December 28-31

Up and at it early on Saturday at McCaskey for day #2 of the annual holiday tournament. The day started at 12:30 with a JV game, JPM improved to 3-6 with a win over York. On Friday evening in my absence the varsity had lost to Harrisburg in overtime, on this day the boys fell to Upper Darby (from the western Philadelphia suburbs) in the consolation game 77-69. Deandre Jones had a monster game with 36 points, coupled with his 32-point effort against Harrisburg that earned him JPM's MVP award for the tournament (each team's coaching staff selects an MVP from their squad, the winning team receives the championship plaque). Jaloney Porter was the only other man in double figures with 16 as the club drops to 2-8, they have lost three straight since the win over Cedar Crest. In the title game it was the York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association against the Mid-Penn Conference, York won over Harrisburg 53-42 (fun fact: prior to the formation of the Lancaster-Lebanon League in 1972 McCaskey, York and Harrisburg were all members of the old Central Penn League, the Mid-Penn's predecessor). The day finally ended around 5:45 or so, with the hockey game on Friday factored in it all added up to a solid night's sleep into Sunday. The final few days of the calendar year were relatively quiet, on Tuesday we had our midweek lunch visit with Jenny and her mother. There was a New Years Eve celebration at the ballpark on Tuesday evening and of course it RAINED, no matter to me since I was warm and dry at home. Thanks for joining me for another year here in Internet Blogland, everybody. Take care and we'll see you on the other side In The Year 2025 ("if Man is still alive, if Woman can survive").

December 23-27

It's well-documented that I'm not a fan of this time of year, for the most part I find it horribly depressing and if not for Jenny it would be no more than a big steaming pile of nothing. The big day itself (lower-case intended) was on Wednesday, Helen made a meal of ham, mashed potatoes and corn. Since her surgery in November Jenny has been eating smaller portions and getting full sooner, I told her that is to be expected. There are still some things she needs to stay away from at least for now but she can eat her fill without any issues. On Friday it was a hockey night in downtown Reading, the Royals hosted the Worcester Railers in the last home game of the calendar year. During the week a water pipe broke inside the Arena causing damage to the suite level on the Penn Street side, it also affected the Royals' corporate offices but not the ability to actually play hockey. On this night the clubs skated through a scoreless first period, early in the second Shane Seller lit the lamp for a 1-0 Royals lead. Midway through the period Seller struck again to make it 2-0 but in the third the visitors from central Massachusetts got on the board at 2-1. Down the stretch Worcester pulled the goalie for the extra attacker but Vinnie Purpura and the defense corps put up the brick wall and earned the one-goal victory. It's the first win at home for the Royals since November 9 (!!!) and puts an end to an unsightly seven-game (0-5-2) losing streak at the Arena. The club reaches the one-third pole of its home slate at 3-6-3, with one game left to reach the midpoint of the road schedule the overall mark stands at 10-15-4. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 20-22

The winter season officially began on December 21 but the weatherman apparently didn't get the memo, Friday brought frigid temperatures and swirling flurries. It never amounted to anything big except for laying on grassy areas, the afternoon drive and evening return home from Reading was no problem. After four straight nights on the hardwood it was a hockey night at the Arena, the Adirondack Thunder visited for the second time in December. The result on this night was depressingly familiar, the Royals fell behind early and never recovered in a 4-1 loss, the third consecutive home game lost by that particular score. Todd Skirving scored the lone goal for the Royals with five minutes left in the third period which did little more than erase the zero. The highlight of the night was a scrum along the boards as the first period ended, several penalties were accessed including fighting majors to the respective goaltenders. It was the first goalie fight at the Arena since Brandon Anderson dropped the gloves in a game against the Evansville Icemen back in 2014. Keith Petruzzelli started in net for the Royals and played the first period before leaving, Vinnie Purpura mopped up in relief. The team drops to 2-6-3 at home with the Worcester Railers coming to town on the 27th. The rest of the weekend was quiet (and very cold), on Saturday the Royals traveled to Glens Falls for the back end of the home-and-home and won 6-3. That improves the road record to 7-9-1 and overall to 9-15-4. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 18-19

Wednesday night: back at Stevens College with Jerry Johnson and another La Academia home game, the last of three straight with one more scheduled in January. The club had won on Tuesday in my absence, on this night Devon Preparatory School visited from the suburban Philadelphia area. It was LA's Senior Night (in December?), before the game Aiden Mattern was recognized as the team's lone senior. Jerry Johnson Jr. (the coach's son, more affectionately known as "J.J.") entered the game needing six points for 1000, he reached the magic number on a three-point goal midway through the second quarter. The program has only been in existence since 2019, J.J. is the first player in school history to reach 1000 career points. Devon Prep is one of the top "small school" programs in the entire state, they ruined the party with a 50-41 win. On Thursday we were back at McCaskey, after two straight on the road the Red Tornado hosted Manheim Township. Both JV and varsity entered the evening at 2-5 and exited 2-6, the JV lost by eleven and the varsity went down 95-87. The game was played at a blistering pace and was somewhat inequitable in terms of fouls (nothing unusual for us, we've been dealing with since 1972), it just makes you wonder how one team can make more fouls shots than their opponent even gets to attempt. Jaloney Porter continued his torrid pace with forty points (that's 4-0), Deandre Jones also hit doubles with 21. Eddie Bencosme had nine, Avery Stauffer (back from a four-game injury absence) added eight, Amir Thompson-Hanson had six and Anthony Jimenez rounded out the book with three. The club has off until after the holiday break, the next game is on Friday the 27th in the annual holiday tournament. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 16-17

Saw where this blog recently surpassed 81,000 pageviews since its inception in 2010, I don't know who actually reads the drivel and minutiae I write about but I thank you for your patronage. Monday signaled the start of what should be a very busy week, in the evening I was at Stevens College on East King Street. Jerry Johnson's La Academia Charter School played the first of three straight home dates, whenever they can arrange to play a "home " game (which isn't often) Jerry asks me if I'm available to work the PA. The opponent on this night was Steelton-Highspire from suburban Harrisburg, La Academia won the game 68-61. On Tuesday I was at McCaskey for the team's bus ride north into Lebanon County, the second for the team in five days. On Friday the boys played in Lebanon and lost, on this night we ventured to Cedar Crest. The JV squad lost to fall to 2-5, the varsity game was your typical fifteen-round middle-of-the-ring slugfest to the finish. In 2023 we won at CC by two points when a last-second shot rolled around the rim and fell out at the buzzer, on this night the ending was almost exactly the same. The teams combined to utilize six timeouts in the last fifty-one seconds, when it all shook out at the end Cedar Crest had an inbounds play down by three with 0.4 seconds on the clock. They got it inbounded before the buzzer sounded, the desperation three-ball from the corner rimmed around and out as JPM held on for a huge 65-62 win. Only four players scored for JPM but it was enough, Jaloney Porter continued his emergence with a career-high 35 points, Deandre Jones scored 18, Eddie Bencosme added eight and Chris Hernandez scored four key points. Over the years Cedar Crest has been one difficult place to play, there is nothing inherently inhospitable about the gym itself, it's just an environment where you simply never feel comfortable. Coming home with a big win to improve to 2-5 was one thing but more importantly we've done our time in Lebanon County for the season, the boys continue the gauntlet against Manheim Township on Thursday the 19th. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 13-15

Friday night in downtown Reading as the Wheeling Nailers visited for a two-game set marking their final appearances in the regular season. The league schedule has never been based on any kind of balance, it's more a matter of geography. In '24-25 the Royals play sixty of their seventy-two games against divisional opponents, the Nailers play only thirty within the division (there are simply more teams from other divisions that are geographically closer to West Virginia than the teams in the North Division). Through the first one-third of the season the Royals' offensive struggles have been well-documented, on this weekend the issues were magnified. The club currently has ten players out of the lineup, on Friday they played two men short due to a shortage of healthy bodies. In the Friday opener Todd Skirving scored in the game's first two minutes to give the Good Guys a 1-0 lead but the Nailers retaliated with three within six minutes late in the period, another Wheeling goal in the second period ended the scoring in a 4-1 Nailer win. On Saturday the game unfolded in a different manner but the result was exactly the same. Wheeling took a 2-0 second-period lead before Austin Master (a '23-24 Royal recently resigned) put the Home Team on the board but early in the third two more Nailer scores salted away a second consecutive 4-1 victory, Keith Petruzzelli was goaltender of record both nights for the Royals. Wheeling entered the weekend on a 12-0-1 streak not having lost in regulation time since November 1st, that run was extended with these two games. The Royals stand at 8-14-4 overall and just 2-5-3 at home, they'll have a chance for some quality practice time and hopefully get some people healthy before the next home game on December 20. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 9-12

Monday evening at McCaskey, the girls basketball squad was in action. Most of their dates coincide with when the boys play, if I'm able to see them more than once a season I consider myself lucky. Boiling Springs visited from Cumberland County (about an hour's drive give or take) and left town with a sixteen-point win, at one point in the fourth quarter a fan loudly protested an official's call and was ejected from the premises. On Tuesday night the boys returned to action at home, longtime state power Reading High was the opponent. Both the JV and varsity had won on Saturday (over Octorara and Solanco respectively) but on this night the winning streaks ended with a resounding thud. The JV lost by twenty-nine and the varsity lost 83-56. Jaloney Porter had his breakout night with 26 points, Deandre Jones returned to the lineup and scored 16 but it wasn't nearly enough to ward off a fourth loss in five games. League/divisional play starts on the 13th on the road against a vastly improved and suddenly very tough Lebanon team, the gauntlet continues on the 17th at Cedar Crest and at home on the 19th against Manheim Township and there isn't an easy touch in the bunch. Take care, thanks for reading. 

December 6-8

Friday late afternoon at JPM for the first round of the Tipoff Tournament, the tripleheader started at 4:30 with a JV game. JPM lost to one-time league opponent Solanco, in the first varsity semifinal at 6:00 Solanco lost to Octorara (fellow LL entry from Atglen, Chester County). The second varsity game at 7:30 featured the Red Tornado taking on Kennett (from Kennett Square, also in Chester County), the boys dropped to 0-3 with a 64-48 loss. Amir Thompson-Hanson was high man with 16 and Jaloney Porter added 15 but they were the only two in double figures. On Saturday the tournament concluded in my absence, JPM finally got off the schneid with a 59-51 win over Solanco in the consolation game (for the record Octorara defeated Kennett for the tournament title). I was not there because it was a hockey night in downtown Reading, the Royals returned home for the first time since November 23. For Jenny and her mother it was a homecoming of sorts, they had not been in attendance since November 9 (and you'd be surprised how many people noticed and asked Jenny how she was doing). This was the annual Military Appreciation/Teddy Bear Toss game, the game puck was delivered by an Army National Guardsman descending on rope from the Arena rafters. The Adirondack Thunder was in town for the first of five regular season visits, they scored first and led 1-0 after one period. Midway through the second Mason Primeau (Phantoms assignee and the nephew of longtime NHLer Keith Primeau) scored the Teddy Bear goal to tie the game, early in the third Jake Smith ('23-24 Royal recently returned) gave the Home Team a 2-1 advantage. ADK knotted the game 2-2 with seven minutes left and set the stage for the Dreaded Overtime, in the extra stanza the Thunder won it on a score with SEVEN seconds left on the clock. This is the fourth OT loss for the Royals, three of them at home with all three coming in cruelly spectacular fashion. Keith Petruzzelli took the decision as the home record drops to 2-3-3, 7-11-4 overall. The club plays twice on the road before returning home on Friday the 13th. Take care, thanks for reading.

