By Ted Waddell
FALLSBURG — The weatherman had it right. When it rains, it pours.
In Tuesday afternoon’s John Spear Memorial Baseball Tournament game between the host Comets of Fallsburg and the Sullivan West Bulldogs, the Bulldogs poured it on the Comets, 17-0.
The game could be summed up with the word “pitcher.” SW pitcher Ryan Alsdorf hurled a one-hitter, while the Comets went through their pitching rotation by sending Dan Seletsky, Jim Bertholf and Nabil Javed to the mound after starter Greg Simpson twisted his ankle in the early innings while trying to field a fast-paced chopper down the left field line.
The Bulldogs’ proficiency with their bats – they racked up nine hits – as well as Fallsburg’s seven errors and several walks added to the Comets’ woes on a chilly afternoon in which a series of brief showers further damped spirits.
The game wasn’t lacking in scoring opportunities, as SW loaded the bases in the third inning, again in the fifth and lastly in the sixth.
But rather than mighty shots over the outfield fence, the Bulldogs got free rides across the plate as the Fallsburg pitchers walked batter after batter.
The Comets loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, but weren’t able to capitalize. Also in the frame, Colin Whittaker swatted a single for Fallsburg’s lone hit of the afternoon.
SW (2-0) scored its first run on a balk in the top of the first. Brad Reimer smacked an RBI double in the third inning and Mark Tesseyman picked up a couple of hits in the contest.
“We were very patient at the plate early in the game and [Ryan] Alsdorf pitched a great game,” SW Coach Kurt Scheibe Jr. said. “He’s been working on his change up, and got that breaking for him.”
Alsdorf struck out eight and walked two.
Scheibe added that defensively his team “made the plays when we had to” and at the plate “had some key hits early.
“After we scored our first run, they batted their way around to score a bunch of runs, and that took the pressure off,” he said.
The Bulldogs scored one run in the first inning, one in the second, four each in the third and fourth, three in the fifth and four in the sixth.
“[Ryan] Alsdorf was dominant, he had some good heat,” said Fallsburg Coach Mike Weiner, who is in his first year of guiding the team.
Weiner added that a painful Achilles heel this season for Fallsburg (0-3) is “going to be our pitching depth.”
There wasn’t really a whole lot to say about a 17-0 loss, but Weiner was quick to point out a few rays of sunshine breaking through the clouds.
“We want to start from scratch to build the program back up again,” he said. “We’ll have some good games and some tough games. We want to rebuild from the bottom up.”