Back at the ballpark on Wednesday for game #2 of the Championship Series. The weather was somewhat similar to Tuesday with one major exception: there was no precipitation anywhere in the area, we actually had a peak of sunshine right around 6:30 gametime. The Barnstormers entered the game on an overall ten-game winning streak dating back to September 10, at home the club had won thirteen straight dating back to August 29. Sooner or later It Had To Happen and this night was apparently as good a time as any. In the North Division Series the Stormers were aided by nine Long Island errors in the three-game sweep, in the opener of this round three Gastonia errors played a major role in the Stormers' win. On this night the visiting Honey Hunters committed just one error and the Barnstormers had only six hits while Gastonia's bats came alive with a vengeance. The score was 2-2 entering the fourth inning where the Hunters scored three to break the tie, a four-run sixth and three more in the later innings blew the game wide open. The final was 12-3 with the Stormer tallies coming in three separate innings thanks to a Wilson Garcia RBI hit in the first, an Andretty Cordero sac fly in the third and a Garcia RBI groundout in the eighth. Matt Swarmer worked into the sixth inning and suffered the loss. One other item of interest involved a debut, Lehigh University product Luke Rettig (added to the roster on the season's last weekend) made his first professional appearance and pitched a scoreless ninth inning. A crowd of better than 4900 took in the last game of 2023 on North Prince Street, the series moves to North Carolina for what is now essentially a best two-of-three. Take care, thanks for reading.
