In review: a final look at the swatters of 2019

By TED WADDELL
Posted 6/17/20

JEFFERSONVILE, NY — What a difference a year makes!

Last year at about this time, our local scholar-athletes were remembering their 2019 season of swats, but in the year of COVID-19, …

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In review: a final look at the swatters of 2019

Posted

JEFFERSONVILE, NY — What a difference a year makes!

Last year at about this time, our local scholar-athletes were remembering their 2019 season of swats, but in the year of COVID-19, baseball and softball players were benched by the global pandemic and can only reflect on what might have been.

In an effort to keep the spirit of local high school sports alive, the River Reporter is presenting a series of retrospective flashbacks from past events, including softball and baseball games from 2019.

On April 13, 2019, Sullivan West High School held their first-ever combined baseball and softball tournament that pitted the home team against various opponents.

The second of the hardball games featured the Bulldogs taking on the Eagles of Hancock-Deposit at Lion’s Field, and although Sullivan West lost 2-1, the game was described by both coaches and the “blues” as one of the best they’d witnessed so far in ‘19.

The Sullivan West versus Hancock-Deposit game was covered in a story titled “Eagles Edge Bulldogs in Sullivan West Tournament’s first round.”

Up on the mound, Bulldogs pitcher Bryce Reimer hurled a two-hitter, striking out 16. In the following game against the Liberty Indians, he slashed a long-ball grand slam.

On the same afternoon in April last year, the Lady Bulldogs of Sullivan West took on the Lady Wildcats of Hancock in a softball game at Lauren Hughson Memorial Field, during which the home team whupped the visitors 12-5.

Coverage of the game appeared in print in a story titled “Sullivan West’s softball swatters skin Wildcats in tourney.”

A few weeks later, on May 20, 2019, it was back to baseball at Lion’s Field as the Bulldogs of Sullivan West faced off against the Bears of Tri-Valley. The visitors blanked the home team, recorded in a story that was published as “Bears bomb Bulldogs 11-0.”

A highlight of that game was Tri-Valley posting a rare 1-1-6 triple play.

In this time of the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic, sports of all sorts are in limbo: the Summer Olympics have been postponed until at least 2021, professional sports are on indefinite hold and collegiate through high school scholar-athletes are cooling their heels.

While some of the players pictured have since graduated, others were looking forward to getting back out in search of victory and the spirit of competition and comradeship found on the fields of play.

So here’s a tip of the batting helmet to the players of 2019, and may the memories inspire you to greater accomplishments on the fields of competition and life as time marches ever on.

Eagles, Bulldogs, Hancock-deposit, Sullivan West

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