Barnstormin’

	Nick Renault 3-2, 4.37 ERA		Brian Adams 4-3, 5.11 ERA

Sixty-three games are in the books. That is, coincidentally, the number of games that were played in each half last season – when the schedule was shortened to 126 because of the Road Warriors. The Barnstormers have been remarkably consistent over the last 1½ year. Sunday’s defeat assured them of their third consecutive losing half.

2007 1st half: 29-34
2007 2nd half: 28-35
2008 to date: 27-36

With only a week remaining until the second half begins, the team has two glaring needs: an outfielder and a starting pitcher. D.J. Mattox, the fifth starter, had his Sunday turn in the rotation skipped because his arm was bothering him. Being one starter short really isn’t that big of a deal. Most teams in this league are in worse shape. The Barnstormers have Yamel Guevara and Ricardo Gomez available for spot duty.

The team’s depth is expected to get a boost with the return of 2B Juan Francia and 1B Ian Bladergroen. Francia has been out a week. If his original 10-14 day projection proves accurate, he could be activated before the first half ends Sunday. The Barnstormers hope Bladergroen can return next week. That would give manager Von Hayes some options in the infield.

OF Jordan Herr impressed the club in his first series at Bridgeport over the weekend. Although he went 0-for-3 with a walk Sunday, he hit the ball hard in two of his three at-bats. One was a fly ball to the wall that was dropped for an error. The other was a line drive double play. My guess is Herr will see substantial playing time this week as an evaluation heading into the second half.

The fact that there are 43 home games remaining among the 87 on the schedule bodes well for the offense. The Barnstormers average nearly five runs a game and have an OPS 100 points higher at home. Jutt Hileman, Manny Mejia and Ivanon Coffie have all hit much better at the Clip than in other locales.

Down to the wire:

The Freedom Division race takes a turn through central Pennsylvania this week. The Barnstormers are hosting Somerset and York welcomes Newark. These three-game sets are a prelude to a five-game series between the Patriots and Bears that will decide the champion over the weekend.

Lancaster and York look to play spoiler. The Barnstormers haven’t fared well against Somerset over the years. They are 1-6 against them this season and 6-19 dating back to 2007. Newark probably thinks this is a good time for that trend to change.

Lineups …

(35-27)	(27-36)
Sean Smith, CF	Lloyd Turner, 2B
Teuris Olivares, SS	Mike Woods, LF
Michael Ryan, LF	Danny Gonzalez, SS
Josh Pressley, 1B	Matt LeCroy, DH
Matt Hagen, 3B	Manny Mejia, C
Ryan Radmanovich, RF	Jutt Hileman, CF
Vito Chiaravolloti, DH	Kevin Kotch, 1B
Jason Belcher, C	Jordan Herr, RF
Gera Alvarez, 2B	Ivanon Coffie, 3B

Scoring summary …

WP: Brian Adams (5-3)
LP: Nick Renault (3-3)

FINAL: Patriots 12, Barnstormers 2

Patriots 1st: Hagen’s single scores Smith and Olivares. Chiaravolloti’s home run scores Pressley and Hagen.
Somerset leads 5-0.

Stormers 1st: LeCroy’s single scores Turner.
Somerset leads 5-1.

Patriots 2nd: Ryan’s double scores Smith. Pressley’s single scores Ryan.
Somerset leads 7-1.

Patriots 3rd: Alvarez’s double-play grounder scores Radmanovich.
Somerset leads 8-1.

Stormers 3rd: LeCroy’s sacrifice fly scores Woods.
Somerset leads 8-2.

Patriots 4th: Pressley hits solo home run. Radmanovich hits solo home run. Chiaravolloti hits solo home run.
Somerset leads 11-2.

Patriots 9th: Hagen hits solo home run.
Somerset leads 12-2.

RECORD: 27-37

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Vito Chiaravalloti

Somerset’s first baseman belted a pair of home runs. The first shot cleared the 400-foot marker in center field. I was going to point out how unusual that was, but Josh Pressley also did it later in the game. The Patriots treat coming to this ballpark like batting practice. Chiaravalloti has 12 homers, which ranks him third in the league.

The pitchers:

*Nick Renault struggled.

Renault had pitched well in his previous three outings – going 2-0 with a 2.21 ERA. He didn’t have his control in this one. The righthander issued five walks and hit two batters.

“He just wasn’t sharp,” manager Von Hayes said. “He hit the first guy and walked the next guy. That’s immediate trouble. These guys can hit. You don’t want to get yourself into those situations too often, especially right out of the gate. He got off to a bad start with the five runs and took us out of the game early.”

*Pat Cassa was rocked in his one inning. He surrendered home runs to Pressley, Ryan Radmanovich and Chiaravalloti. The last two were back-to-back shots.

*Paul Thorp retired all six batters he faced.

*Judd Songster hasn’t allowed an earned run for 17 1/3 innings.

The hitters:

*Jordan Herr collected his first two professional hits. He lifted a double off the right-field wall and lined a single to center. The only time he looked overmatched was facing hard-throwing reliever Jason Richardson in the ninth. Herr admitted he had butterflies playing in front of the home fans.

“Before the game, I was out there running and I didn’t want to stop moving because I would sit there and think about stuff,” Herr said. “I was more nervous today than anything.”

*Matt LeCroy drove in two more runs. The DH has seven RBIs in six games since returning from a shoulder injury.

*Ivanon Coffie left in the fifth inning with what he described as a sprained wrist. The third baseman didn’t believe the injury to be serious and said it might knock him out for “a couple of games.”

*When you compare Somerset’s lineup to Lancaster’s, you see why one team is fighting for first place and one is trying to stay out of last. The Patriots are much deeper. Jason Belcher, their No. 8 hitter, entered the night with a .331 average.

The bottom line:

Somerset owns the Barnstormers. The Patriots have won 20 of 26 in this rivalry and are 7-1 against Lancaster this season. It’s impossible to contend in the division if you can’t beat one of the teams that is perpetually ahead of you.

“I don’t think it’s a psychological thing,” Hayes said. “They’re just better than we are. That’s the bottom line. They have better pitching and they have a better team. I don’t think we’ve faced anybody this year where we’ve been at full strength. We just have to keep plugging away until we can get a lineup out there that’s competitive and it will complement our pitching. A night like tonight, we just got pounded.”