December 2-5

Tuesday afternoon at McCaskey as we boarded the bus for the season's first road game, we made the thirty-mile trip west to Dallastown in York County. This was our third consecutive year with Dallastown as a non-league opponent, by some strange quirk in the schedule this was the second straight season we traveled to their gym. It was on this very day eleven months earlier in this very building where Jared Kumah (arguably our best player at the time) suffered a high-school-career-ending injury, we were 4-6 at that point and won only three more the rest of the season. On this night the varsity game was a little over five minutes old when a Dallastown player went down on the opposite endline, there was close to a twenty-minute delay while an ambulance was summoned. I told Freddy (only half-kiddingly) we should never play in this gym again because it is a JINX pure and simple. The games themselves were not kind to JPM, the JV lost handily and the varsity (playing without arguably our best player right now) lost 77-56. Three players hit double figures, Eddie Bencosme led with 15, Jaloney Porter added 11 and Amir Thompson-Hanson hit for ten but the club was missing Deandre Jones, out of the lineup for one of what I call The Three "I"s. The team next plays on Friday night at home in the opening round of the annual Tipoff Tournament (which in theory should be on the season's FIRST weekend but nothing seems to be making much sense these days). On Wednesday morning Jenny and her mother were at the health campus for the long-awaited follow-up on her surgical procedure. The doctors said the healing process went exceptionally well, they also gave some guidance as to what her diet may consist of  going forward. The last three-plus weeks have been no fun for Jenny but it appears now that the worst is over. Take care, thanks for reading. 

November 28-December 1

Jenny and Helen usually visit relatives for the Thanksgiving holiday but this time around they stayed home because Jenny isn't cleared for travel just yet. Helen made a modest meal and invited me to join them, Jenny had some mashed potatoes with gravy and a small piece of pumpkin pie which all stayed down so that's a good sign. Her liquid diet ends on December 2 and she sees the doctor on the 4th. Saturday afternoon at 1:00 we were at McCaskey as the bell rang on the new basketball season, the Red Tornado hosted Penn Wood from suburban Philadelphia. The JV squad (with three returnees from '23-24) lost by six points, the varsity fell 61-59. Nine players appeared with five getting into the scoring column, DeAndre Jones led with 23, Avery Stauffer had 12 and JaLoney Porter had 11, Amir Thompson-Hanson (a freshman who is built like a linebacker) added nine and Adrian Rodriguez (a familiar name from the baseball diamond) scored four points in his varsity debut. There were things both good and bad to take from this game but it was only the First Game, there is a lot of ball left to play. The boys next play on the 3rd in Dallastown aka The Scene Of The Crime (see the January 3 blog entry for the reason why). We were all done by 5:00, I went to Jenny's house for the usual Saturday lunch and grocery run for Helen albeit about six hours later than normal. The final month of the year began on Sunday, the JPM football program had its annual awards banquet at a local facility with a good meal included. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 23-27

Saturday night at the Arena for the back end of the weekend homestand, the Maine Mariners visited for the first of seven dates. Within the division Maine and Norfolk are the most frequent visitors with seven dates each, Adirondack and Trois-Rivieres come in five times, Wheeling four and Worcester three. On this night the Royals played another competitive game but again fell by one goal 3-2. Phantoms assignees Sawyer Boulton and Matt Brown (an ECHL mid-season All-Star as a Royal in '23-24) were the goal-scorers, Vinnie Purpura made his home debut in net and suffered the loss. The club's record of 6-10-3 is obviously not what anyone wants right now but the problem is very clear: the team is simply not scoring enough to win. The defense and goaltending has been reasonably good allowing a little over three goals per game but the offense is only scoring slightly over two-and a half goals per game and that isn't going to get the job done. The boys play their next two on the road, the next home date is on December 7. High school basketball practice is well underway, on Tuesday we were at McCaskey. Freddy Ramos is back for his seventh season as the head man, on this night the Red Tornado hosted Wilson for a preseason scrimmage. As it stands right now the organization has twenty-four players (including thirteen returnees from the previous season) evenly divided between Varsity and Junior Varsity, there are seven seniors, five juniors, ten sophomores and two freshman. In '23-24 the JV squad finished at 9-13 while the varsity started 5-6 before falling apart in the second half and limping to the finish line at 7-15, one can only hope that the team chemistry is better this time around. The season starts for real at home on the 30th (and it has been many years since it began on Thanksgiving weekend). Take care, thanks for reading. 

November 18-22

Jenny and her mother were in town on Monday for Jenny's surgical procedure, they arrived at the hospital around 7:30. The procedure itself was scheduled for 11:30, at 12:15 Helen called and said that all had gone well. After a stretch in recovery they had Jenny in her room around 2:30 or so, shortly after that Helen called again and I picked her up. We went to a local establishment and had a good substantial supper, then we returned to check in on Jenny. She was half-awake and barely able to keep her eyes open but she knew we were there, later on Helen came to my place and spent the night (since the hospital wouldn't allow her to stay there overnight). We had it all prearranged (after her episode in October of  '23 we merely make sure she's not left alone), she slept in the back bedroom and I looked in on her periodically. Helen was awake and up before me on Tuesday morning, shortly before 11:00 we got the word that Jenny was being discharged. We got her home in good order, from here she has another two weeks of liquid diet before she can return to solid food. It's a struggle for her right now but in the long run she'll be better off. SPEAKING OF STRUGGLES: the Royals completed a 1-3-1 road trip with a Wednesday night loss in Norfolk, on Friday evening the Admirals came to Reading for the back end of the home-and home. The roster was fortified with two assignees from the Phantoms, thus far thirteen players on AHL contracts have appeared for the Royals. On this night Norfolk scored the first goal but the Royals replied on scores by Tyler Gratton and Jacques Bouquot to lead 2-1 at the first intermission. The Admirals took a 3-2 advantage into the third period, with three minutes left newcomer Ryan Leibold found the net to tie it 3-3, In overtime the Ads had the last shot and won 4-3, Keith Petruzzelli suffered the loss. This is the Royals' third OT loss with two of them occurring when the club was less than a minute from winning in regulation, the record at home stands at 2-2-2 and overall 6-9-3. The Royals have already played one-third of their road schedule and one-fourth of the overall schedule and it's not even December yet, the club stays home to host Maine on the 23rd. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 9-17

Saturday night in downtown Reading as the Royals hosted the Indy Fuel in the first of a back-to-back, this was the Fuel's first appearance at the Arena since opening weekend back in October 2022. The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first on a shorthanded breakaway score from Lou-Felix Denis (pronounced "dah-NEE"), after Indy tied it in the second Phantoms assignee Sam Sedley gave the Good Guys a 2-1 advantage entering the final frame. Scores by Tyler Gratton and Parker AuCoin (the capital C is correct) thirty-four seconds apart put the Royals up 4-1 early in the period, in the late going Indy got one back but Keith Petruzzelli shut the door from there for the 4-2 win. On Sunday morning we were in Rothsville for the street hockey Grand Finale, in the "bronze medal" game Township beat Hillside and for The Gold Warwick won over Ephrata. Forty-eight players participated, forty-three of them qualified for the postseason and thirty-six were in attendance. It's Warwick's first championship since the very first season back in the spring of 2021, overall through eight seasons Township has won three titles, Ephrata and Warwick two each and Hillside one. If all goes well we'll be back in April for the ninth season at Lions Park. We were done around 12:30, by shortly after 1:00 I was back at the Arena for game #2 with Indy. Offensive highlights on this day were few and far between for the Royals, in the third period the Fuel scored first and went on to a 3-0 win. Indy scored at even strength, on the power play and into the empty net, Parker Gahagen started in goal for the Royals and deserved better. The club plays its next five on the road before returning home on Friday the 22nd. The week following had very little going on except for Jenny beginning a liquid diet in preparation for a surgical procedure. She has been considering this for some time, it's scheduled for Monday the 18th and she should be home the following day. Take care, thanks for reading.

November 1-8

The beginning of November was as quiet as the end of October, on the 3rd we were in Rothsville for the last regular-season week of street hockey at Lions Park. For a third consecutive week a full three-quarters of the enrollment was present, thirty-six of the forty-eight played on this day. Warwick defeated Township via shootout and Ephrata won over Hillside, the postseason games are on November 10. We had planned on playing the September 29 rainouts on that day but that won't happen for two reasons: (1) they don't matter because all four spots in the standings are clinched and (2) they are the same matchups that are happening in the postseason (Hillside vs Township in the consolation game, Ephrata vs Warwick for the championship). On Wednesday night we were with the Royals at the Arena, the Norfolk Admirals were the opponent for the first of their seven visits. The Royals struggled through a difficult 0-4 road trip, on this night the winless streak reached five with a 6-5 loss in overtime. The first scores didn't come until the second period, Phantoms assignee Matt Miller and team captain Todd Skirving lit the lamp fifty seconds apart but the Admirals rallied to tie it 2-2 at the intermission. Norfolk took the lead thirty-eight seconds into the third before Travis Broughman brought the Royals even, another Ads goal was countered by Gianfranco Cassaro (another Phantom assignee) to make it 4-4 midway through the period. Tyler Gratton gave the Royals a 5-4 lead with five minutes left, in the final moments Norfolk tied it with goalie pulled to force the game into OT. Midway through the extra period the Admirals were awarded a power play and cashed in on it for the win, Parker Gahagen was the Royals goalie of record. The club stands at 1-1-1 on home ice and 4-5-1 overall, the Indy Fuel visits from the league's Western Conference on the 9th and 10th. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 26-31

