May 8

Wednesday evening at McCaskey for the final game of high school baseball season, the Red Tornado hosted Lancaster Catholic. It was Senior Night, before the 6:30 start we honored Cristian Cancel, Jhanel Perez, Rey Ortiz, Tobe Kuntz and Janpaul Rodriguez as members of the Class Of '24. We don't play many home games under the lights but they always bring a larger crowd than a 4:15 game and this night was no exception. The game began under circumstances all too familiar, the visitors from the neighborhood of Rossmere jumped out to a 3-0 first-inning lead. JPM got back into it in the second when Adrian Rodriguez drew a walk, Niko Bergeron was hit by the pitch and Jhanel Perez reached on a infield hit to load the bases. Rey Ortiz lived on an error allowing Adrian to score, Elliott Fluck's sac fly plated Niko to make it 3-2. In the third an Eli Morales base hit, an RBI double by Adrian R. and Janpaul Rodriguez's run-scoring single put JPM ahead 4-3. In the fourth Ortiz walked and Fluck reached on a error putting runners on second and third. Andrew Carlisle hit a slow roller back to the mound, as he was being retired at first Ortiz came home, Fluck just kept running right behind him and scored as well to extend the lead to 6-3. LCHS got one back in the fifth, in the top of the seventh it was Deja Vu All Over Again. Much like Monday against Township (and even Tuesday at the ballpark) the visiting team put together a seventh-inning uprising, on this night it was LCHS rallying for three runs to go ahead 7-6. In the bottom half JPM got the tying run to third with two out but the game ended right there, Elliott Fluck took the loss in relief of starter Janpaul Rodriguez. The club finishes 2-18 with both wins (one each home and away with the home win coming in my absence) against non-divisional competition. There is talk that the division schedule in 2025 will feature just two games against each opponent allowing for ten non-league games instead of the current five but we'll see what happens. For me it's the finish of my eighth year of baseball at JPM, it's not the pros but it's BASEBALL in an environment where it's fun and what I do is appreciated. Believe me when I tell you it's isn't always automatically that way everywhere (been there, done that, never going back). Take care, thanks for reading