In April, the Red Lion Area School District signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with York Habitat for Humanity, pledging to fund and construct a new home at 101 Schoolhouse Lane in Windsor. This is the first time in their 27 year history that York Habitat has partnered with a single, local school district to construct a home for a family in need.  No tax dollars will be used for the project. All funds necessary for the build will be raised through private fundraising efforts, such as this exciting event.

The project will not only create a new home for a qualified, lower income family, but will breathe new life into a blighted property.  Several years ago, a fire destroyed the double wide trailer located at 101 Schoolhouse Lane leaving behind only a charred block foundation. York Habitat plans to use the same foundation for the construction of the new home; a cost saving, environmentally friendly measure.

York Habitat is extremely proud to be partnering with the RLASD for this project. “It is a remarkable testimony to the commitment of the school district to improve its community. The RLASD Build is a pioneer project that should serve as a shining example as to the good that can be done to help those in need”, says Debbie Krout-Althoff, Executive Director, York Habitat.

Regas might be that second left-hander, joining Chris Cody in the rotation. The reason for wanting two lefties is simple. Just like a pitcher is constantly trying to change the way a hitter is looking at the ball, by brushing him back or throwing outside and then inside, Mason wants two left-handers so that during a three-game series he doesn’t have to worry about the opposition seeing three right-handed starters on three straight days.

“When you’re playing teams three games (in a row in a series), they’re going to see a left-hander somewhere,” Mason said. “So they don’t get locked into seeing the ball coming out of one side. … So they’re not constantly locking into the same arm slot. It changes things for a hitter. And left-handers historically do pretty well in this league.”

So even though Liriano looked like he could last longer in outings if needed, Mason wants Regas in the rotation. He wants to let him go through the routine of being a starter. He wants him to long toss. He wants him to work on bullpen sessions between starts.

Mason also values what Liriano provides.

“He keeps the ball down, that’s what I like about him,” Mason said. “Even when he gets behind in the count he can come back with quality strikes down in the zone. He saved our bullpen and kept us in the game (Monday). He’s what I knew he could be.

“I can use Pedro out of the bullpen in-between Regas’ starts, at least once and maybe twice and then shut him down the day before Regas pitches.”

But he also values what two left-handed starters might mean to his rotation.

“Do I think Kris is going to be able to (be a starter)? I can’t answer that yet, you know,” Mason said. “I just think … there are some mechanical things we need to work on with him. I think if he’s going to be a starting pitcher, he’s going to have to use more secondary pitches earlier in the game. He threw way too many fastballs for me. He has a good breaking ball. I think he’s going to have to use that more.”

Mason noted Cody throws primarily fastball/changeup, but he uses both throughout starts — which is effective.

“When you’re a reliever, you don’t flip through the lineup,” Mason said. “So now second time through (the lineup), have I given them enough to think about? Kris has a good breaking ball, he used it as a reliever, he just has to incorporate it in as a starter.”

“They’re lights out, obviously,” Revs manager Mark Mason said. “That shortens the game. We got to Majewski tonight, but that’s more the exception than the norm. It’s almost like a seven-inning game for them. … That’s two quality back-end guys for sure.”

Bergmann was hitting mid-90s consistently in the ninth, and pitched a 1-2-3 ninth.

Sugar Land looked the part of the best team in the league, pounding York for 15 hits. But only three of those hits went for extra bases. The Skeeters hit two homers off starter Corey Thurman, who did not look sharp. The Skeeters kept York infielders busy as third baseman Andy Marte needed to barehand several nubbers down the line.

“It was just some situations where they hit the ball with perfect placement,” Mason said. “I thought we did a good job of a regrouping and battling back. … We gave ourselves a chance, we kept trying to comeback. We just came up short.”

“I found out probably about 15 minutes before I went out to stretch that my wife and son were OK,” Savage said. “It was about 20 minutes south of where we live, so they saw it coming and went to my mother-in-law’s house. So I knew they were OK.

“It was pretty stressful for awhile because the cellphone service wasn’t working, and finally they got a hold of me once they got out to my mother-in-laws house. But I do have some friends that live in Moore (Okla.) so I haven’t heard from (them) yet. My wife said she saw my best friend running around helping look for survivors on the news. It hits pretty close to home. … It was pretty stressful because the coverage they were showing was pretty intense.”

Savage is a transplant from Southern California and admitted he hasn’t grown accustomed to the type of severe weather common in Oklahoma.

“It still really bothers me … because (the storms) can come out of nowhere,” Savage said. “It’s pretty scary.”

