Friday afternoon at McCaskey for the third time in five days, Hempfield returned for the second of their two visits. The first order of business on this day was the completion of that suspended game from April 4, we got underway at the regular 4:15 start time under sunny skies, sixty degrees and winds out to left at ten miles per hour (in other words, a typical baseball day at JPM). The game was in the bottom of the fifth when time was called on the 4th, Hempfield led 10-2 and would go on to win 13-2. Andrew Carlisle was pitcher of record from the original date, Niko Bergeron finished it in relief. The game was over around 5:00 or so, the regular game started about twenty minutes later. The Red Tornado fell behind 4-0 in the second, base hits by Carlisle (run scored) and Janpaul Rodriguez (RBI) in the home half got JPM on the board. The deficit was 7-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Rey Ortiz doubled to start the inning and advanced to third on a groundout. Adrian Rodriguez drew a walk to put runners on the corners, Carlisle's sacrifice fly brought Ortiz home and Adrian scored on a wild pitch. A single Hempfield run in the seventh ended the scoring, Elliott Fluck took the decision with Eli Morales in relief support. We were all done by 7:40, the next home date is May Day with Warwick. Saturday was a dreary day with rain in the area, a marked contrast to the weather on Sunday. Higher temperatures were in the forecast, in Rothsville in the morning it was close to seventy degrees for week #3 at Lions Park, Three new players brought the total enrollment to fifty, Ephrata defeated Township and Hillside won over Warwick. The unseasonably warm weather is expected to stick around into the new week, a clear case of Too Much Too Soon. Take care, thanks for reading.
