Bears Demolish J-Y

By Ted Waddell
JEFFERSONVILLE — May 30, 2000 -- Both teams came to win during Thursday afternoon’s boys’ varsity baseball at Lions Field in Jeffersonville.
And both teams had the records to show they were contenders for the Western Sullivan League (WSL) crown: the unbeaten home team Trojans of Jeffersonville-Youngsville (9–0 WSL/11–0 overall) took to the field ranked number one in NYS in Class D, while the Bears from Tri-Valley (8-2/10-4) were the four-time defending WSL champs and had a nine-game winning streak coming in.
At the end, Tri-Valley walked off the field with a ten-game winning streak as they defeated Jeff-Youngsville 24-6, handing the home team their first loss of the year. The big inning was the sixth, when the Bears racked up 20 runs.
The Bears scored two runs in the second with consecutive homers by Brian Garber and Mike Van Bourgondien.
In the bottom of the second, the Trojans battled back with three runs. Ryan O’Mara led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch and, after losing pitcher Maynard Schmidt struck out, advanced on a passed ball.
Kyle Bright’s single sent O’Mara across the plate and Bright went to second on error in the outfield. T-V starter Josh Lowitz followed by walking James Christiansen and Scott Ruppert to load the bases. John Compton beat out an infield single which scored Bright, and Christiansen came home when a wild pitch got away from catcher Van Bourgondien to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
In the third frame, the home team added two more to the scorebook. Adam Hauser got a free trip to first and O’Mara’s double sent him across the plate. Schmidt walked and advanced to second and third on passed balls, one of which also scored O’Mara. The inning ended with the score 5-2 in favor of the home team.
In the top of the fourth, Tri-Valley made it a 5-3 ballgame. Durk Pearston got to first on a dropped third strike, stole second and went to third on a passed ball. An RBI single by Garber scored Pearston.
Both teams added a run to their scores in the fifth frame. In the top of the inning Ryan Barnard singled, stole second and scored for the Bears on an RBI single by winning pitcher Josh Lowitz.
For the home team, Schmidt walked and moved up a base on a passed ball. With two out, an RBI single by Christiansen scored Schmidt to give the Trojans a 6-4 lead.
And then came Tri-Valley’s 20 run top of the sixth. For the Bears it was an inning made in heaven, and for the Trojans it was a frame fashioned in hell as the visitors shattered their season’s undefeated record.
In the inning, the Bears came within one batter of sending their lineup on a trio of round trips to the plate.
In the first nine-run round of the sixth, Pearston singled, Garber singled, Van Bourgondien singled, Mike Sheeley doubled, Bill Gorman singled, James Paul singled, Barnard walked, Lowitz doubled and Moore singled to give the Bears a 13-6 lead.
In the next chapter of the sixth, Tri-Valley picked up another eight runs as the lineup came back to the hot plate for second helpings.
Pearston doubled, Garber singled, Van Bourgondien singled, Sheeley singled, Gorman flied out to center field for the inning’s first out, Paul singled, Barnard singled, Lowitz singled and Moore’s base hit made it a 21-6 ballgame.
In the sixth’s epilogue, Pearston stepped up the plate for the third time in the fateful inning and singled, followed by a base hit by Garber and a double by Van Bourgondien. Sheeley flied out for the second out, Gorman reached on an error, Paul singled, Barnard walked and Lowitz grounded out to the second baseman to mercifully — for the Trojans — end the 20 run inning to close the scorebook at 24-6.
Although Lowitz had a couple of shaky innings in the second and third frames, he settled in on the mound to strike out eight, walk six, and give up four hits. At the plate, he was 3/6 with three singles up the middle and four RBI.
“I thought our bats really did a great job,” said Lowitz. “They came through in that one inning, which was a real big one for us. In the beginning our defense was a little shaky, but in the end we came up with a lot of good defensive plays.”
For the Bears, the middle of their lineup (3rd-6th men) carried the day in the sixth frame as between Pearston, Garber, Van Bourgondien and Sheeley, they accounted for 12 RBI out of the 20 runs, and scored 11 times.
Pearston was 3/5 with a triple, a double and a single. Garber was 5/5 including a homer and four base hits. Van Bourgondien was 4/6 with a home run, a double and a couple of singles. Sheeley was 3/5 including a double and a pair of base swats.
The Trojans sent three hurlers to the mound in the sixth inning, as Schmidt was relieved by John Compton and Jon Fanning.
Due to the recent spate of rain, both teams have seen limited time on the field in last few days. For the Trojans, their last three games were rained out, and the last time they faced an opponent was last Wednesday in a game against Roscoe.
In the past two weeks, the Bears had played two games, their latest a storm-shortened outing against the Blue Devils on Tuesday.
“I knew we were going up against a tough team,” said J-Y coach Dan Hart. “I thought it was going to be close, and for a while it was. But then they started hitting the ball to places where we couldn’t catch it.”
“Tri-Valley is a good team,” he added.
Hart’s reaction to the sixth inning? “All I can say is, Wow!”
According to Tri-Valley coach Jim Kelly, as four-time WSL champs, everyone was aiming to knock off the Bears.
“Out of fifteen games, we’ve only had five players compete in all of them, so things were a little mixed up at first,” he said.
“Everyone had a great night at the plate,” said Kelly of Thursday’s 24-6 trouncing of the undefeated Trojans. “The players are real excited about it. For the last several days, this game was all they were talking about.”
Looking toward the upcoming sectionals, Kelly said, “I hope our bats keep alive. Hopefully we can make some noise next week.”