Lucas Weisser drives in tying run, then scores winner for Roslyn baseball vs. Bellmore JFK
Lucas Weisser of Roslyn singles driving in the game tying run in the top of the 7th inning during a Nassau Conference A2 baseball game against Bellmore-JFK on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 in Bellmore. Credit: Dawn McCormick
One of the best moments of Lucas Weisser’s life almost didn’t happen.
Before the Roslyn junior slid into home and scored the winning run in a 3-2 win against Bellmore JFK on Tuesday night, Weisser and his Bulldogs trailed the host Cougars by a run, down to their final three outs.
Senior Matt Fliegler led off the top of the seventh inning of the Nassau A-II matchup with an infield single. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second base, then a balk moved him to third.
Weisser stepped up to the plate with a runner on third base and one out. He fell behind in the count and gripped his bat with two strikes.
“I went down [in the count], and my goal was just to battle,” Weisser said. “All I had to do was get a bat on the ball, get the ball through the infield and we’d get the run in.”
And that’s what Weisser did; a ground ball single between the shortstop and third baseman plated Fliegler and tied the game.
Two batters later, Weisser stood on second base, and Harris Reinstein chopped a ground ball to the left side of the infield. An errant throw pulled first baseman Derek Yormack off the bag and into Reinstein running down the line.
Weisser never stopped running around third base, and in the commotion, sailed home for the winning run.
“The ball squirted away, and I just wanted to get in,” Weisser said. “It was never a doubt in my mind. We were going to take the lead.
“One of the best moments of my life.”
Fliegler pitched 6 2/3 innings for Roslyn (8-9) in what the left-handed pitcher said could’ve been his last game on the mound. Roslyn must win tomorrow against Bellmore JFK (12-7) for a chance to make the playoffs.
“I tried to give it my all, and the team really showed up,” Fliegler said. “My two-seamer was working well with my changeup. I moved to different sides of the plate. I just tried to get them off balance.”
Bellmore JFK led by a run from the fourth inning until the top of the seventh. Yormack, an eighth-grader, threw five innings, allowed one run and struck out nine in the start.
Bellmore JFK won seven straight games before Tuesday night.
The win for Roslyn inches them closer to the postseason and rallies a community still reeling from the death of two Roslyn students last week.
“For them to win this and give people a chance to smile in our town for a couple of hours is really special,” Roslyn coach Dan Freeman said. “I wanted this for them, and they earned it. It was not easy.”