Saturday night in downtown Reading for the twenty-third home opener in Royals history, the Wheeling Nailers were the opponent. Wheeling was last in our division in 2017-18, the following year they were replaced by Newfoundland and Maine. With the late Growlers now disbanded the Nailers are back in the fold as a divisional rival. On this night the game started about as poorly as you could imagine, in the early going of the second period the Royals trailed 3-0. Goals by Todd Skirving and Connor McMenamin a minute apart brought the club back to within one, early in the third Travis Broughman pulled the Royals even at 3-3. Wheeling retook the lead moments later and added an insurance marker, with a minute left Skirving made it 5-4 but the Royals could not find the equalizer as Parker Gahagen took the loss in net. Sunday was a busy day, it began with two games in Rothsville. One new player joined up raising the total to forty-eight, thirty-six were in attendance. On this day Warwick beat Hillside and Ephrata won over Township, the regular season finishes on November 3. We were done by 12:30, from there I highballed it north to the Arena for the back end of the weekend. This day was just about all Royals from the get-go, scores by Connor McMenamin and AHL Phantoms assignee Jacques Bouquot (pronounced "boo-coh") made it 2-0 in the first five minutes. Wheeling got one back midway through the period, that slim lead stood up until Todd Skirving made it 3-1 early in the third. In the late going the Nailers pulled the goalie, Powell Connor hit the net from the defensive zone putting the lid on a 4-1 Royals win. Goaltender Keith Petruzzelli (another Phantom assignee and a former teammate with Skirving in St. John's) picked the win as the Royals split the weekend at home and stand at 4-1-0 overall, the club returns home on November 6. I got back home around 6:15 to discover the power out in my neighborhood, the family next door said it had gone out about twenty minutes earlier. It was finally restored about three hours later, in the meantime there was little to do but sit in the dark and wait. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 21-25

Tuesday night at McCaskey, the boys soccer team qualified for district playoffs. This was a #11 vs #6 seed matchup with Mechanicsburg visiting from the suburban Harrisburg area, about a 45-mile drive. The Red Tornado took two separate one-goal leads but were caught both times, Mechanicsburg's second goal came with just two minutes left in regulation play. After eighty minutes of regulation and another thirty minutes of overtime the game was resolved via penalty kicks, the soccer equivalent of a hockey shootout. It took nine rounds and thirteen total goals for the visitors to prevail 3-2. The game started shortly after 7:00 and wasn't over until 9:50, with it all I got home almost three hours after it began. Jenny and I had our usual lunch date on Wednesday, on Friday evening we were back at McCaskey for the final game of football season. The team began with two wins in the first three games, from there it was all downhill if not outright freefall. On this night visiting Penn Manor entered having scored forty-eights points on the season and exited with a 44-6 win. The lone score for JPM came on a Jalen Cintron four-yard carry in the third quarter, the two-point convert failed. The last winning season for the program was in 2010, in fourteen years since the mark is 29-111 (if it was baseball we'd be entering serious White Sox territory). The two victories were by an average of seventeen points, the eight losses were by an average of thirty-five. The highlight of the night was the annual Senior Night activities, in the pregame I introduced thirteen players and twelve cheerleaders and at halftime one of the associate band directors emceed their festivities (gives me a chance to take a breath and relax). Take care, thanks for reading.

October 14-20

Picked up my car at the service center on Tuesday morning, I noticed the engine was running hot on Friday and it persisted into Saturday morning. Under the circumstances I did not feel good about driving it to Reading in the afternoon, I took a ride-for-hire to the game at the Arena and one of the good people in our front office brought me home (Jenny and Helen elected not to attend but they'll be around when the regular season starts). After the problem continued into Sunday I dropped the car at the service center when I got back from Rothsville. They discovered one of the hoses leading into the radiator was leaking and three others in various stages of decay, they replaced all of them and gave the car a clean bill of health. The rest of the week had little going save for one night at the Arena and one morning in Rothsville. On Tuesday evening the organization hosted its annual meet-and-great event, head coach Jason Binkley and the entire 23-man roster was present for autographs and photos. On Sunday morning we were back at Lions Park for street hockey week #6, thirty-six players were present among the four teams. Warwick won over Ephrata and Township defeated Hillside, the league continues on the 27th. Take care, thanks for reading.

October 12-13

Saturday night at the Arena for the unofficial beginning of the 2024-25 hockey season, the Royals hosted the Adirondack Thunder in an exhibition (oh, I'm sorry, excuse me....PRESEASON) game. When we started in 2001 the late Trenton Titans were our usual preseason foe, in the latter part of the decade we played the also-defunct Elmira Jackals and still later we scheduled Wheeling and Norfolk but since 2017 the Thunder has been our exclusive preseason opponent. The Royals were in Glens Falls on Friday and won 4-2, on this night the Thunder came to town and left with a win by the exact same score. Tyler Gratton and former Newfoundland Growler Todd Skirving scored for the Royals, Parker Gahagen was goaltender of record. Skirving is a six-year veteran who played in St. John's for the last five, he's been named team captain and his presence should be huge in the locker room. The season starts for real on the 18th, the club opens at home with a Saturday date on the 26th. Sunday morning in Rothsville was warm and clear for week #5 of street hockey at Lions Park, thirty-four of the league's forty-seven players were on hand. Warwick defeated Township and Ephrata won over Hillside, we're back for week #6 on the 20th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

October 7-11

A quiet start to the new week, on Thursday I was at the Arena on Penn Street for the first time since April 13. This was the annual run-through night for the production staff in anticipation of the new season, the club plays a home exhibition game on the 12th. Training Camp started earlier in the week, head coach Jason Binkley's roster includes returning forwards Shane Sellar, Tyler Gratton and Connor McMenamin, defensemen Tony Malinowski, Kenny Johnson and Powell Connor plus goaltender Parker Gahagen (Yvan Mongo is also on the roster but is recovering from injury, he's expected to report when healthy). The league season starts with three on the road before the home opener on the 26th. The Royals host their six divisional opponents (with our old friends the Wheeling Nailers replacing the now-defunct Newfoundland Growlers), also on the home schedule are the Indy Fuel who last visited in October of 2022 and the Jacksonville Icemen for the first time since November of 2017. Friday was a football night at McCaskey, after two weeks away the Red Tornado was at home versus Cedar Crest. It was Hall-Of-Fame Night and Homecoming, all the festivities took place at halftime and of course I was at the mic for All Of It. The game itself was very similar to any number of game nights in recent years, JPM fell behind early and could never quite catch up. The final score was 39-18, the Red Tornado scored three unconverted touchdowns and DeAndre Jones was involved in each. Dre passed to Quinnes Jones-Hawkins for a 23-yard score and ran for two himself from five and thirty yards respectively. The club has two games left including the final home date on the 25th. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 30-October 6

Three straight nights of work started the new week thanks to three straight Senior Nights at McCaskey. All three took place at 7:00 on the turf field which opened at the tail-end of the 2023 Fall sports season and all were very well-attended. On Monday the field hockey team saluted its graduating seniors, the next night it was girls soccer and on Wednesday it was the boys soccer team's turn. These are all sports that do not generally utilize a PA announcer, the Senior Nights are the exception and I'm only too glad to be called upon if I'm available. In the games themselves the school was 2-1 with field hockey and boys soccer earning victories. The latter part of the week was quiet except for Saturday lunch with Jenny, on Sunday it was sunny and dry as we convened at Lions Park in Rothsville for street hockey week #4. No new players joined up on this day but thirty-five of the forty-seven currently enrolled were present, Warwick won over Hillside and Township defeated Ephrata. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 23-29

There are times when it barely pays to come online and write a blog post, the past seven days were a great example. It began to rain on Monday morning and continued in varying degrees of intensity until Thursday afternoon, the weekend wasn't much better. Jenny and I had our lunch dates on Wednesday and Friday, the latter because she and Helen were in town that day at the health campus. On Friday night in York the Atlantic League championship series ended with the Revolution winning in a three-game sweep over the Charleston Dirty Birds. It's the Revs' fourth league title since they joined the league in 2007 and the first since 2017. Saturday was very cool and damp although largely free of precipitation, things looked halfway decent for Sunday but early in the morning the rain returned and wiped out the day's hockey schedule at Lions Park. We'll try again with rematches of week #2 on October 6. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 20-22

Friday night at McCaskey for the second home football game, JPM hosted William Tennent (from Warminster, about fifteen miles north of Philadelphia) in the last of its four non-league games. The Red Tornado scored first on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Cintron to DeAndre Jones in the opening quarter, Cintron's convert made it 7-0. Tennent tied it with a second-quarter TD and took a 14-7 lead in the third which stood to the very end, the loss drops JPM to 2-3 at the season's midpoint. Through five games the club is averaging sixteen points per game and yielding an average of twenty-eight, the next home date is not until October 11. On Saturday we did our usual lunch date in Quarryville, in the evening we were West Of The River for game #4 in York. The Stormers had stayed alive with a 14-3 win in game #3 on Friday, on this night the Revs took command early and ended the series with a 9-2 win. Alerick Soularie blasted a pair of two-run home runs over the Arch Nemesis (in the second and again in the fourth), Roldani Baldwin added a three-run shot over the big wall in the sixth giving the Revolution a 7-0 advantage. Two more scored in the eighth on Baldwin's RBI single and a double-play groundout, the Stormers could only muster single runs in the seventh and ninth on base hits by Shawon Dunston and Isan Diaz. Michael Horrell went six innings for the win, Max Green suffered the loss. For the Stormers the quest for a "threepeat" is over, for the Revs it's a first trip to the championship series since 2017 and a shot at a fourth title in franchise history. It rained overnight into Sunday but in the morning the sun was out and the rink was dry at Lions Park for week #3 of street hockey. One new player brought the total participation to forty-seven, on this this day all but five were in attendance. Ephrata beat Hillside and Warwick won over Township, the league continues with week #1 rematches on the 29th. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 16-19

