Monday dawned very dark and gray with a steady light rain, in early afternoon word came down that the ballgame at McCaskey was postponed to Tuesday. Penn Manor was the opponent for a divisional game, at 4:15 it was forty-three degrees with a persistent 26-MPH wind blowing straight out to left. Upstairs in the booth I am out of the wind but since it's not insulated I still feel the cold, I honestly wonder how anybody could stand actually sitting out in those conditions. At least it was dry and the sun was out, that may have been the saving grace. After being shut out in three of the last four games (and being no-hit in two of them) the JPM offense finally got some hits and scored some runs but it wasn't enough to prevent a 9-4 loss. Penn Manor was up by two in the second before Andrew Carlisle doubled and came home on Niko Bergeron's RBI single to make it 2-1. Over the next five innings PM scored seven unanswered to go up 9-1, in the last inning JPM loaded the bases with one out. Jayden Vaughn two-run single made it 9-3, Adrian Rodriguez drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home the final run. Carlisle started and went four innings with Eli Morales finishing in relief. The league divisions are largely based on enrollment (which is why McCaskey is always in the highest group), in 2025 Ephrata moved into our division and all they did was win their division the previous year. Manheim Township is in our division and all they did was win the league title in '24, Hempfield is around as well and all they did was win the state championship. Add in that Penn Manor and Cedar Crest aren't exactly pushovers and one wonders where the wins will come from at least for the foreseeable future. The next home game is on the 16th when the state champions visit. Take care, thanks for reading.
