(Photo: Players from the Hornell Steamers and Olean Oilers form a prayer circle around the spot the home plate umpire collapsed during their NYCBL collegiate baseball game on Tuesday night in Hornell. Photo from Peish Sports live stream of the game)
By JOHN ANDERSON
An umpire collapsed during a collegiate baseball league game in Hornell Tuesday night and thanks to athletic trainers at the game, the umpire is recovering tonight.
During the top of the first inning, the home plate umpire took a ball off of the chest protector and was stunned for a minute. The batter took a half-swing and the ball deflected off the glove of the catcher, but did not lose speed.
The umpire insisted he was good to continue, but after Hornell Steamers batted in the bottom of the first, Hornell General Manager Paul Welker was more concerned about the umpire than the game.
As Welker talked to the umpire with a trainer and Olean coaches, the umpire’s head went back and he collapsed.
Lyndsey McCoy, an assistant athletic trainer at Alfred University and trainer for the Hornell Steamers of the New York Collegiate Baseball League as well as Hornell High School athletics, noticed what was about to happen.
Before the umpire collapsed, McCoy sprinted to the Hornell dugout. She was back by the side of the umpire in 14 seconds with a defibrillator. The umpire collapsed into the arms of two Olean coaches who were going out to coach bases for the top of the second inning. McCoy and Welker were down at his side as Josh Sikorski, the Olean Oilers’ athletic trainer rushed to assist.
The incident was being live streamed by Robert Peisher of Peish Sports. When the umpire collapsed, Peish called the City of Hornell Fire Department and an ambulance was on the scene in less than three minutes. The umpire was carted off the field and taken to UR Medicine St. James Hospital in Hornell.
The umpire was alert and breathing at the hospital and Welker said he was released just after 11 p.m.
However, while the umpire was down, in less than 30 seconds, McCoy performed textbook first aid and CPR on the patient. She immediately opened the Automated external defibrillator (AED) and started checking for responsiveness, first by tapping the shoulder.
The game between the two teams was suspended. Players gathered together at home plate and prayed for the umpire’s recovery.
But the recovery was going to happen thanks to McCoy, who looked every-bit like a former NCAA athlete. A Middleburgh native, McCoy attended Alfred University and played basketball for the Saxons. Despite the COVID pandemic almost wiping out her career, she scored 719 points and graduated with the AU school record for career free throw percentage at 81.8%.
Her percentage under pressure went up on Tuesday.
And for good reason. McCoy is certified in CPR/AED for Pro Rescuers, Responding to Emergencies and First Aid through the American Red Cross, Psychological First Aid, COVID-19 Contact Tracing through Johns Hopkins University, Myofascial Cupping Practitioner and ImPACT Trained Athletic Training.
When you enter games at Maple City Park, she’s the friendly face talking to coaches, game officials and school administrators. She makes sure the coaches have a peace of mind as they coach their student-athletes.
Welker is also a champion on the field as a college pitcher, but his competitive drive halted to take care of the umpire.
Welker is the Community Relations Associate at Alfred State College and as the GM of the Hornell Dodgers, now the Steamers, he has brought four championships to Hornell. He was prepared to stop the game.
“He umpired the rest of the first inning, but we were encouraging him that he was more important than this game, we could figure something out and then he started having some more issues,” Welker said. “Lyndsey approached him after the first inning, but he wanted to continue. She alerted me he might not be 100 percent and wanted to continue.”
Welker was trying to talk the umpire into going to the hospital when the umpire collapsed. Peisher was suggesting the same thing on the broadcast.
“The Olean athletic trainer was there as well, they both jumped in with response mode and did everything they were taught until the ambulances arrived,” Welker said. “Emergency personnel were there in less than three minutes. They took over from there and the trainers assisted as they could … It was not a hard decision to suspend the game.
This was not the first time Peisher witnessed something like this happening during a broadcast. In October of 2021, Peish Sports was filming the pregame of a high school football game between Hornell and Midlakes in Clifton Springs when a referee collapsed while stretching before the game.
Current Hornell varsity football coach Dr. Ismail “Izzy” Mehr was an assistant coach that night and was part of the team that administered CPR and saved the life of the referee. The game was postponed as the referee was airlifted to a hospital.
“On that night before the Hornell football game, the referee had a heart attack,” Peisher recalled. “Izzy was there and another doctor. They said if the referee was anywhere else or driving in his car, he would’ve died.”
Those memories rushed back on Tuesday night while on a live broadcast for Peisher at Hornell’s Maple City Park.
“When (the umpire) first got hit and he was grabbing his chest, I was going to call the ambulance right there and then to have them send someone as a precaution,” he said. “He wasn’t walking right, he was off kilter and a little dizzy.”
Later, when the umpire went down, Peisher showed emotion.
“It was very scary .. I got emotional, I saw some of the Hornell players get emotional, and then they all gathered together with the Olean players and watched to pray. They did not want to play after that something like that happened,” Peisher said.
On the live broadcast, you could hear Peisher walk away from his camera and call for help.
“I was fumbling with my phone, I was nervous and upset,” Peisher said.
As the coaches looked around for help, Sikorski rushed from the Olean bench to assist McCoy. Sikorski joined the St. Bonaventure Sports Medicine staff in January of 2022 and has a Masters of Science in Educational Administration.
Like McCoy, he is highly trained to work on student-athletes. He’s worked as an athletic trainer for the Niagara Falls Medical Memorial Center, Niagara Wheatfield Central School District, Canisius College and University at Buffalo. Sikorski is a member of the National Athletic Training Association and College Athletic Trainer’s Society.
On the Hornell Steamers Facebook page, Welker posted late Tuesday:
“Thanks to all that have expressed concern about the injury sustained by the umpire in today’s game.
“The umpire has been released from the hospital.
“Thanks to our amazing athletic trainer and the Olean athletic trainer for their quick responses. Also very appreciative of the emergency response teams that were at the stadium to assist so quickly.
“Once again thanks for your concerns, thoughts, and prayers in regards to this situation.”