Tuesday night on North Prince Street for game #1 of the ALPB North Division Championship Series and the third-ever playoff meeting between the rivals from opposite sides of the Susquehanna River. The Stormers and Revolution had met twice previously in the postseason with York winning in 2011 and the Stormers turning the tables in 2012. During the regular year the Revs had it all their own way with a 15-3 season series win allowing the Community Cup to stay in York, the Revs' overall mark was 80-45 (with one game canceled) while the Stormers played the full schedule and finished 71-55. On Tuesday night in game #1 the Revolution took a 1-0 lead on Zander Wiel's first-inning single, the Stormers replied in the home half on a Mason Martin RBI groundout and a wild pitch to take a 2-1 advantage. Jacob Rhinesmith's RBI hit tied it in the fifth, two innings later an Alerick Soularie RBI triple gave the Revs a 3-2 lead. Rudy Martin's eighth-inning base hit upped the lead to two, in the bottom half Isan Diaz went yard to draw the Stormers within one. In the ninth the Home Team put the tying run on base but could do nothing further as the Revs held on for the 4-3 win, Chris Vallimont was the winning pitcher with Matt Turner recording the save, Scott Engler took the loss in relief. On Wednesday Jenny and Helen were in Willow Street for medical appointments, as is our wont we did lunch on the way to their place. At the ballpark in the evening for game #2, on this night there was no score until the bottom of the fourth. Joe Stewart's RBI groundout make it 1-0, Joseph Carpenter followed with a run-scoring hit and Trace Loehr added a two-run double for a 4-0 Stormer lead. In the fifth Rudy Martin went yard with a man on to slice the lead in half, Alerick Soularie's RBI hit in the eighth made it 4-3. In the ninth the relentless Revs got base hits from the first four batters to score three runs, back-to-back doubles by Roldani Baldwin (one RBI) and Chase Dawson (two ribbies) put the Revs ahead 6-4. In the bottom of the inning Matt Turner set the Stormers down in order saving the win for Alex Valverde, Phil Diehl took the loss. The Revolution takes a 2-0 series lead home for the next three games (or however many may be needed), the series continues on  Friday the 20th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

September 15

September 15 is Helen's birthday, she turned 87 and she's still remarkably active despite the issues she has faced over the last year. Jenny and I noted the occasion with a visit to a local Italian restaurant in Quarryville on Saturday since Sunday itself was very busy and it started early. In the morning we were at Lions Park for week #2 of the Sunday hockey league, eleven new players joined the ranks bringing the total thus far to forty-six. On this day thirty-seven were in attendance as Ephrata beat Township and Warwick downed Hillside. We were done around 12:30 or so, after a brief respite at home I was at the ballpark for the final date of the Atlantic League regular season. I'm well-known as a non-fan of day games and this day was a good example of why, at 3:00 it was in the low 80s with little cloud cover and it was WARM but it was the last game and you have to attend the last game. Before it started the club announced its annual awards, coach Trayvon Robinson won the community service award and Mason Martin was named team MVP. In the game itself the Stormers fell behind 5-0 in the second inning, a solo home run by Martin and a Trace Loehr two-run single brought the club back to within two. In the third Niko Hulsizer launched a missile onto the sidewalk above the berm in left field to make it 5-4, after the FerryHawks went up 7-4 in the fifth the Stormers scored twice on a throwing error in their half to close to within 7-6. In the seventh the Good Guys went ahead for good, a Martin RBI hit tied it and Hulsizer followed with a two-run double putting the ballclub up 9-7. That would be the final score in what was a bullpen game, Adam Wibert was the first of seven pitchers with Phillip Diehl saving it for winning pitcher A.J. Alexy. The playoff field is set with the Stormers hosting the Revolution in the first two games of the best-of-five North Division championship series, Gastonia faces Charleston for the South Division title. Take care, thanks for reading

September 13-14

At the ballpark on Friday the 13th for the final home series of the regular season, the Staten Island FerryHawks were the opponent. Whenever a team wins a division title there is always concern for a "hangover game" the next time out, on this night the Stormers didn't appear to be affected. The club played smallball and took a 2-0 lead in the first on a Damon Dues sac fly and a Gaige Howard RBI groundout. The visitors from The Big Apple took a 3-2 advantage in the sixth, in their half a Joe Stewart double tied it and Chris Proctor's RBI single put the Stormers back ahead 4-3. Isan Diaz's base hit in the seventh extended the lead, Stewart's leadoff home run in the eighth was the final tally in a 6-3 Stormer victory. Scott Engler (the second of five relievers) was the winner in relief of starter Matt Swarmer. On Saturday night over 8000 jammed into the ballpark for game #2, on this night the story was Staten Island's starting pitcher. Pablo Sandoval (aka "The Panda") was a two-time All-Star and a three-time World Series champion during a 14-year MLB career that included stops in San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, he has spent all of 2024 with the FerryHawks as a third baseman/designated hitter. In his MLB career he made two relief appearances on the mound plus two more for the Hawks in '24, this night was his first-ever appearance as a starter. He kept the Stormers largely off-balance through five-and-a-third innings and got the victory in a a 6-2 Staten Island win. The Stormers scored on an error in the seventh and a Shawon Dunston home run in the eighth, Brady Tedesco took the loss. The game ended around 9:10 or so, as the big crowd settled back for the usual Saturday fireworks show I settled into my car and drove home. I spent thirty-five years living that life and I've always said there is only one way to watch a fireworks show: in the rearview mirror. Take care, thanks for reading. 

September 11-12

Back at the ballpark on Wednesday night for game #2 with Hagerstown, on this night the visitors from western Maryland took a 3-0 lead in the second. The Stormers returned fire with a four-run third thanks to a Gaige Howard RBI hit, Trace Loehr's run-scoring double and an Isan Diaz two-run home run. The clubs traded runs in the fourth, the Stormers' coming on a Niko Hulsizer triple and Joe Stewart's sac fly. The one-run Stormer lead lasted until the seventh when the Boxcars tied it up, in the bottom half the Home Team took the lead back for good. Diaz singled with the bases loaded to make it 6-5, two batters later Stewart deposited a grand slam onto the picnic tents in right putting the Stormers ahead 10-5. From there the bullpen shut it down, Scott Engler was the winner in relief of Oscar De La Cruz. On Thursday Jenny's mother was in town for an appointment unrelated to her episode earlier in the week, I took her home and we picked up lunch along the way. She would have otherwise waited well into the afternoon for the access van to return and Jenny would have been at home worrying the entire time, Helen is OK from her late Monday/early Tuesday fall but she definitely looks like she went fifteen rounds with the champ. In the evening at the ballpark the Stormers entered with a magic number of one to clinch the second-half division title, the mission was accomplished but not necessarily the way they might have liked. After the offensive pyrotechnics over the last two nights the bats were largely quiet, Jack Conley's two-run double in the fourth were the only scores for the Stormers in a 3-2 Hagerstown win. Max Green started and went the first five, Michael McAvene took the loss in relief. The game ended at 9:22, two minutes later on Long Island the Ducks lost to High Point 4-1 clinching the second-half title for the Stormers. A Stormers-York Revolution showdown for the overall division looms on the horizon with the first two games in the best-of-three series at the ballpark beginning on Tuesday the 17th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

September 9-10

Picked up my car at the service center on Monday afternoon, I had dropped it there on Sunday after we were done in Rothsville. The new tires they told me I needed back in July were installed, I had it back shortly after 2:00 and ran a few quick errands.  Jenny called very late on Monday night, her mother fell at home and was taken to the hospital. Tests showed nothing serious, she was discharged and home by 6:00 Tuesday morning. We've kept a close on her ever since her episode last October, maybe it's serious and maybe it's not but we take no chances at this point. Tuesday night at the ballpark as the Stormers returned home for a series with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, the club entered with a magic number of five to clinch a playoff spot. That number was reduced to three thanks to a Long Island loss and a dominating win for the Stormers. Niko Hulsizer started the party with a first-inning two-run double, Chris Proctor's two-run home run in the fourth made it 4-0. A Mason Martin RBI groundout in the fifth put the Stormers up by five, in the sixth the ballgame was put to bed with six two-out runs. A Hagerstown error allowed the first run to score, Gaige Howard's RBI triple and a run-scoring double by Isan Diaz put the club up by eight, Hulsizer put the exclamation point on the inning with a three-run bomb over the picnic tents making it 11-0. There would be no further scoring, Noah Bremer went the first five and picked up the win. Michael McAvene and Phil Diehl worked an inning each in relief as did newcomers Christian Scafidi and Trevor Kuncl, both recently added from the Frontier League. The series continues through Thursday before Staten Island visits for the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 6-8

Friday evening was a football night at McCaskey, for me it was the start of season #37 behind the mic. Longtime athletic director Jon Mitchell retired recently, on this night I met his successor Teasia Myers-Pena. Teasia is a 2008 McCaskey grad, a former basketball star and a fellow member of the school's athletic Hall-Of-Fame. The Red Tornado played its first two games on the road and went 1-1, the last time the club had a winning record was 2010 and since then the overall mark is just 27-103 (not quite the 1962 Mets but it's close). In recent years the offense has been reasonably good but the defense has been largely porous, on this night the "O" put up a single touchdown and the "D" made it stand up. The lone score came midway through the second quarter when quarterback Jalen Cintron found wideout Alisay Ramos for a 20-yard catch-and-run, Thomas McCoy's convert made it 7-0. Visiting Elizabethtown had their chances and the JPM defense bent but never broke, in the final minute Aaron Martin's pass interception salted away the single-score victory. The club improves to 2-1, the next game at home is on September 20. Saturday was a gloomy day with on-and-off rain, in Quarryville we got caught in a downpour on a grocery run. The rain was long gone and the sun was out and bright on Sunday morning, it was a perfect day for street hockey at Lions Park in Rothsville. Thirty-five players participated on opening day including six newcomers, Hillside defeated Township and Warwick won over Ephrata. Each team plays nine games, the season ends on November 3. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 4-5

Wednesday lunch with Jenny and her mother, in the evening at the ballpark the Stormers and Ducks met up for game #2. The Stormers went up 1-0 on Gaige Howard's RBI single in the first, after Long Island tied it in the second the Good Guys went back ahead on a Damon Dues base hit to lead 2-1. In the fourth the game fell apart, the Ducks scored five runs and added two each in the sixth and seventh to take a 10-2 lead. The Stormers got one back in the sixth on a Long Island error, Trace Loehr's solo home run in the ninth brought the final to 10-4. Noah Bremer suffered the loss with Adam Wibert, Steffon Moore, Kyle Johnson and A.J. Alexy mopping up in relief. The series wrapped up on Thursday with the Stormers rebounding in a major way. The ballclub put four on the board in the fourth on Joseph Carpenter's RBI single, a Gaige Howard run-scoring triple and a Mason Martin two-run home run, three more came home in the seventh on Howard's three-run home run. In the eighth Martin launched his second round-tripper to put the bow on an 8-0 win but the offense was only half the story. On the mound Oscar De La Cruz worked seven innings of two-hit ball for the decision allowing just four baserunners, the Ducks only had one other baserunner against Phil Diehl in the ninth. The ballclub spends the weekend on the road, the season's final week begins at home on Tuesday the 10th. Take care, thanks for reading.

