Baseball

Bulldogs beat Goshen home and away

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — For Sullivan West’s pitcher Ryan Taylor, known affectionately by his teammates as “Biggie,” last week’s rough start against defending Section Nine champion Marlboro quickly became ancient history.

Sullivan West 3 Goshen 2

Showing great command of his pitches in the home opener on April 15 against the Goshen Gladiators, Taylor got ahead on the count on nearly every batter.

He struck out two of the first three hitters he faced on his way to striking out nine through six and one-third innings. Taylor shut out Goshen, and Lloyd Shaffer finished the job in relief.

Sullivan West 15 Goshen 8

Plating three runs in the bottom of the inning gave the Bulldogs all they needed with an effective Taylor on the mound. Billy Nordenhold led off with a walk, followed by a single by Taylor. After Matt Berger grounded out, Joe Meyer walked to load the bases. Lloyd Shaffer singled, driving in the first run. Sean Kelly reached first on a fielder’s choice as the Bulldogs went up 2-0. On an attempted steal, Kelly lunged back with his arm outstretched to first base just as Goshen first baseman Kevin Suehnholz applied a strong tag to Kelly, which resulted in a dislocated shoulder.

Members of the Jeffersonville ambulance corps took Kelly to Callicoon Hospital where doctors put his shoulder back in place. According to coach Kurt Schiebe, Kelly wants to return before the season is over, but that remains to be seen. Kelly was also scheduled to play in an AAU basketball game for his Scranton-based team Hoop City in a tournament in Binghamton this past weekend.

Goshen’s southpaw pitcher B.J. Hearn settled down and pitched a shutout for the remainder of the game, but the damage was already done. Goshen came into the game 0-3, having lost a double header to Port Jervis and a game to Clarkstown.

In the rematch with Goshen the next day, the Bulldogs’ pristine defense broke down. Committing a total of six errors could have proven disastrous, but good hitting enabled Sullivan West to garner a 15-8 win. Matt Berger pitched but often found himself behind in the count. Ed Raum scored four runs, Shaffer scored three times and John Glassel scored two as the Bulldogs touched up a pair of Goshen’s pitchers for 15 runs. Jack Tepe took the loss for the Gladiators. The Bulldogs (2-1) scored one run in the first inning, two in the second, four in the third, three in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

This week the Bulldogs face Cornwall at home on April 19 and away on April 20.

Eldred drops home opener to S.S. Seward

S.S. Seward 10 Eldred 3

ELDRED, NY — The schedule-makers gave Eldred a difficult opening task as the Yellowjackets had to take on Section Nine’s defending champion Florida on April 15.

Florida’s Mickey Collins struck out eight and had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 as the Spartans (3-1, 1-0 OCIAA) got the win. Additional firepower came from John Harter, who had a two-run double and Kyle O’Sullivan who went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Eldred’s Mike Prunka went 3-for-4 and scored two runs for the Yellowjackets ( 0-1, 0-1 OCIAA) in the losing effort.