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.