A former Phillies and Dodgers prospect, Savage (3-2) pitched well despite the circumstances. He shut out York in five of his six innings. He allowed all of York’s run in a crazy fifth inning, when two fielding miscues — including Blake Gailen losing a pop fly in the lights in left field — fueled York’s four-run rally. The go-ahead run and eventual game-winning run scored on the ball that dropped behind Gailen. York won 4-3, taking three of four from the Barnstormers.

“Fifth inning: It got a little crazy there,” Savage said. “It’s frustrating. Made some quality pitches, that’s just baseball. Those ground balls get through, it’s just frustrating.”

Able to talk after a stressful day, Savage noted he would call relatives and friends to check on them once he finished the interview.

“When some event like that happens it really makes you put baseball on the back burner,” Savage said. “I want to go out there and compete. But I’m not going to sit here and get all upset that I didn’t catch a break there, when you realize — you know — real people are suffering in a real-life situation.”

The Revs are definitely not ailing, playing some of their best baseball of late — winning five of their last seven. But the York lineup has seen plenty of new faces added as several players continue to nurse nagging injuries and the Revs attempt to replace three players lost to major league organizations.

Revs manager Mark Mason began a four-game series against Lancaster with just two bench players. One — Eric Patterson (quad) — has not been healthy since suffering a strain in early May, and the other reserve has been backup catcher Patrick Arlis. The Revs needed to acquire some players.

The latest acquisition has been designated hitter/outfielder Cody Johnson, a first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2006. Just 24, Johnson has big-time power, and a habit for striking out (he hit 21 homers but struck out 194 times in 113 games in 2011). But Johnson could be a key signing for York. The Revs really never replaced the power of Chris Nowak (Revs 2011-2012). After Nowak announced his retirement in the offseason, the Revs opted to sign Johan Limonta and Brian Burgamy to share time at first base — Nowak’s former position. But neither are big-time home run hitters. Limonta is more of a doubles hitter and Burgamy does a bit of everything — most notably being the hardest out in the league (he has a league-high .453 OBP).

The signing of Johnson should add some power to the Revs lineup. Currently York ranks fifth in the league in homers. And it should be noted power hitters can turn it around in the Atlantic League. Former manager Andy Etchebarren recalled talking to one of Nowak’s former hitting coaches in affiliated baseball, a coach who thought Nowak was a (expletive) hitter.

“Well he ain’t (expletive) any more!” Etchebarren said with a laugh, back in 2012. All Nowak did in York was set the team record for homers in back-to-back seasons, hitting 25 homers in a partial season in 2011 and 34 homers in 2012.

At age 24, Johnson is a prime candidate for a player who has the time to rework his approach or swing in order to cut down on strikeouts and return to affiliated baseball.

Onetime Atlantic League reporter Mike Ashmore profiled Johnson during his time with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. He also has a question-and-answer piece where Johnson discusses his strikeout numbers.

A Trentonian story from March also questions whether Johnson could be headed to the Bronx soon.

Now with 27 players — the league maximum — under contract, the Revs will need to decide what outfielders to keep before Atlantic League rosters need to be trimmed to 25 players before June 1. Currently the Revs have Johnson, Mike Coles, Jeff Fiorentino, Tyler Graham, James Shanks and Ruddy Yan. Patterson also plays outfield (and infield).

Other new faces for the Revs include:

* Coles, who was signed May 18, a career independent league player with a .302 career average.

* Left-handed reliever Edward Paredes, who was signed May 17, is with his first independent team and owns a 4.73 career ERA.

* And, though he is not new to York fans, Shanks returned to the Revs May 11 after sitting out the first month of the season. He has five RBIs in his first seven games back with the Revs.

* Yan, who was signed May 8, is in his sixth independent season and second Atlantic League club this season.

Tomko lost the no-hitter in the sixth inning when No. 9 hitter Gustavo Molina hit an opposite-field single on a fastball low and away. Tomko swung his right hand after allowing the single, a reaction he said had a lot to do with what was going through his mind right after the single.

“That was a good pitch he hit, but he missed two breaking balls by a lot so I felt I should have went back to that,” Tomko said. “But I mean that was a good piece of hitting. … It was was more like, ‘Gosh I should have thrown (the breaking) pitch.’ …

“I think I’m more upset with the (eighth-inning) walk than anything. Hits are going to happen, home runs are going to happen. I kind of hung a cutter on a (Molina) home run. … I’m more upset on the walk before that.”

