (former big-leaguer with the Chicago Cubs) made his Barnstormer debut and took the decision. The series ended on Sunday afternoon with an unusual 5:00 start, the later game time allowed me to make an equally unusual Sunday appearance. Wilson Garcia's RBI hit in the first put the Stormers on the board, after Spire City scored twice in the second the Home Team tied it 2-2 on a Dunston double and Trace Loehr's RBI groundout. A four-run sixth put the Stormers in charge, Anthony Peroni drove in two of them with a double, Loehr had an RBI single and the fourth came home on a wild pitch. A solo home run to right by Dunston in the eighth put the ribbon on a 7-2 win, Brent Teller went six innings for the win with Zach Warren and Brandyn Sittinger in relief. The homestand continues on Tuesday with the Long Island Ducks visiting. Take care, thanks for reading. 

August 7-11

Not much happening through the early part of the week since softball season in Willow Street is over, on Friday the Barnstormers returned home for the start of a six-day homestand. The Spire City Ghost Hounds were visiting from western Maryland for the third and final time in 2023, on this night they took an early 2-0 lead in the first but would not score after that. The Barnstormers got on the board in the third, Jack Conley drew a walk and advanced to third on a Trace Loehr single, Andretty Cordero's sac fly scored Conley making it 2-1. In the fifth back-to-back singles by Loehr and Melvin Mercedes put runners on the corners with one out, Mercedes was caught stealing but Loehr would score on a wild pitch to tie the game 2-2. Yeison Coca (not noted for the longball) went yard onto the picnic pavilion in right giving the Stormers a one-run advantage, Cordero kept the rally going with a double and Ariel Sandoval followed with an RBI single plating Codero to make it 4-2. There was no further scoring as starter Jeff Bain earned the win with six innings of work, relief support featured an inning each from Zach Warren, Nick Duron and Mike Adams for the save in the ninth. The series continues on Saturday with a rare 5:00 game on Sunday. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 4-6

A quiet Friday and a relatively lazy Sunday provided the perfect bookends for a busy Saturday. At the ballpark the gates opened at 11:30 for the second annual Battle Of The Unions. On-field activity began straight up at High Noon, as it did in 2022 the day featured a round-robin softball tournament with the city police, firefighters and municipal workers. The president of the municipal workers union is the man who organized the event, he had contacted me to work the mic in '22 and I was more than willing to be back on this day for the second go-round. The day was a fundraiser for the local homelessness coalition, close to $4000 was raised for the cause. A good number of vendors were present with many offering the chance to win door prizes and there was live music outside the ballpark and in the food court area for most of the day. The firefighters won the championship over the police in the inaugural event, this time it was the other way around as the police took home the trophy with a win over the firefighters. We were finished around 5:15 or so and by all accounts everybody went home happy. Jenny and I had lunch on Sunday since we had missed out the day before, there really isn't much difference between the two and it's always good to get out of the house on a Sunday. Take care, thanks for reading. 

August 2-3

Softball playoffs at Garrett Park have been completed, the losers bracket semifinal and final were played on Tuesday night. Memorial beat Riverside and subsequently lost to Kelly's, on Wednesday in the championship Peach Bottom eliminated Kelly's to win the title. Fast-pitch softball these days isn't as big as it once was during the Conlin Field era but it was fun hanging out in Willow Street, I'll miss it until it starts again next May. Wednesday night in the city on North Prince Street for game #2 with Charleston, the Barnstormers took a quick lead in the first on Joseph Carpenter's two-run single. The West Virginians cut the lead to one in the third, in the home sixth Jack Conley went yard with a man on giving the Stormers a 4-1 advantage. A two-run Charleston eighth made it 4-3 but the Stormer bullpen held the fort from there, Brent Teller went six for the win with Zach Warren, Brandyn Sittinger and Mike Adams (save) working an inning each. In the rubber game on Thursday it was just about all Stormers from the proverbial word Go, the club unleashed a six-homer salvo and won handily 14-4. It was eerily reminiscent of that game against Spire City on July 8 when the Stormers won by thirteen runs, every man in the starting nine was involved in the scoring. Wilson Garcia had the biggest night with two home runs, a double, three runs scored and three RBI, Andretty Cordero had three hits including a home run, two runs and three ribbies. Shawn Dunston had a long ball, a triple, two runs and three RBI, Joseph Carpenter went yard with two runs and two RBI. Anthony Peroni rounded out the Home Run Derby with a solo shot, Yeison Coca had two hits and scored twice, Ariel Sandoval had an RBI double and scored a run, Trayvon Robinson reached base three times and scored once, Trace Loehr rounded out the book with a sac fly RBI. On the mound Jaret Lakind went five for the decision with bullpen support from Sittinger, Garrett Granitz and newcomer Nolan Long. The Stormers are back home on Friday the 11th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 31-August 1

The first day of the new week was the final day of the old month, softball playoffs continued on Monday night at Garrett Park. These were the games rescheduled from the previous Thursday, the first game was the winners bracket final between Kelly's and Peach Bottom. PB rallied from 3-0 down in the third with a single run in the fourth and three with two out in the seventh to win 4-3. The nightcap was a lower bracket elimination game, Memorial advanced with a 6-3 decision over LCM. That set up the Tuesday night schedule with Memorial meeting Riverside, the winner of that game immediately facing off with Kelly's for the right to meet Peach Bottom for the championship on Wednesday. On Tuesday I was in town at the ballpark, the Barnstormers continued their homestand with a visit from the Charleston Dirty Birds. The visitors from West Virginia scored once in the first and thrice in the second, they would not score again but they wouldn't need to. The Stormers got on the board in the sixth on Ariel Sandoval's RBI single, another run scored in the seventh on an RBI double by Trayvon Robinson but the ballclub came no closer in a 4-2 loss. Dominic Disabatino went the first five and took the loss with Bret Clarke, Brian Marconi, Nick Duron and newcomer (and former big-leaguer) Cody Stashak working an inning each in relief. The series continues on Wednesday and Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.