(EDITOR’S NOTE: Since May of 1999, the Times News Sports Department has featured an On This Date practically every day, highlighting an event that happened in the past. With the coronavirus putting a halt to sports locally and nationally, the On This Dates have been expanded to the stories that actually ran in the next day’s newspaper. Today’s On This Date story is from April 16, 2004).

By Lou Rusnock

lrusnock@tnonline.com

There was a lot of activity on the base path between third base and home plate last night at Pleasant Valley High School, just not a lot of runs.

In fact, the undefeated Bears were locked in a scoreless pitcher’s duel with Lehighton for the better part of seven innings; eventually scoring the game’s only run on Indian hurler Dave Versuk’s lone mistake of the game - a hit batsman - and turned it into a 1-0 victory.

“We came out today and assumed that some guys were going to pick each other up and no one did anything,” said Pleasant Valley coach Karl Rentzheimer. “Give Versuk a ton of credit for his effort. He kept us off balance.”

Versuk stymied the Bears (9-0; 4-0 MVC) hitters from the outset, retiring the first 10 batters he faced. He allowed only two hits in the first six innings, but by the seventh Pleasant Valley figured him out.

Tim Bremen started the Bears’ final at-bat with a sharp single to left, and two batters later Brendan O’Connor moved him to third with a single of his own. O’Connor moved to second on the throw. With one out and the infield in, Versuk appeared to jam Jake Greisemer on an inside pitch, but the softly hit ball fell just under the outstretched glove of second baseman Sean Steigerwalt and Greisemer reached safely. With the bases loaded, Versuk hit Dustin Richards with his first pitch allowing Bremen to score the winning run.

“What happened there at the end takes nothing away from the job Dave Versuk did this game,” said Lehighton coach Rick Bennett, whose team lost its fifth one-run game of the season. “[Pleasant Valley] is a very good team. If we get a couple of hits, we’ll be all right.”

It looked as if Lehighton (2-6, 2-2) had a good chance to pull the upset in the top of the sixth, but couldn’t capitalize. Back-to-back one-out singles by Jon Venarchick and Todd Remaley, followed by a balk from Pleasant Valley pitcher Matt Szarzynski gave the Indians runners at second and third with Matt Breiner at the plate. Breiner grounded to Bremen at first, who tagged the bag. As Bremen looked off Venarchick, he saw Remaley nearly at third, forcing the runner home. The Bears executed a perfect rundown to get the third out and crush Lehighton’s hopes.

“If I want to look at a bright spot, we played good defense,” said Rentzheimer, whose team committed no errors in the field. “But mentally I didn’t think we came out with urgency today.”

That mental lapse was evident in two base-running mistakes in the fourth and fifth innings.

First, Liam O’Connor got the first PV hit of the game, a seeing-eye single through the left side of the infield, and moved to third after an errant throw on a steal attempt. Aaron Fuhrman then hit a ground ball to Indians second baseman Sean Steigerwalt, who caught an anxious O’Connor in a rundown and ended the Bears’ threat.

Joey Andrews drew a leadoff walk an inning later, only to fall victim to a similar fate.

Szarzynski earned the win for Pleasant Valley, scattering six hits while striking out 10.

Lehighton 000 000 0 - 0 6 1

Pleasant Vy. 000 000 1 - 1 5 0

Versuk and Smith; Szarzynski and B. O’Connor. W - Szarzynski. L - Versuk.