Tomko has pitched well, but he didn’t earn a win until Friday in large part because of a lack of run support and illness. He pitched despite being up all night with his sick son before a May 6 game against Somerset (four runs on nine hits in seven innings). After leaving the team with a stomach bug earlier this month, he returned to pitch in Lancaster May 11.

Revs manager Mark Mason could notice the difference Friday.

“The biggest difference was he didn’t get in any work in between starts, because he was laid up in bed,” Mason said. “So he didn’t get in all the throwing he usually does between starts. This time he felt good and he threw a tremendous bullpen in Long Island so he felt great there. But hey, when the kids get sick it goes right through the family. And he was dealing with that before his last start.

“I think he might have been a little bit dehydrated when he pitched in Lancaster (four innings) because he had been sick for so long. So he was tired, dehydrated and he didn’t get any work in. So he was sluggish, that might be the best way to describe it. Tonight he had energy.”

An outfielder for 14 seasons in professional baseball, including seven seasons spent in the majors, he lost the desire to be on the field every single day.

But he still wanted to feel that way. That’s the thing. He tried. He wanted to feel that fire. So even when no organization offered him an invitation to spring training, he felt like he needed to try the Atlantic League. A friend, Brett Tomko, phoned in the offseason, and they decided to play together for York. Repko thought that would help.

Give it some time, he kept telling himself.

Almost a month into the season, Repko knew he had a decision to make.

“I came here hoping to get that feeling back in my heart … but I had a hard time getting that desire to be on the field every day,” Repko said Monday a day after retiring from playing baseball.

He thought, if he didn’t have that fire, he was only staying in the game for selfish reasons. Perhaps that would be OK if he was the only one running through this minor league life. But he wasn’t. He had a wife. And two small children. And if he felt 100 percent, perhaps even then he could keep running out there every night. But he wasn’t. Plunked by a pitch on the back of his shoulder, the muscle became inflamed and he was in pain. All of that contributed to him walking into the office of York Revolution manager Mark Mason about a week ago to say he was going to retire. But mostly, he couldn’t face the fact he didn’t live every day for baseball. He agreed to stay another six days to allow the Revs time to pick up some more players.

Mason thanked Repko.

“And I was like, ‘No problem, I’ll say as along as want me to,’” Repko recalled. “Then Mase said, ‘Don’t say that or I’ll keep you the whole year.’”

Repko laughed.

He knew people disagreed with his decision. Still, he knew it was time to move on.

He batted .253 in 24 games and didn’t miss a single game. Even after telling Mason he would retire, he showed up for optional batting practice. He made a sliding catch in the outfield. He threw out a runner at home. He shook his head on strike calls that he believed didn’t go over the plate. And this was all in the last week of his career. The majors weren’t calling him back. The scouts weren’t going to write up a promising report, and even if they did he didn’t think it would change his mind. Before he came to York, he explained why he crashed into walls instead of letting up and allowing the ball to drop — even though he know catching the ball might mean he would be injured. He played all out because he felt like he had to put everything he had into baseball. And when that desire was gone, he too felt like he had to leave.

“All the guys really liked him,” Mason said. “For the past week, guys have been trying to talk him into staying.”

Still, Repko knew he didn’t have that feeling he experienced his entire career. Something had changed inside him, and he opted to retire at age 32 — a year after playing in the big leagues. It was time for his family to do something more than watch him play.

“Sunday, a couple people were excited, but some of my teammates were down,” Repko said. “My wife was a little down, but I knew in my heart it was the right decision. I was excited. I’m happy. I’m content.

“In my heart I was satisfied with my career. And the way my body was feeling. And with my boy — who is five now and he hasn’t really played on even a T-ball team because he’s been caught between seasons for me — that makes me sad.”

Among his proudest moments, and perhaps his happiest day as a professional, is the final day of spring training in 2005. His parents had come to watch the Dodgers exhibition game. Repko didn’t know if he made the team until after the game. That’s when manager Jim Tracy notified him he had made his first big league club out of spring training.

He was able to tell his parents he was going to the majors.

He can remember the feeling, the smile he had on his face.

“Even now I can remember how my heart was beating,” Repko said.

And now, after 1,261 professional games, he was ready for it to end.

His son could be heard during the final series shouting: “Let’s go JA-SON REP-KO!” during his father’s at-bats.

And even though he didn’t have that feeling, it sure looked like it. Repko went 4-for-5 in his last game, tripling in his final at-bat.

