The first week of April contained two sporting events, one high school and one professional with both resulting in the home team being shut out. On Wednesday afternoon at McCaskey the Red Tornado hosted Ephrata in a divisional game, at 4:15 it was fifty-three degrees with a fifteen-MPH wind straight in from center. Ephrata won the game 15-0, they led by six into the fifth inning before a nine-run frame ended it via the mercy rule. In their five innings at bat JPM had only three baserunners on walks and never came close to a base hit. Andrew Carlisle started on the mound with Josh Reyes in relief. The next home game is on Monday the 7th with Penn Manor, that is a 7:00 start under the lights. On Saturday we made our annual trip north to Allentown for an AHL Phantoms game, the Springfield Thunderbirds (St. Louis Blues affiliate) were the opponent. Current Phantoms with Royals history include forwards Zayde Wisdom (tail-end of 2023), Jacob Gaucher (third-leading scorer that year) and Sawyer Boulton (earlier in '24-25), defenseman Xavier Bernard (a handful of games in the fall of '24) and goaltender Parker Gahagen. On this night the teams battled through almost sixty-five minutes of scoreless hockey, with just seconds left in OT Springfield lit the lamp and took the game 1-0. Gahagen was the Phantoms goalie of record and deserved a better fate but despite the loss the Phantoms clinched a playoff spot when the team directly below them in the standings lost on Sunday. We've been to Allentown nine times in eleven seasons (once a year except for the two BS years between 2019 and 2021) but this is in all likelihood the last time we'll be making the trip. I'm not getting any younger, the driving distance isn't getting any shorter and the overall expense (tickets, parking, food etc.) isn't getting any cheaper. It was fun while it lasted but right now it looks like the novelty of the annual Allentown trip has run its course. Take care, thanks for reading.
