If a call could ever change the outcome of a game, the one made by home plate umpire in Friday’s game against Harrison, sure did that. It was the bottom of the 5th inning with Harrison up 3 to 1. There were 2 outs with runners on 2nd and 3rd for Harrison. Veteran right hander Dylan Maloney was on the mound in relief of Jake Meyerson. Behind the plate for the Garnets was Andrew Schilling. On a 3-2 count Maloney threw a split finger fast ball striking out the batter and ending the inning. Thereafter, however, is where the discrepancy lies. The ball was low and Schillings glove hit the dirt. However, after showing the plate umpire that he caught the ball, the batter was rung up.
As the Garnets left the field, the Harrison coach argued the call. Five minutes later, after the Garnets have already left the field and were ready to hit, the plate umpire reversed his own decision and stated that Schilling did not catch the ball but in fact the ball hit the dirt. I ask you this fans, what umpire in his own right would ever make such a ridiculous reversal of his own call. Let’s not forget for a moment that it’s Rye vs. Harrison. Let’s not forget for a moment it’s a close game with 2 innings to go. And let’s not forget for a moment that the winner of this game has bragging rights for the entire next season. So I ask you this, why would any umpire even consider thinking about reversing a strike 3 call on such an occasion. Well, it’s never been done and in fact goes to show you that the umpiring talent is sub par to say the least at this level. Not to mention there lack of knowledge of the rules. Two balk calls in the game were also called by the same umpire, who in this reporter’s opinion has no idea and has no right even being behind the plate. When asked, coach Bruno stated “ I am requesting that this specific umpire never run any of our games for next year. I think he is clueless about the game and needs re-training. Reversing a call like he did today was simply something you don’t do.”
After all was said and done and the dirt and dust cleared, the tide had turned with Harrison scoring on the next at bat bringing the score to 6-1. “ The boys were rattled and visually upset with the reversal. It took me a while to even bring them back down and get them ready to finish the inning” said Bruno.
With some good hitting the Garnets scored 2 runs in the 6th bringing the score to 6-3.
“What makes me even more upset is the fact that we came back the next inning to score 2 runs. If the umpire sticks to his guns, the game is tied at 3 and we have a great ending.” explained Coach Bruno. “Tuesday is the big game” said Bruno. And in fact he is correct.
Going into Tuesday the Garnets are now 12-5 overall and 7 -2 in league play. They will play Pelham on Tuesday for the League Championship, something they have been planning since pre-season. “ Our goal in pre-season is to win a Championship. The reality comes this Tuesday. I know for a fact that after today’s game in Harrison, the boys are ready to show the world they are truly Champions” exclaimed Bruno. And he may be right; the JV Baseball Garnets are a strong and tough team.
Leading the way for the Garnets will be Kevin Turco. Since the loss of Willis Robbins to Varsity, Turco has stepped up as the man on the mound. With over 22 innings pitched this year, he is 3-0 with 3 saves and an ERA of 1.99.
Tuesday is only a day away and we shall see soon enough if the JV baseball Garnets are worth there weight in gold. If they play as well as they did all year, I think the Championship is ready to come back home.