September 1-3

The final one-third of 2024 began on a typically slow Sunday, that will change when the autumn hockey season starts at Lions Park in Rothsville on the 8th.  Monday was Labor Day itself aka The Last Day Of Summer, on Tuesday the Stormers returned home for a series with the Long Island Ducks, This was actually the back end of a seven-game home-and-home, the clubs met for four games on the Island over the weekend. On this night the competitive aspect was decided almost from the word Go, the Stormers took a 1-0 lead on Gaige Howard's first-inning home run and extended it to 3-0 in the second on a Trace Loehr two-run double. Isan Diaz started the third with a solo home run, in the fourth the Stormers blew the game apart with a six-run salvo. RBI hit by Loehr and Damon Dues made it 6-0, after Howard's fielders choice groundout and Diaz's RBI triple Mason Martin launched a moonshot over the picnic tents in right field putting the Stormers up 10-0. Chris Proctor's two-run bomb in the fifth made it an even dozen, one final run scored in the sixth on a Joe Stewart RBI single. For their part the Ducks didn't go quietly, two runs in the sixth were followed by four in the seventh and one in the eighth but the mountain was too high to climb. The final football-like score was 13-7, Brady Tedesco worked into the seventh for the win with relief from Kyle Johnson, Scott Engler and newcomer Michael McAvene. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 26-31

The last six days of August had little to recommend except for two lunch visits with Jenny and one night of baseball west of the river. We had lunch together as usual on Wednesday, the next day had scattered thunderstorms in the forecast but by late afternoon nothing had happened. I made my way west to York, as I was arriving it was raining lightly and the field was covered. As it turned out the rainfall was in fact just ending, the tarp was rolled up shortly thereafter and the game started right on time at 6:30. The Long Island Ducks (fresh from the weekend in Lancaster) were the opponent, on this night the homestanding Revolution took a quick 2-0 lead in the first on Zander Wiel's two-run home run. In the second Alerick Soularie walked and scored on Ciaran Devenney's RBI groundout but from there the Ducks scored the next seven and won going away 7-3, Zach Neff started for the Revs and took the decision. This was probably my last time in York for the season, I might make a playoff game but it all depends on the schedule. Jenny and Helen were in town on Friday at the health campus, since they would have waited well into the afternoon for the access van to return I took them home and we did lunch along the way a day early. On Saturday I ran some Friday errands in the morning (nothing that couldn't have waited) and spent the rest of the day at home with wall-to-wall college football on TV. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 19-25

The new week was largely quiet until Friday evening when the Stormers returned from a brief road trip, the Long Island Ducks were the opponent. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Joe Stewart's two-run double gave the Stormers the lead, an RBI double by Isan Diaz in the fifth extended the advantage to 3-0. The visiting Ducks broke the shutout bid with a run in the seventh, in the bottom half the Stormers put together an inning for the ages. The first ten batters all reached base and nine of them scored, when the smoke cleared the club had put ten runs on the board. Jack Conley and Trace Loehr started it with back-to-back singles, Damon Dues reached on a throwing error allowing both runners to score. Gaige Howard drew a walk in front of Diaz's second RBI double of the night, after Niko Hulsizer walked to load the bases Mason Martin launched a moonshot grand slam deep to right field that may still be going. Joseph Carpenter followed with a solo shot to dead center, Stewart batted for the second time and kept the line moving with another single. After Conley and Loehr were retired (for the first two outs) Dues and Howard recorded back-to-back RBI doubles to make the score 13-1. The clubs traded runs in the eighth with the Stormers' coming on Martin's second home run of the night, the final was 14-2 with starting pitcher Noah Bremer working in the seventh inning for the victory. On Saturday Jenny and her mother came into town for their second game of the season, at the ballpark the Royals had a ticket and information table set up which gave us the opportunity to catch up with some hockey friends from Berks County. The game itself was another roller-coaster ride, after Long Island took a 2-0 lead in the first the Stormers tied it in the second on Chad Sedio's two-run home run to left-center. The Ducks retook the lead with two in the third, in the bottom half a run-scoring double by Joe Stewart and an RBI triple by Sedio knotted the game 4-4. Mason Martin went yard to right in the fourth to put the Stormers up 5-4 but single runs in the sixth and seventh plus two more in the ninth gave LI an 8-5 lead. Isan Diaz's solo home run in the ninth brought the final to 8-6, A.J. Alexy took the loss in relief of Oscar De La Cruz. The Stormers took the rubber game in my absence on Sunday, the ballclub next plays at home on September 3. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 17-18

August 16 is Jenny's birthdate, on Saturday we marked the occasion (albeit a day late) with lunch at a local restaurant. We've been together since 2001 and I wouldn't give her up for anything, she means the world to me. In the evening at the ballpark the Stormers continued the series with Staten Island, it started well enough with a Damon Dues home run in the first but the visitors scored the next seven runs. A Joseph Carpenter RBI hit in the sixth drew the Stormers to within five but the FerryHawks replied with three in the seventh and two more in the ninth to win it going away 12-2. Noah Bremer started, went the first five innings and took the decision. On Sunday the series ended with a rare 5:00 game, every year the ballpark hosts a back-to-school backpack/supplies giveaway and the game on that day starts later for that reason. I'm a well-known non-aficionado of day games because the afternoon heat simply doesn't agree with me, in 2024 the usual Sunday game time has been 3:00 instead of 1:00 (probably because of the turf surface) but this was still my first official day game for the season. On this day the game played out very similarly to Saturday night, the Stormers broke on top 1-0 on Isan Diaz's first-inning home run but over the next three innings Staten Island scored seven runs (sound familiar?). The Stormers tried to climb back in it in the eighth on a Diaz RBI hit and a Niko Hulsizer groundout, one last run scored in the ninth on a Shawon Dunston RBI groundout. The final was 7-4, Oscar De La Cruz went the first four and suffered the loss. The game was delayed briefly by a quick-moving shower in the fourth inning, in the ninth the skies got very dark to the west and there was some concern for another delay but the game ended without incident. I came home immediately and wasn't in the house more than five minutes before it just opened up and POURED for about a half-hour. Sometimes things work out just right. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 15-16

It's often been said that you never know what you'll see when you come to the ballpark, the Thursday night game with Hagerstown was a prime example. The visitors took the early lead with three runs in the second, the Stormers got on the board on Joseph Carpenter's solo home run in the fourth. In the fifth Carpenter came through with an RBI single, a wild pitch allowed Isan Diaz to score the tying run. The unphased Boxcars replied with three more in the sixth to lead 6-3, in the bottom half Diaz drew a bases-loaded walk scoring Chris Proctor to bring the Stormers within two. In the eighth it was that man Diaz again coming through with a two-run double to tie the score, Mason Martin followed with a two-run bomb down the line in left (as he did on Tuesday night) putting the Stormers up 8-6. Carpenter was next and took the first pitch high and inside, the umpires convened to discuss possible intent but nobody was ejected. As the teams were changing sides after the third out words were exchanged and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, the game was delayed for several minutes before the umpires restored order. In the ninth Hagerstown rallied once again to tie it 8-8 and force extra innings, in the tenth they scored their Manfred Man and took the win 9-8. Starting pitcher Max Green went six innings, Phil Diehl worked the fateful tenth and suffered the loss. On Friday evening the Staten Island FerryHawks visited for the opener of a weekend series, the events on this night were somewhat more mundane. Trace Loehr's two-run double in the second put the Stormers up 2-0 before the Hawks rallied to lead 3-2 in the fourth, in the bottom half Loehr struck again with an RBI hit to tie it 3-3. In the seventh the Stormers took the lead for good on singles by Damon Dues and Mason Martin, Chad Sedio's two-run double put the ribbon on a 7-3 win. Matt Swarmer went seven innings for the decision, A.J. Alexy and Phil Diehl closed it out in relief. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 12-14

Softball season at Garrett Park is over, Peach Bottom defeated Memorial in the losers bracket final and went on to beat Kelly's two games to one in the championship series. Game nights in Willow Street are a lot of fun, I'll miss it until it starts again next May. Tuesday night at the ballpark, the Stormers were back in town for a series with the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. On this night the visitors from Western Maryland carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning when the Stormers finally broke through in a big way. Chris Proctor started the inning with a triple into the alley in left-center, Damon Dues' RBI single tied the score 1-1. Isan Diaz followed with a base hit to score Dues with the lead run, after Niko Hulsizer singled to put two men on base Mason Martin blasted a three-run home run down the line in left to put the Stormers ahead 5-1. Hagerstown got one back in the eighth but in the ninth Stephen Nogosek shut the door for winning pitcher Oscar De La Cruz. Jenny and her mother were in town on Wednesday for an appointment on North Duke Street, we did lunch on the way home. In the evening it was game #2 at the ballpark, on this night the Stormers went up big in the first inning. Isan Diaz homered over the picnic tents in right to make it 1-0, Joe Stewart's two-run single and a Joseph Carpenter RBI hit gave the Stormers a 4-0 lead. Run-scoring hits by Chad Sedio in the third and Mason Martin in the fourth extended the advantage to 6-0, two more scored in the seventh on a wild pitch and a sac fly from Joe Stewart. The Boxcars scored twice in the ninth but the Stormers took it 8-2, winning pitcher Brady Tedesco went seven innings of three-hit ball and truck out eight with Jackson Rees and newcomer A.J. Alexy in relief. The series finishes on Thursday, the Staten Island FerryHawks visit over the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading. 

August 8-11

At the ballpark on Thursday evening as the Stormers wrapped up the series with Southern Maryland. There was more inclement weather forecasted which finally arrived in the later innings, the game was actually delayed for three whole minutes in the top of the eighth. The Stormers took a 3-0 lead in the third on a Trace Loehr home run, a wild pitch and an Isan Diaz RBI single, Shawon Dunston's solo homer in the fourth made it 4-0. The teams traded single runs in the fifth with Diaz scoring on the front end of a double steal, three more were added in the sixth on a Damon Dues two-run single and a SM error. RBI hits by Dues and Chris Proctor made it 10-1 in the seventh, the Blue Crabs got two cosmetic runs in the ninth bringing the final to 10-3. Brady Tedesco pitched seven innings of three-hit ball with nine strikeouts for the win, Jackson Rees and newcomer Ryan Williamson went an inning each out of the bullpen. All week long a tropical storm was moving up the coast from Florida, it made it into the Mid-Atlantic on Friday with drenching rain in the morning and afternoon. I was planning to go over to York in the evening but elected to stay home, in the late afternoon the rain was gone and it brightened up considerably but the damage had been done in York and the game was postponed so I saved myself a trip for nothing. Temperatures on the weekend were only in the 80s with lower humidity, with little else happening besides Saturday lunch with Jenny I spent most of it at home. Take care, thanks for reading.

