By Ted Waddell
GRAHAMSVILLE — May 24, 2002 – It was a long afternoon for the Tri-Valley baseball team.
By the time Wednesday’s OCIAA Division IV baseball game concluded, the visiting Chester Hambletonians had clawed the T-V Bears by a 20-2 margin.
While Chester pitcher Ray Otte got off to a shaky start, he pulled it together and sent several Bears batters back to their seats in frustration on the way to a two-hitter.
On the other hand, T-V Coach Jim Kelly sent just about everybody – including the proverbial waterboy – to the mound in an attempt to stem the flood of Hambletonian pokes and runs.
After a scoreless first frame, Chester (12-6, 6-4 OCIAA) broke the game open with 10 runs in the second inning.
A Bear error was followed by a base hit by Jim Thonus. Ryan Briggs, the first T-V pitcher of the day, served up walks to Seth Roach and Rob Ratuis to load the bases.
Chester’s Shane Weed then smacked a two-RBI double. Kyle Kloorofain drove in a run on an error. After John Paul Lake and John Bienskie picked free tickets to basepaths, J.P. Schmidlein doubled to score two more runs.
Jim Thonus earned an RBI on a ground out. At his second at bat in the frame, Weed drove in another run.
In the bottom of the second, T-V (5-13, 2-9 OCIAA) scratched its way into the scorebook with a run. Briggs led off with a double. A base hit by John Garigliano moved Briggs to third, who later crossed the plate to make it a 10-1 ballgame.
In the third frame Chester scored two runs.
The Hambletonians added insult to injury in the top of the fourth by adding six runs to their tally. With two outs, and a runner on base, Thonus ripped an RBI single. After Ratuis and Weed walked, Kloorofain drove in a run. With the bases loaded, Lake and Bienskie then drew back-to-back bases loaded walks to add two more runs to the Chester total.
T-V’s Greg Barnard ended the inning with a spectacular catch in the outfield that sent him tumbling in the grass.
During the Bears’ turn at-bat in the fourth, they racked up their second and final run of the game. Tim Osterhaut and Matt Calabrese walked. An error by Kloorofain allowed Osterhaut to score.
“Tri-Valley tried, and they played hard . . . but games like this get a little sloppy real fast,” said Chester Coach Tony Mancuso. “We had a good pitching effort by Ray Otte to close out the regular season.”
After being humbled by the Hambletonians, T-V Coach Jim Kelly was not available for comment after the game.