Baseball

Senior class

Sullivan West’s Logan Grishaber pitches a complete game to notch Division IV win over Burke

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — In the tense and defining moments of a key game, what a team needs most is the stalwart, experienced leadership of players who can bear down and find a way to win.

Sullivan West’s Logan Grishaber fits that description to a tee.

For years on end, this writer has been watching the southpaw grit his way through little league games, teeners championship tilts and varsity clashes. Some of those spellbinders ended in glorious wins, others in heart-rending defeats.

But through it all, Grishaber has never given less than 100 percent and with each successive encounter, he has emerged stronger and more determined to win.

His coach Kurt Scheibe appreciates that, as do Grishaber’s teammates.

And so it was that they stood behind him, as what looked like a win in the bag nearly melted into a seventh-inning catastrophe against John S. Burke on May 12.

It got dicey, all right, as one thing after another went wrong for Grishaber and company and Burke came within one batter of tying the game or taking the lead.

But when all was said and done, Grishaber struck out Nick May, pounded his fist and roared as the Bulldogs held on for the 7-6 win.

It was yet another classic entry for the burgeoning scrapbook kept by his mom, Jill, that is rife with photos, stories and headlines that have annotated her son’s baseball career.

But as Yogi Berra aptly pointed out, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings,” and no such portly crooner seemed to be anywhere in sight in the seventh inning as Burke staged a rally, helped by a trio of Bulldog errors, a balk and two bases-loaded walks.

To put it bluntly, you couldn’t make this stuff up.

Coming into the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs sat on a seemingly comfortable 7-2 lead. They had chased junior starter Matt Commins, who had struggled from the get-go with his control, and quickly picked up Grishaber, who had yielded two runs, one of which was earned, in the top of the first.

Sullivan West’s heavy-hitting bats accounted for three runs in the first inning to take the lead back from their Division IV rivals.

The first of three singles by Grishaber and base hits by Mark Tesseeyman, Jeremy DiGori, Austin Sauer and another E-6 off the bat of R.J. Rosa staked the Bulldogs to a 3-2 lead.

From there on, Grishaber was brilliant, notching five strike outs and allowing only one walk through six innings. The wily southpaw had Burke batters off stride, as they hit balls to Sullivan West’s apt defenders. A diving catch by centerfielder Austin Sauer on a late sac fly by Burke’s Connor Doherty was the defensive play of the game.

Unfortunately, Sullivan West’s defense would falter in the seventh and nearly cost them a game, which they needed in their ongoing quest for the division title.

Grishaber’s outing came just a day after fellow senior Brad Reimer had pitched a two-hitter against the Eagles in their Goshen aerie. Neither of those hits against Reimer had left the infield and Mark Tesseyman’s blast had sealed the deal in the 3-0 victory.

Grishaber gives the Dawgs a powerful one-two rotation. Austin Sauer added a solid third prong with a 10-strikeout game against Liberty last week.

That was Burke’s second division loss, the other coming against O’Neill, who had also beaten Sullivan West once, for the Bulldog’s only division defeat.

The Dawgs added three runs in the second inning, as Dan Shannon came on in relief of Commins and promptly yielded a two-run double to Tesseyman. While Grishaber held sway over the Eagles with his arm, his bat would be key as well and would turn out to be the difference in the one-run win.

In the sixth inning, Gaston Owen singled and Ryan Alsdorf executed a perfect sac bunt to advance him to second. Eric Minton flew out to left but Grishaber singled. A Burke throwing error allowed Owen to score, as Grishaber alertly moved up to second and then third. Reimer walked, but Tesseyman grounded out to short to end the inning. The Bulldogs now led 7-2.

May and Doherty led off with singles and an E-5 on a potential double-play ball loaded the bases with no outs. Grishaber walked Richard Douglas for the Eagles’ first run of the inning. Then, an E-4 brought in another. Commins popped up and Tesseyman snared it in foul territory for the first out. Matt Michaels brought in another run with his fly out to center and a balk to Moore loaded the bases. Prior to the balk, Grishaber thought he had Moore struck out on a 2-2 pitch but the count went to three-two and the balk ensued.

An E-4, the third error of the inning, made it a one-run game. With the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second, Grishaber reached back for that something extra to strike out May.

Coach Commins commended his team for showing a lot of heart at the end. “Unfortunately, it was a little late.

“It’s a good series. They always play us tough,” he said.

Burke still has one more game with O’Neill. The Eagles avoided a sweep in the series with a 2-1 eighth-inning victory win on May 14. The Eagles got a sac fly from Eric Moore to gain the game three victory. But in game two, the story was Grishaber and the Bulldogs.

“Logan pitched great,” said Scheibe. “We started out well, as their starter was having control problems. When he came back over the plate, we hit the ball hard and got three runs in the first and second. Logan picked up a big hustle run when he singled and got to second when they overthrew the cut off man. That extra run turned out to be big.

“Logan showed his senior leadership in the seventh and still made pitches when he needed to,” Schiebe said. He chalked up the errors to the inexperience of his third and second basemen. “They haven’t been in big situations like this much. You have to battle through those mental mistakes.”

Asked about whether he was getting ready to replace Grishaber. “We wanted the senior out there,” said Scheibe.

With a day off, prior to heading back to Burke, the Bulldogs prepared for the series finale. “This week, we have the use of the Narrowsburg field if we need it. Hopefully one of these days, we’ll have a practice field at the high school,” said Scheibe, who still recalls how 12 years ago he was told they’d have a field at the high school in Jeffersonville.

Sullivan West moved to 12-3 (7-2 OCIAA), while Burke finished the week at 9-6 (8-3 OCIAA).

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos from the Bulldog win.