August 5-7

Monday night softball playoffs at Garrett Park, in the winners bracket final Kelly's defeated Memorial while Peach Bottom eliminated the Silver Bullets. The loser bracket final between Memorial and Peach Bottom was scheduled for Tuesday but I was at the ballpark, the Stormers were back home after eleven days on the road. The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs were the opponent for their lone visit, they've been in the league since 2008 and this is the first season since 2013 that the two clubs are not division-mates. There was rain in the forecast but little happened but a brief afternoon shower, the sun was out when I went to the ballpark at 5:45. About ten minutes before game time it got very dark to the west, the wind picked up and the field lights were turned on, the game began and after two batters.....POW!!!, the lights went out and ten minutes later it was POURING. The game was eventually suspended and completed on Wednesday at 3:00 as the front end of a pseudo-doubleheader. The Stormers scored first when Niko Hulsizer singled and came home on Chad Sedio's sac fly, the Blue Crabs tied it and took the lead 2-1 with single runs in the fifth and sixth. Mason Martin's RBI double in the bottom half pulled the Stormers even, a three-run seventh put them ahead for good. Shawon Dunston started it with a double and Chris Proctor walked, both would score on a Trace Loehr double with Loehr scoring himself on Gaige Howard's RBI hit making it 5-2. SM got two back in the eighth but in the ninth Stephen Nogosek set the side down in order saving the 5-4 win for Oscar De La Cruz. The regularly-scheduled game began at 6:30 and took less than two hours, it was scoreless into the bottom of the last inning. Mason Martin started the inning with a triple into the left-field corner, Joe Stewart followed with a fly to right scoring pinch-runner Shawon Dunston with the lone run in a 1-0 win. Phil Diehl was the winner in relief of Noah Bremer who came back after starting the Tuesday game before it was suspended. The series finishes on Thursday weather-permitting, the forecast is not encouraging. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 29-August 4

Southern End Softball League playoffs began on the 25th in Willow Street, all seven teams qualified for the double-elimination tournament bracket. In first-round play on Thursday #5 seed Memorial defeated #4 Drifters, #3 Silver Bullets won over #6 Riverside. The new week started on Monday with #2 Kelly's rallying to defeat #7 Akatsuki, in the nightcap Memorial claimed a spot in the winners bracket final with a win over #1 seed Peach Bottom. On Tuesday Jenny and her mother were in town at the health campus, we stopped for lunch on the way home. There was rain in the forecast for the evening hours (which didn't materialize until around 9:00 or so), the games at Garrett Park were postponed until Wednesday out of caution. In the opener on Wednesday Kelly's advanced to the winners final over the Silver Bullets, the late game saw Akatsuki eliminate Riverside. Both games on Thursday were elimination games, the Silver Bullets stayed alive with a win over Drifters and Peach Bottom ousted Akatsuki. The schedule continues on Monday with Kelly's facing Memorial in the winners final and Peach Bottom battling the Silver Bullets for the right to stay alive. The weekend was relatively quiet except for lunch with Jenny and Helen which didn't happen until Sunday, they were at a family wedding in Coatesville on Saturday. Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 25-28

Thursday night at the ballpark for Round #3 between the White Rose and Red Rose Cities. Thus far in 2024 the Revs have had their way in the season series, they are 12-2 against the Stormers including an unbeaten 6-0 in York and have long since clinched the Community Cup. Both of the Stormer wins have come at home, on this night they were looking to win the series but the Revs had other ideas. There was no scoring until the bottom of the fifth when Isan Diaz homered with a man on base giving the Stormers a 2-0 lead. In the sixth the Revs broke through, Rudy Martin singled and scored on a Donovan Casey sacrifice fly. Base hits by Jacob Rhinesmith (run) and Alfredo Reyes (RBI) evened it in the seventh, in the eighth the Revs scored the lead run when Martin walked and scored from third on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the ninth Joseph Carpenter batted with one out and drove a rocket over the wall in right-center to tie the game 3-3 and force extra innings. Neither team could score the "Manfred Man" in the tenth or the eleventh, in the top of the twelfth the Revs took the lead when David Washington scored on a Rhinesmith base hit. The Stormers went down in order in the bottom of the inning as the Revs held on for the 4-3 victory. The teams combined to use thirteen pitchers, Denny Bentley saved it for winner Frankie Bartow with Ted Stuka taking the loss. Special mention should be made for Stormer starter Matt Swarmer who tied a franchise record with thirteen strikeouts over the six-and-two-thirds innings he worked. This marks the Revs' last appearance in Lancaster, the teams have three games left in York in September and it's not hard to imagine a postseason matchup as well but that's a long way off. The weekend was relatively quiet save for Saturday, Jenny's friend had a birthday party for her oldest daughter. I've known all three of them practically since birth, Ann'Aliyah turned ten on Wednesday. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 22-24

Tuesday evening on North Prince Street, the Stormers continued the homestand with a visit from our friends Across The River. The York Revolution ran away and hid in the first half with a 43-20 record, through the first fourteen game of the second half the Stormers lead the division by three games with the Revs in second. On this night the Revs drew first blood in the third on Alfredo Reyes' solo home run, in the fifth Isan Diaz went yard with a man on to put the Stormers on top 2-1. In the seventh the Revs tied it on an Alex Pantoja RBI single but the Stormers took it right back on a Chris Proctor home run to lead 3-2. The Revs struck for three in the eighth on Donovan Casey's round-tripper and a two-run single by Reyes but in their half the Stormers fought back with two of their own. Back-to-back singles by Gaige Howard and Joseph Carpenter set the table, Howard advanced on an error and scored on Shawon Dunston's groundout to make it 5-4. Proctor followed with an RBI to tie the score but in the ninth the final shot belonged to the Revs on Matt McDermott's two-out home run. The final was 6-5, Ethan Lindow and Noah Bremer were the respective starters but both were long gone by the time it ended. Aaron Holiday was the winner with Matt Turner earning the save, Phil Diehl took the loss. On Wednesday night in game #2 another tight and taut contest unfolded, on this night the Stormers struck first on Joe Stewart's solo home run in the second inning. In the fourth Donovan Casey reached on an error and scored on another error to tie the game, in the bottom half Niko Hulsizer homered onto the berm in left field to put the Stormers back up 2-1. In the sixth Jacob Rhinesmith left the ballpark to right-center pulling the Revs even, in the seventh Matt McDermott walked and scored on a wild pitch giving the visitors a 3-2 lead. In the home half Shawon Dunston walked, Joe Stewart followed with an RBI triple to tie the game. Trace Loehr batted with one out and came through with a base hit scoring Stewart putting the Stormers ahead 4-3. That would be the final score, Jackson Rees won it in relief of Oscar De La Cruz with Stephen Nogosek recording the save, Rev starter Aaron Fletcher took the loss. The series concludes on Thursday night and one can only wonder what comes next. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 19-21

Friday night at the ballpark for the start of a new homestand, for a third consecutive homestand the Staten Island FerryHawks were the opponent. On this night the Stormers took a 5-0 lead in the second inning on a Trace Loehr RBI hit, run-scoring doubles from Isan Diaz and Shawon Dunston and a Mason Martin solo home run plus a Staten Island fielding error. The Hawks scored a single run in the third but the Stormers matched it in the fourth on Damon Dues' RBI sac fly. A run for the Ferry Hawks in the seventh and two more in the eighth made it a 6-4 ballgame, in the bottom half the Stormers exploded for six of their own. RBI singles from Dues, Niko Hulsizer and Gaige Howard were followed by Dunston's two-run single and a wild pitch to give the Stormers an eight-run lead, SI scored twice in the ninth making the final 12-6. Matt Swarmer started and struck out ten over seven innings for the win with Adam Wibert, Phil Diehl and James Hoyt working in relief.  Had our usual Saturday lunch visit with Jenny and her mother, in the evening we were back on North Prince Street for game #2. On this night the visitors from New York took a 2-0 lead in the first, in the second the Stormers tied it on Chad Sedio's two-run double and took the lead on Damon Dues' RBI single. Staten Island tied it in the third and took a 6-3 lead in the fifth, in the sixth the Stormers replied to take the lead back for good. Shawon Dunston went yard to right-center with a man on to bring the ballclub to within one, after back-to-back doubles by newcomer Joe Stewart and Chris Proctor tied the score a two-out wild pitch allowed Proctor to score from third putting the Stormers ahead. From there the Stormer bullpen locked it down, Jackson Rees was the winner in relief of Brady Tedesco with Stephen Nogosek striking out five over the last two innings for the save. The Stormers completed the sweep on Sunday afternoon but with temperatures near ninety I was at home in the AC. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 15-18

The incredibly uncomfortable weather continues to rage on, daytime temperatures have consistently been in the 90s. Monday night softball at Garrett Park in Willow Street, Kelly's played a doubleheader and split it with a win over Akatsuki and a loss to the Silver Bullets. On Tuesday there was just one game on the schedule, Peach Bottom led Memorial 4-1 in the fourth inning when a fast-moving storm blew through and ended the evening prematurely. On Wednesday morning Jenny and her mother had an appointment in Willow Street, as is per usual I took them home with a stop for lunch along the way. Scheduled makeup games in the evening at Garrett Park never got started, another storm remarkably similar to Tuesday's downpour hit about thirty minutes before game time and wiped out the playing field. There are only a handful of games left on the schedule, right now the plan is for playoffs to begin on the 24th but everything is at the mercy of the weather. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 12-14

Saw where this blog recently surpassed 74,000 views since it moved here in 2010, as I've said before I don't know who actually reads the minutiae I write about but you're obviously out there and I appreciate you. Friday night at the ballpark as the Stormers' homestand continued with a visit from the Long Island Ducks. What few offensive highlights there were on this night belonged to the Ducks, the visitors scored single runs in the third and fifth and made them stand up for a 2-0 win. The Stormers mustered only two base hits and never advance a runner to third base. Noah Bremer went five innings and took the loss but pitched well and deserved a better fate. On Saturday in game #2 a completely different game was in store as the Stormers broke out and won convincingly. Isan Diaz (just back from the injured list) went yard with a man on in the third to give the ballclub an early 2-0 lead, in the sixth all hell broke loose. The Stormers took advantage of six walks and an error for a seven-run salvo that blew the game apart. After one was out Mason Martin and Gaige Howard drew back-to-back walks, a throwing error on a double steal attempt allowed both to score making it 4-0. Joseph Carpenter and Shawon Dunston both walked before Trace Loehr singled to score Carpenter, after another walk to newcomer David Melfi loaded the bases Damon Dues drew yet another base-on-balls forcing Dunston home with the inning's fourth run. After the second out Niko Hulsizer provided the knockout blow with a double to left-center clearing the bases making it 9-0. In the seventh three more scored on a Loehr two-run homer and an RBI hit by Diaz. The final was 12-0, Matt Swarmer pitched six innings of three-hit ball for the win with newcomer Adam Wibert and Carsie Walker in relief. The series finished on Sunday afternoon in 94 (that's NINETY-FOUR) degree heat, I personally spent the day in the only place that made any sense: at home in the AC. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 10-11

Jenny was in town overnight into Wednesday, she had a sleeping test at a local medical facility. She wasn't crazy about leaving her mother alone but I called Helen on Tuesday night and again on the way home on Wednesday morning and she was fine. In the evening we were back at the ballpark for game #2 with Staten Island. On this night the visiting FerryHawks took a 4-0 lead in the third, in the bottom of the inning the Stormers got two of them back on solo home runs from Damon Dues and newcomer Mason Martin. In the fourth Trace Loehr doubled and rode home on Dues' second round-tripper to tie the game at 4-4. It stayed that way until the bottom of the eighth, after two were out Shawon Dunston and Chris Proctor drew back-to-back walks. A double steal put both men into scoring position for Loehr who outran a slow grounder to short for a base hit scoring Dunston to give the Stormers the lead. In the ninth Stephen Nogosek shut it down for the save, Phil Diehl was the winner for the second straight night in relief of starter Oscar De La Cruz. The series ended with another Stormer win in an 11:00 game on Thursday morning (a kids camp day) but I had a haircut appointment at 1:00 which was the extent of the day's activities. Take care, thanks for reading.

