By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — The Sullivan West Bulldogs quickly turned a three-run deficit into a two-run lead on Thursday afternoon.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth, SW trailed visiting James I. O’Neill, 9-6, in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV baseball game at Lions’ Field in Jeffersonville.
But an RBI single by Gaston Owen and a two-run single by Mark Tesseyman knotted the score at 9-9.
Tesseyman and Jeremy DeGori scored moments later when Ryan Alsdorf singled to center field, giving SW (9-4, 4-2 Division IV) an 11-9 advantage.
SW pitcher Brad Reimer preserved that lead in the top of the seventh. He set the Raiders down in order to earn the save.
After striking out the first batter of the frame, Reimer got some help from his defense.
O’Neill’s Rich Scott hit a fly ball to straight away center. As the ball kept carrying, Bulldogs’ senior center fielder Jim Moloney stayed with it and reached over his shoulder to make a spectacular diving catch before rolling over backwards.
“It’s the best high school catch I’ve ever seen,” SW Coach Kurt Scheibe Jr. said after the game.
Unfortunately, however, Moloney was shaken up on the play and the Jeffersonville Volunteer Ambulance Corps was summoned to the field. After a few moments, Moloney, whose left elbow and shoulder were tightly wrapped in a sling, stood up and walked the back door of the ambulance. Before entering the ambulance, he waved to acknowledge his teammates, the O’Neill coaches and players and fans of both teams who applauded upon seeing him get back up on his feet.
After the ambulance left, Reimer needed only one pitch to induce an infield groundout to end the contest.
“We had a good effort from everybody today,” Scheibe said. “Ryan Alsdorf pitched four innings, Logan Grishaber came in for two innings and Brad Reimer got the save.”
“We had nice contributions from two freshmen, Jeremy DeGori and Ryan Alsdorf,” Scheibe added. “Jeremy had a double in the sixth inning and scored a run and Ryan went four innings for us on the mound.”
Reimer went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Tesseyman was 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Alsdorf and Austin Sauer added two RBIs apiece for the Bulldogs.
With the loss, O’Neill dropped to 4-11 overall and 3-5 in Division IV. O’Neill Coach Bristin Marks was disappointed with the loss, but remained focused on his team’s upcoming schedule.
“We have a division game against Fallsburg on Wednesday and need to win two games in our division series with Burke to make the sectionals,” he said.