By Frank Rizzo
JEFFERSONVILLE — April 27, 2001 – His squad is undefeated so far and ranks ninth in the state in the latest Class D poll, but it’s still too soon to look too far ahead, according to Sullivan West/Jeff-Youngsville baseball coach Kurt Scheibe.
Asked to place Wednesday’s 8-5 win over visiting Tri-Valley in the context of the season, Scheibe responded, “It was the fourth game of the season. Now we go on to the fifth.”
Wednesday’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV contest was played at the Lions Field and the win upped the Trojans’ record to 4–0 overall and 2–0 in league play.
Billy Reichmann, in his first start, got the outs when he needed to in going the distance. He yielded 10 hits, fanned six, and walked none.
Reichmann got a boost early on when his soph catcher, Jacob Sauer- Jones, held on to the ball after a terrific collision at the plate with T-V’s Durk Pearston.
Reichmann had yielded a hard single to Pearston after fanning the first two batters he faced. James Paul followed with a tricky-hop single past shortstop Jon Fanning, sending Pearston to third. Alex Pearston bounced to Fanning, who attempted to get Paul at second.
Paul beat the throw, and Durk Pearston took off for home. Sauer-Jones gloved the throw from Matt Karkos and had only a brief moment to set himself before the solidly-built Pearston barreled head first into him.
Sauer-Jones held on to the ball, but it became a moot point after ump Tom Bury ejected Pearston for an unsportsmanlike play. T-V coach Jim Kelly later announced he was protesting the game on what he termed “a judgement call.”
(Kelly declined to discuss his protest after the game.)
The Trojans wasted no time in reaching pitcher Josh Lowitz. Reichmann singled and then, with two outs, scampered to third when Bright followed with another single. Both runners subsequently scored on fielding errors.
Chris Smith led off the Bear third with a triple, scoring when Fanning’s throw got past Emanuel Toledo at third.
In the bottom of that frame Reichmann and Fanning singled, and Bright reached on an error. After striking out Toledo, Lowitz walked Sauer-Jones to score Reichmann.
The Trojans then opened daylight when designated hitter Ryan Schumacher singled and reached third on a two-base error to clear the bases. Karkos’ single then plated Schumacher to give the hosts a 7-1 lead.
T-V closed the gap in the fourth. Paul singled but was cut down at second trying to steal. Alex Pearston followed with a single. Bill Gorman then reached on an error, sending Pearston to third. Chris Cassidy skied to short center. Fanning snared the ball and fired home, but Pearston beat his throw. Gorman, who had stolen second before, went to third on this play and scored on Nate McCarthy’s ensuing single.
Paul doubled to lead off the sixth, and scored on a two-out single by McCarthy to make it a 7-4 game.
The Trojans loaded the bases in their half of the sixth, on singles by Justin Pinkel and Reichmann and a walk to Fanning. Pinkel was forced at home by Bright’s groundout, but Reichmann crossed the plate when catcher Joe Carraccia could not hang on to a third strike to Toledo.
Carraccia scored T-V’s final run, in the seventh, on a passed ball after reaching on an error and stealing second.
“We’re young and inexperienced,” T-V coach Kelly summed up his team. “We lost six valuable seniors and four first team Western Sullivan league all-stars and the Western Sullivan League Most Valuable Player.”
Kelly was referring to Mike VanBourgondien, the last MVP of the now-defunct league.
The Bears won the last of their five straight WSL titles in 2000.
The loss drops the Bears to 1–2 overall, 0–1 in Division IV. Alex Pearston, Paul, and McCarthy each had two hits for T-V.
Reichmann and Bright had four hits each for the Trojans. Sauer-Jones and Schumacher added two hits apiece while Sauer-Jones was also credited with three RBI.
“We made a couple of mental mistakes, and a couple of physical mistakes, but did not let them pile up,” said Scheibe. “Reichmann did a nice job today keeping hitters off balance. This was his first start but he’s relieved [Kyle Bright] twice. We knew his pitch count was reasonable and he’d be fine.”
Besides the Bears and Trojans, Division IV includes Chester, Eldred, Fallsburg, and Tuxedo.
“It’s tough to tell about this league… we can’t figure out some teams yet,” Scheibe noted. “We still have to play them… and every game is a challenge to us. They are all the team to beat.”