July 8-9

Monday night softball in the heat at Garrett Park and it was a doubleheader date for Riverside, in the opener they defeated Akatsuki but lost the nightcap to Peach Bottom. Tuesday night at the ballpark as the Stormers returned home, the Staten Island FerryHawks (fresh from their weekend series in York) provided the opposition. The Stormers finished the first half a game under .500 at 31-32, the Hawks were a game behind at 30-33. At game time it was in the high 80s with a slight breeze which was all that made it comfortable. Staten Island took a 1-0 first-inning lead, in the bottom half the Stormers went ahead on a Nico Hulsizer base hit and Shawon Dunston's RBI groundout. In the fourth inning Gaige Howard went yard to make it 3-1, that lead held until the seventh when the Hawks rallied to tie it. In the home half the Stormers wasted no time whatsoever, solo home runs by Dunston and Chris Proctor put the Good Guys back ahead 5-3. In the eighth Hulsizer hit a moonshot to deep center extending the lead to 6-3, in the ninth the Stormers withstood a two-run rally and held on for the 6-5 victory. Brady Tedesco started and worked into the seventh, at one point he retired thirteen straight but ultimately didn't figure in the decision. Phil Diehl was the pitcher of record with Stephen Nogosek picking up the save. The series continues on Wednesday night and Thursday morning (and there's no amount of money that would get me there on Thursday in this heat). Take care, thanks for reading. 

July 1-7

The second half of 2024 began with the oven door wide open, it was in the 90s just about all week. Picked up my car at the service center on Monday morning, it passed inspection although I'll need new tires eventually. In the evening in Willow Street there was one lone softball game for the week, Kelly's defeated Riverside. The middle part of the week had absolutely nothing going, on Thursday the nation celebrated its 248th birthday. On Friday I made a trip West Of The River for the first time in better than one year, at Wellspan Park in York the Revolution started a weekend series with the Staten Island FerryHawks. This was also the final night of the Atlantic League's first half, the Revs would win on this night 14-4 to finish with a 43-20 mark as the first-half division champions. Every member of the batting order was in on the offense, Donovan Casey led the way with three hits including a home run and four RBI. Colton Welker was 4-5 with two ribbies, Alfredo Reyes had two hits and two RBI and Alex Pantoja had a base hit and two RBI. Trey Martin had two doubles and one RBI, Jacob Rhinesmith and Michael Berglund each contributed a hit and an RBI, at the top of the order Mike McDermott and Rudy Martin Jr. each had two hits and scored twice. Ethan Lindow started and went five innings on a 96-degree night for the win with Alex Valverde, Will Carter and Nelvin Correa in relief. York and Gastonia are in the postseason as their respective division champions, for the Revs it's their first playoff appearance since 2019. Had lunch and ran a few errands with Jenny and Helen on Saturday before retreating into the air conditioning for the rest of the weekend.  Take care, thanks for reading.

June 30

I was awake around 7:30 Sunday morning, the sun was up and the skies were clear. When I arrived in Rothsville before 10:00 there were puddles in both corners on the bench side, we managed to get them cleared and the games started with minimal delay. This was the Grand Finale for the spring season, in the consolation game Township defeated Warwick and for the championship Ephrata won over Hillside. A total of fifty-five players participated including seventeen who hadn't played the previous season and eleven completely new to the league. This was the league's seventh season, Township has won it three times with Ephrata now at two championships, Hillside and Warwick have won once each. Right now we plan to start the fall season on September 8 since Labor Day comes early on the 2nd. When I got back to town I took my car to the service center, it's due for inspection and I have an appointment for Monday morning. I was home and in the house for the day by 1:30 or so, with temperatures in the high 80s there were few places better to be. Later in the afternoon we had some heavy thunderstorms (which had been a concern for the morning hours), all things considered I guess we were fortunate to get the league finished when we did. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 28-29

Friday night at the ballpark, the Stormers continued their homestand with a visit from the Long Island Ducks. Long Island joined the league as an expansion franchise in 2000, they are currently the league's senior franchise. This game started very similarly to the game on Wednesday, the Stormers fell behind early 2-0 and trailed by seven at one point before ultimately losing 8-3. The Stormer runs came in the sixth on a Trace Loehr solo home run and a Chris Proctor two-run inside-the-parker in the seventh, Brady Tedesco (just back from the injured list) started and took the loss. On Saturday night the Stormers scored ten runs in the first four innings and battled the weather as well in a one-sided 14-2 win. Just about everybody in the lineup had a hand in the offence but the night belonged to three players in particular. Justin Farmer had a single, a double, two home runs (one of them a grand slam) and six RBI, Jordan Howard had a single, two round-trippers and four RBI and Damon Dues had four hits including a home run and two runs batted in. Joseph Carpenter accounted for a RBI with a first-inning hit and another run scored on a Long Island error. It rained during the middle innings but not enough to stop play, with one out in the ninth a downpour arrived and ended the game early. Max Green went six innings for the win with Ted Stuka and Steven Nogesek in relief. The series ends on Sunday afternoon but I will be in Rothsville in the morning weather-permitting, keep your fingers crossed. Take care, thanks for reading

June 26-27

Wednesday lunch in Quarryville with Jenny and Helen, in the evening we were back at the ballpark for game #2 with Staten Island. The game on this night started much the same as Tuesday except it was the other way around, by the fifth inning the visiting FerryHawks held a 5-0 lead. Damon Dues' solo home run in the fifth got the Stormers on the board, a two-run single by Justin Farmer in the sixth made it a 5-3 ballgame. The Hawks added a run in the eighth to go up by three but in the ninth the Stormers rallied back. Dues started it with a base hit, he would score on a triple by Jack Conley making it 6-4. Kyle Kasser drew a walk and Shawon Dunston kept the line moving with a base hit scoring Conley and advancing the tying run to third. Trace Loehr followed with a perfect bunt to the first-base side of the mound, the desperation thrown to the plate was late allowing pinch-runner Jordan Howard to score the tying run and move the winning run to third. Joseph Carpenter batted with the infield in and grounded to second base, the throw home was wide with Dunston sliding in head-first with the winning run. Jackson Rees was the pitcher of record in the 7-6 win, Matt Swarmer (recently resigned) went four innings with Nile Ball and newly-acquired Steffon Moore also appearing in relief. The series finished on Thursday with a 5-1 Staten Island victory, the FerryHawks led 3-0 early and never trailed. The Stormers had only four hits on the night, the lone run came in the third when Kyle Kasser walked and scored on Damon Dues' RBI groundout. 2022 playoff hero Oscar De La Cruz made his home debut and took the loss with Carsie Walker in relief. The announced crowd of 8,636 was the largest in franchise history, the homestand continues with Long Island visiting for the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 24-25

The last full week of June began with a night of softball in Willow Street, Peach Bottom played a doubleheader and won over Kelly's and the Silver Bullets. Tuesday marked the start of a homestand on North Prince Street, the Staten Island FerryHawks visited for the first of five occasions. The Stormers have been maddingly inconsistent thus far, they started 10-18 before winning fifteen straight and then dropping nine of ten. On this night there was never much doubt from the get-go, the ballclub led 5-0 after two innings and won the game handily. Joseph Carpenter's RBI single in the first got it started, in the second the lead grew to five on Shawon Dunston's three-run home run and and an RBI double by Carpenter. The visiting FerryHawks scored twice in the fourth, the Stormers got them back in the bottom half on Carpenter's two-run single. In the fifth newcomer Damon Dues (added from the San Francisco Giants organization) went yard to extend the advantage to 8-2, in the sixth Carpenter picked up his fifth RBI on an infield groundout. A four-run eighth inning added the exclamation point, Dunston's second home run was followed by a three-run blast by Justin Farmer. The Hawks scored twice in the ninth bringing the final to 13-4, Noah Bremer went six for the win with Ted Stuka, Philip Diehl and Stephen Nogesek going one each in relief. The series continues through Thursday before Long Island come in for the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 17-23

It was markedly warmer on Sunday, by Monday morning the blast furnace was open for business. Another week at Garrett Park began with a single game on Monday, Drifters defeated Akatsuki. On Tuesday there was the traditional doubleheader with Drifters over Riverside and Memorial over the Silver Bullets. On Wednesday Jenny was in town at a medical appointment, I took her home and we stopped in Willow Street for lunch (fun fact: our traditional lunch stop is literally catty-corner to Garrett Park, you could walk out the front door of the eatery and be standing at home plate within a few minutes). In the evening the week ended with a straight doubleheader, Kelly's played both games and lost to Peach Bottom and the Silver Bullets. Little happening on Thursday or Friday, as hot as it was I didn't mind sitting at home in the AC. Saturday was a birthday party for Jenny's friend Courtney's daughter, Shania (shuh-NYE-uh) was seven years of age. I've known her practically from birth, hard to believe she's that old already. Sunday was the final day of the league season at Lions Park in Rothsville, Warwick beat Ephrata and Hillside won over Township. We had two dates rained out in May, it was decided that this week would be the only makeups. There would be no games on July 7 for the holiday and Don will be away on the 14th, rather than wait until the 21st for Championship Sunday it will take place on the 30th. Township meets Warwick in the Third Place Game, Ephrata plays Hillside for the Championship.  Take care, thanks for reading.

