JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — It’s a small baseball field just across from the town hall, but it’s filled with a lot of memories.

On April 15, the home team Bulldogs of Sullivan West (1-3) faced the Ellenville Blue Devils (0-4) in a non-conference varsity baseball game, and after five games the 10-run rule was called with a 14-2 victory for the Bulldogs.

Sullivan West scored one run in the first, went on a rampage of eight runs in the second, added two in the third, two in the fourth and one in the fifth and final frame. Ellenville posted two runs in the fourth inning.

The Bulldogs sent two hurlers to the mound (Alec Hubert and Brandon Haas), and Ellenville rotated pitching between Krystian Rzemieniecki, Jon Torres and Ryan Thompson.

But before the opening pitch, this sports scribbler had the opportunity to talk with Lanny Ernst, who showed up to watch his grandson Adam take to the field of youthful dreams in left field.

It was a family affair, as Ernst’s son Jeremy was the Bulldogs’ assistant coach, and he was joined by granddaughter Riley Ernst, a former three-sport star athlete at Sullivan West (softball, basketball and soccer). She was home from college for spring break.

You could say Riley was standing in for Lady Gaga, as she was accompanied by her new canine companion, a French bulldog.

The elder Ernst started playing at Lions Field as a Little Leaguer in 1953, and then went on to play centerfield with the Jeffersonville-Youngsville Trojans from 1958 until he graduated in 1963.

Reflecting on the field as it was back in the day, he said, “It was one of the better fields around, one of the first to have lights… and in my senior year, we used to go down here and practice football.”

Ernst noted that his JV baseball coach was Jerry Davitt, who is still active in local sports, supporting a new generation of scholar athletes in his hometown.

While he played varsity baseball, Ernst was coached by legendary helmsman Paul Zintel, who during his 25-year career with the Trojans of Jeff-Youngsville, won eight Western Sullivan League titles, six Section IX crowns, one regional championship, and was instrumental in the creation of the New York State Boys’ Basketball Tournament.

“Jerry prepared me for coaching by Zintel,” said Ernst. “Boy, could I tell you some stories.”

His take on the importance of high school sports?

“It’s time-consuming and you have to be dedicated,” he replied, noting that his advice to his sons and grandkids is to “enjoy it. The minute you don’t enjoy it, find something else.”

Dan Cavanash, coach of the Blue Devils, said his team is “off to a slow start” this season. “We’re young and inexperienced, but I’m just happy that they’re willing to come out and play baseball.

“Our defense let us down today… we made a lot of errors… we hit the ball well, but we didn’t help ourselves by throwing the ball around.”

Ty Ebert took over the helm of Sullivan West’s varsity baseball squad this year from Bill Kirk, and Saturday’s game marked the Bulldogs’ first win on the new season of swats. The team features a quartet of seniors (Jaymes Buddenhagen, Max Ebert, Andrew Ebert and Cameron Sullivan).

“It was our first win of the year,” said Ebert. “We had good pitching, only gave up two walks, swung the bat at the plate… it felt good to score some runs.”

Goals for the year?

“Wind up with a winning record,” replied Coach Ebert.