Friday the 4th: the nation's 249th birthday, the Stormers were back home for a series with the South Division's Charleston Dirty Birds. A crowd of better than 6400 (largely for a gigantic postgame fireworks show) saw their fair share of pyrotechnics in the game itself. The Stormers went up 2-0 in the first on an error and an Ariel Sandoval base hit, after the West Virginians got on the board in the second the Stormers added four more in their half. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks drawn by Evan Alexander and Nick Ward made it 4-1, Mason Martin picked up a ribbie on an infield groundout and another run scored on a wild pitch. It stayed 6-1 until Charleston scored twice in the fourth, the Stormers answered back with a Joseph Carpenter two-run home run to lead 8-3. The Birds scored one in the fifth and three more in the sixth to close within a run, in the home half the Stormers replied on a Sandoval RBI hit and Danny Amaral's two-run single to go up 11-7. Charleston would not go away quietly scoring three in the eighth to close within 11-10, in the ninth Gerson Moreno slammed the door and earned the save for winning pitcher Max Green. As the game ended the big crowd settled in for the fireworks while I settled into the drivers seat of my car. After thirty-five years Up North I am utterly desensitized to fireworks shows, if you've seen one you've seen them all and the only way to watch them is in the rearview mirror. On Saturday night in game #2 the visitors struck early with a two-run first inning, the Stormers scored four in the second on an RBI double by Amaral and a Dave Matthews three-run homer. Charleston scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh, those were offset almost singlehandedly by Nick Ward with a two-run homer run in the fifth and an RBI single in the sixth. The 7-5 lead held up the rest of the way, Noah Skirrow won it with Jackson Rees picking up the save. The Stormers dropped the Sunday finale to finish the league's first half with a mark of 31-32, over in York the Revolution claimed the first-half championship in the North at 39-24 while the High Point Rockers took the South at 41-22. The new half starts on Tuesday the 8th, the Stormers stay home to host Southern Maryland. Take care, thanks for reading.
