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.