By Frank Rizzo
JEFFERSONVILLE — April 3, 2001 – The merger came a year early for the Delaware Valley baseball squad, as lack of numbers forced five of its varsity members to join the Jeff-Youngsville team.
DVCS and JYCS players are slated to play together next year — along with Narrowsburg — as part of the Sullivan West combined baseball team.
“We’ve been noting lower enrollment for males this year for all sports,” said SW/DV athletic director Debbie Owen. “Last spring, the numbers behind the graduating seniors were lower than usual. It made us start looking at the [baseball situation] a bit earlier. We put up the registration sheet even earlier [before the season].
“We were hopeful, but not surprised,” Owen added. “This senior group is a smaller class than usual.”
The possibility of merging with Roscoe was also discussed, Owen noted.
“We’ve had good teams the past few years. I don’t know what happened,” said Bill Kirk, who coached DV the past three seasons. “I’m disappointed because I was looking forward to this season. That’s the way it is — we just don’t have the numbers at the small schools.”
Kurt Scheibe Jr., the first-year coach at J-Y, thought that “the fact that the football team merged [back in the fall] helped. The kids got to know each other.”
“We did it for football, so it’s no big deal,” said Emanuel “E.T.” Toledo of the DV campus, one of the five transfers.
In addition to Toledo the DV players are Bill Reichmann, Ryan Schumacher, Matt Karkos, and Jacob Sauer-Jones. All played on the Sullivan West football team last fall.
Dan Hart, who stepped down to assistant from head coach at J-Y to spend more time with his family, noted that “we didn’t have many returning players. Having the players from DV complement things. They knew each other anyway.”
With the “early” merger, J-Y moves up to Class C for postseason competition. It will compete in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV along with Eldred, Tri-Valley, Fallsburg, Tuxedo, and Chester.
Moving Up the Ranks
For Scheibe Jr., the varsity head job is his first.
“There is a lot of other stuff you have to worry about,” he said of being the top man.
In addition to Hart, he will be assisted by Phil Fanning, who coached baseball at Liberty for the better part of two decades.
“I wanted the job. I was ready to coach varsity,” Scheibe said. “I learned a lot from Phil Pompeii and Andy Taggart.”
The last two were his coaches at Tri-Valley CS, from where he graduated in 1991.
“It’s too early to tell,” Scheibe said about the upcoming season. “The weather has been tough for both kids and coaches. We’re going nuts. We’re hoping to go outside.”
Scheibe noted that last spring, when he was varsity volunteer assistant coach, “we were outside the second week of practice.”
Scheibe began his coaching career two years ago as the J-Y modified coach.
“We lost a lot from last year,” he said, naming Western Sullivan League (WSL) all-stars Adam Hauser, James Kautz, Ryan O’Mara, and Maynard Schmidt, along with Sean Ruppert. The WSL is now defunct.
Returning from last year’s Trojan roster are outfielder Justin Pinkel, shortstop/pitcher Jon Fanning, and shortstop/pitcher/third baseman Kyle Bright, a WSL second team all-star in 2000.
Of the DV transfers, Reichmann should reprise his role as a pitcher/outfielder while Sauer-Jones will be catching.
Newcomers from the J-Y campus include Jon Tanous (OF), Matt Parks (1B/OF), and Nate Bucar (1B/OF).
Scheibe hopes to get a non-league game in against Livingston Manor this Friday, followed by another game against Monticello and a pair of scrimmages next week against Liberty.
“We’re going to play some hunches, get a chance to look at everyone,” Scheibe said. “All the kids are question marks right now.”
Scheibe said he has enjoyed his new role, “but I would enjoy it more if we were outside.”