June 14-16

Back at the ballpark on Friday evening, the Stormers opened a series with the High Point Rockers. High Point was one of two clubs that did not visit in 2023, this was their first appearance at the ballpark since the League Championship Series in 2022. During the road trip the Stormers' winning streak grew to a league-record fifteen games before it was ended the date before this series started, on this night the ballclub suffered a second consecutive defeat. High Point scored two runs in the second inning and made them stand up for a 2-0 win. The Stormers were shut our on five hits and had only six total baserunners. Noah Bremer went seven innings and made only one mistake, Phil Diehl and Stephen Nogesek worked an inning each out of the pen. On Saturday a similar scenario played out as the Rockers scored once in the first and twice in the fourth, the Stormers were shut out until the seventh when Gaige Howard doubled and scored on a Jack Conley groundout. Carsie Walker got the start and went six innings with Ted Stuka (two) and James Hoyt (one) in relief. In recent days the Stormers have lost three players to affiliated ball and several new players have been brought in, how well they mesh with the rest of the group remains to be seen. The visitors from North Carolina completed the sweep with a win on Sunday, in the morning we were in Rothsville for week #7 of the street hockey league at Lions Park. On this day Ephrata defeated Township and Hillside beat Warwick, both games decided by one goal. We play makeup games on the 23rd with Championship Sunday to follow on June 30. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 10-13

A full week of softball at Garrett Park began on Monday, with the Stormers on the road I was able to be present for the duration. On Monday Kelly's played a doubleheader and won over Akatsuki and the Silver Bullets. On Tuesday Drifters played a double-dip and split it, winning over Memorial and losing to Peach Bottom. On Wednesday Jenny, her mother and I had lunch in Quarryville, in the evening Riverside defeated Akatsuki and Peach Bottom won over Memorial. Thursday was a makeup night at Garrett Park, Akatsuki played both games and lost to Peach Bottom and Drifters. The league is past its midpoint with thirty-six of the scheduled sixty-three games in the books, play continues after the weekend on Monday the 17th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 5-9

Jenny and Helen were in Strasburg on Wednesday morning, the access van took them in as usual and I took them home As Usual. At the ballpark in the evening the Stormers were all set for game #2 with Hagerstown but Mother Nature had other ideas. It began to rain about an hour before game time and it stayed for most of the night, the game was postponed and immediately rescheduled as a doubleheader on Thursday. The first game started at 4:00, around 3:30 or so it stormed again for about five minutes but then disappeared as quickly as it arrived. In game #1 the Stormers went up 1-0 in the third on a Trace Loehr RBI groundout, in the fourth the visitors from Western Maryland pushed across the tying run before Chad Sedio's two-run home run in the bottom half put the Stormers up 3-1. In the fifth an RBI double by Loehr and Cristian Santana's run-scoring single made it 5-1, after Hagerstown scored a single run in the sixth Jack Conley's two-run double put the Stormers up by five. The Boxcars scored twice the seventh but the Stormers held on for a 7-4 win. In the nightcap (which started at 7:05) it was all Stormers from the word Go, two-run singles from Justin Farmer and Nick Lucky in the second inning made it 4-0. Five runs scored in the fifth on RBI hits by Lucky and Santana plus a Shawon Dunston groundout and two wild pitches to put the Stormers ahead by nine, in the sixth two more crossed the plate on a fielding error and a Santana solo home run. The final was 11-0, in the doubleheader the Stormers used only four pitchers. Max Green won the opener with relief support from Steven Nogesek, Jack Labosky took the decision in the nightcap with newcomer Phil Diehl working the last inning. Since starting 10-18 the Stormers have won ten in a row, they'll try to keep it going on the road with the next home date on the 14th. The weekend was quiet except for Saturday lunch with Jenny and her mother, on Sunday we played street hockey in Rothsville. Warwick beat Township via shootout and Ephrata won over Hillside. Six weeks are in the books and everybody has played everybody else twice (although not in the original order), we'll be back for week #7 on the 16th. Take care, thanks for reading. 

June 3-4

Monday night softball at Garrett Park, Peach Bottom won over Riverside and the Silver Bullets defeated Memorial. On Tuesday the Stormers continued their homestand with a visit from the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. Hagerstown was in affiliated baseball from 1981 to 2019 in three different leagues, those clubs were known as the "Suns" and played at now-demolished Municipal Stadium. The new club plays its home games at a brand-new stadium in the downtown area, about two miles from where the old ballpark used to be. On this night the Stormers took a first-inning  lead on Joseph Carpenter's two-run double, after Hagerstown got on the board in the second the Stormers went up 3-1 in the bottom half on an RBI hit by Trace Loehr. In the fourth Cristian Santana went yard with two men on base to extend the lead to 6-1 but the Boxcars answered with one in the fifth, one inning later Santana hit his second three-run home run of the night extending the Stormer lead to 9-2. The teams traded single runs in the seventh with the Stormers' marker coming on a Gaige Howard sacrifice fly, one final run for the Boxcars in the ninth brought the final to 10-4. Brady Tedesco (just back from the disabled list) started and went the first two innings, Carsie Walker pitched five for the win with Ted Stuka and Nolan Long each working an inning in relief. The series continues on Wednesday and Thursday. Take care, thanks for reading.

June 1-2

Saturday night at the ballpark for game #2 with Charleston, Jenny and Helen were in the house for the first time since 2022. The weather plays a factor, they didn't make it into any games in '23 because it either rained or was too hot for them and since Helen had her episode in October we need to watch it even closer. On this night they saw a Stormers victory as the ballclub scored the first seven runs and won going away 9-3. Chris Proctor's two-run double in the first put the Stormers ahead, in the second three more crossed the plate on a Cristian Santana two-run single and a RBI hit by Proctor. Back-to-back doubles in the fourth by Trace Loehr and Santana made it 6-0, in the fifth Chad Sedio went yard over the picnic pavilion in right field putting the Stormers up by seven. The Dirty Birds got one back in the sixth, in the bottom half Santana's two-run home run to right-center gave the Stormers a 9-1 lead. Charleston scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings but it was not enough, Nile Ball pitched six innings of two-hit ball with eight strikeouts for the win with Carter Raffield, Steven Nogosek and Ted Stuka working an inning each in relief.  On Sunday the Stormers completed the sweep but I was not there, we played Sunday morning hockey at Lions Park in Rothsville. This was the fifth week of the season (not counting two rainouts and a holiday weekend), Warwick beat Ephrata and Hillside defeated Township. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 27-31

Monday was the Memorial Day holiday aka The First Day Of Summer, the softball league at Garrett Park marked the occasion by taking the day off. On Tuesday night in Willow Street Peach Bottom beat Riverside in the early game, the Silver Bullets won over Drifters in the nightcap. Had lunch with the ladies on Wednesday in Quarryville, in late afternoon a quick-hitting storm blew through the area and caused postponement of the evening activity at Garrett Park. The league played a rare scheduled Thursday (largely because there had been nothing on Monday), Kelly's played both ends of the doubleheader and swept it with wins over Memorial and Drifters. On Friday evening the Stormers returned home from a weeklong road trip to open a series with the Charleston Dirty Birds. Charleston (like each club in the Southern Division) plays just one series in Lancaster during the regular season, we've already seen Lexington and Gastonia with High Point and Southern Maryland yet to appear. On this night the Dirty Birds took a 1-0 lead in the second, the Stormers equaled it in the third on base hits by Justin Farmer and Nick Lucky. Charleston went back up 2-1 in the fifth, in the bottom half the Stormers took the lead on Farmer's RBI double and a sac fly by Lucky. In the sixth the Birds again retook the lead but the Stormers put together a six-run uprising in the seventh. Farmer started it with a walk, after one out Lucky doubled putting runners at second and third. Back-to-back singles by Trace Loehr and Cristian Santana gave the Stormers a 5-4 lead, Chris Proctor followed with a two-run double to right-center making it 7-4. After the second out Shawon Dunston singled to score Proctor, Dunston would score on a wild pitch to put the Stormers up by five. Charleston scored a cosmetic run in the ninth as the Stormers won it 9-5, Justin Kelly was the winning pitcher in relief of starter Jack Labosky. The series continues through the weekend. Take care, thanks for reading. 

May 22-26

Wednesday lunch as usual with Jenny and her mother, in the evening we were back at the ballpark for game #2 with the Gastonia "Gastronauts/Galactic Dinos/Bolognia" or whatever they may end up being called. On this night you could call them winners for the second straight game as they took the measure of the Stormers 7-4. The North Carolinians (maybe THAT'S an idea) went up 1-0 in the first, the Stormers tied it in the second when Chris Proctor walked and scored on Shawon Dunston's RBI double. Gastonia went ahead 4-1 in the third but the Stormers climbed back into it on a Proctor RBI single in their half of the inning, Trace Loehr's two-run home run over the picnic pavilion in the fifth tied it 4-4. In the eighth we saw a virtual replay of Tuesday night as Gastonia scored three runs against the bullpen which provided the margin of victory. Noah Bremer started and went five innings, Nolan Long took the loss in relief. The series concluded with an 11:00 school day game on Thursday, Gastonia won to complete the three-game sweep. The Stormers hit the road for the next week, they come home on Friday the 31st. Friday signaled the start of the holiday weekend, with little going on anywhere, temperatures in the 80s and the threat of thunderstorms just about every day there was little reason to be out and about. Take care, thanks for reading.

May 20-21

Monday night softball at Garrett Park, Drifters won over Riverside and Peach Bottom defeated the Silver Bullets. On Tuesday evening at the ballpark the Stormers opened a series with what would technically be the Atlantic League's newest franchise. The Gastonia Honey Hunters entered the league in 2021 and were very successful on the field, off the field was another story. The operation was dissolved during the offseason and immediately replaced with a new franchise under new ownership, the current club is known (at least for now) as the Gastonia Baseball Club. Some potential nicknames for 2025 are already being tried out, they recently played a series at home as the Gastonia "Gastronauts" and also on the drawing board are the "Galactic Dinos" (!!!!) and the "Bolognia" (REALLY?). On this night the game was scoreless into the last of the fourth, Shawon Dunston drew a walk and would score on a Chad Sedio single putting the Stormers up 1-0. Solo home runs by Cristian Santana and Dunston upped the advantage to 3-0 in the fifth, Gastonia scored twice in the seventh to close to within two. The Stormers got those two runs back in the bottom half, Dunston and Justin Farmer both walked and scored on Jack Conley's two-run single making it 5-2 Stormers. In the eighth the game turned in stunning fashion, Gastonia plated six runs and won it 8-5. Nile Ball started for the Stormers and pitched six innings of one-hit ball with eleven strikeouts, he left with one out in the seventh and from there Gastonia touched five Stormer relievers for seven runs (the first was charged to Ball's record). Newcomer Justin Kelly was the second of three pitchers used in the eighth inning and took the decision, the series continues on Wednesday night. Take care, thanks for reading.