Two innings before he walked to the plate for the final time, Repko told Tomko in the Revs dugout that his first professional hit was a triple back in 1999. Fourteen years ago, he was an 18-year-old in rookie ball sprinting around the bases for the Great Falls Dodgers of Montana in the Pioneer League. The two agreed it would be fitting if he could go out with another triple. Tomko responded with a word of advice: If he hit one in the outfield, Repko better not stop running.

So of course Repko hit one to center field in the eighth inning, his final at-bat, and of course he didn’t stop.

“Luckily I pulled it off; it comes full circle,” Repko said.

Fox has overcome shoulder issues and hoped to show he was healthy as he made his independent baseball debut with York this season.  It worked.

Signed Tuesday morning by the New York Mets organization, Fox becomes the sixth player signed in the Atlantic League this season — and half of those signings have come from the York Revolution roster. (Reliever Josh Judy went to the Angels; first baseman Johan Limonta went to the Padres). Fox had a 1.59 ERA in five games — including four starts — with York.

Update: Fox is headed to Triple-A Las Vegas in the Mets system, and his agent has told him there is a possibility he will start for the 51s. (Former Revs starter Shawn Hill pitched for Las Vegas last season when the club was still a Blue Jays affiliate. Hill went from Las Vegas to World Baseball Classic qualifying games with Canada to the big leagues, pitching against the Yankees in September.)

“That would be cool if I could slide into the rotation, it wouldn’t be a hard transition,” Fox said.

A former big leaguer, Fox learned of his signing on the Revolution team bus en route to Long Island.

“We had just left at 9 a.m. to drive up to Long Island, I just got settled in on the bus and (Revs manager Mark Mason) Mase wanted to see me. And I thought that was good news.”

He was right. The Mets signed him. Dropped off by the team bus, a Revs employee picked up Fox and brought him back to York so he could start to pack for his trip to Las Vegas.

“I didn’t know the Mets were interested in me, but I did throw against their teams almost every year (in pro ball),” Fox said.

Fox said he tried not to think about returning to affiliated baseball.

“You kind of just show up and play and work hard and try not to worry about that stuff,” Fox said. “I enjoyed my time in York for sure. We had a good team and it was fun coming to the park every day.
I just showed up and kept saying, ‘Get stronger, get better each outing — even if it’s just improving on one thing.’

“(John) Halama, the pitching coach, I really enjoyed working with him. He helped me with my curveball, and possibly adding a slider. He had a lot of good input. … There’s a reason York puts good team out there on the field, because they treat their players right.”

After recovering from shoulder issues that plagued him last season, Fox said the main thing he needed to prove was he was healthy again.

“My main focus was just to get healthy and not worry about that other stuff, if I could be healthy I felt like I would get signed.”

I was able to talk to Repko Monday evening, and I’ll post a column for Wednesday’s edition of the YDR on this site later this evening. He noted he lost the desire to be on the field everyday, and he had come to the conclusion he was content with his career. He leaves baseball after 14 pro seasons, including seven spent in the majors. He has no post-career plans, except for a three-week vacation that will include trips to see family members and some time at Disney.

Revs manager Mark Mason knew of Repko’s plans for about a week, and noted several teammates tried to talk him out of it. Repko agreed to stay with the Revs for about a week, allowing the coaches to bring in some outfielders. A team guy, right to the end.

York also will be without shortstop Andy Gonzalez, the former big leaguer has left the team for personal reasons — acording to Mason. This should not be confused with leaving the team to play abroad. Mason said there is a possibility Gonzalez could return to play for the Mets this season. Until then he’s been placed on the inactive/suspended list — meaning no other team in the league has the right to sign him. Mason expects Eric Patterson to see increased time at shortstop.

“Every time I slide it actually catches and slides down, but it’s better than chewing up my leg,” Repko said earlier this month. “I have to pull it back up so the next time I slide it’s in the right spot.”

A man who wears a sliding pad, obviously slides a lot. He’s crashed into the Green Monster and injured his shoulder. He’s flipped over a wall at Triple-A to make a catch to rob an opponent of a grand slam. And Repko has brought his all-out style of play to York. Earlier this month he managed to advance two bases on a double-steal with Tyler Graham, moving from first to third on one pitch when Graham took home on a delayed steal.

“Honestly, like a lot of things, it took me a lot longer than it should have to wear some of the things I wear now, because you think ‘I’m too tough, I’m not going to wear that,’” Repko said. “Next thing you know though, you’re nursing a lot of little cuts all over your leg from the road rash you get from sliding. I’ve probably worn it for the last five years, consistently for every game. I wear hamstring pads in my compression shorts, to keep my legs warm. Just little things to help (my body) out.”