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Ball career takes turn for fire victim

David Moss and his mother lost everything in a June 11 fire, including the dog who saved them.

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By Alex Sator, Contributing Writer 9:07 AM Friday, July 31, 2009

COVINGTON — When your life — as well as that of your mother — is saved by a heads-up, last-second gesture courtesy of your house pet who took a bad situation into his own paws, you’re bound to feel indebted.

A decorated member of Covington High School’s class of 2007 and a two-time all-Cross County Conference baseball selection (once as a right-handed pitcher, and once as a power-hitting first baseman), David Moss knows that he is a seriously lucky guy.

“My dog, Jeter (named after New York Yankees all-star shortstop Derek), woke my mother (Glenda Moss) up at 6 (a.m., June 11) because he smelled a fire,” Moss said. “So, Mom woke me up, too, and we got out of the house as fast as we could.

“Afterwards the firemen told us if we would have been in that house for just 15 more seconds (they had no smoke detectors) we both would have died for sure.”

Heroic Great Pyrenees Jeter never did make it down the stairs and out of the house. The courageous canine died just four steps away from safety.

“We lost everything we had to our names, including the house itself,” Moss said. “We were insured and everything, so we are OK, but we really want our dog back.”

Moss made honorable mention Greater Western Ohio Conference (North) as a pitcher for Piqua High School in his sophomore season.

After leading the Buccaneers to two consecutive CCC championships the next two years (2006-07, their only titles ever) he was named first team all-area (D-IV) by the MVBCA.

Going into this summer, the last most people had heard from Moss was that he was off to Owens Community College (Toledo) on a full-ride scholarship to play baseball.

But almost as soon as that chapter in his life opened, it closed.

“I really don’t want to get into the specifics,” the still-disappointed Moss noted. “But a lot of bad stuff went down. Everything happened early in the second semester so I didn’t even get a chance to play any baseball before I decided to leave school.”

Moss loves the game, and he’s very good at it. He still holds the Troy American Legion (Post 43, head coach Frosty Brown) record for home runs in a season (2007) with 13.

He has every intention of continuing to play.

“Back in February, I saw a story in the Dayton Daily News about tryouts for the Miami Valley Adult Baseball League,” Moss said. “My goal is to play professional baseball — maybe in the Frontier League — and I knew they would be good for my game.”

The MVABL is a high-quality 18-and-older/aluminum-bat league. With nine teams in the region, it has been producing entertaining baseball and pro prospects for the past 15 years.

The coaches liked what they saw, and Moss was immediately assigned to an expansion team, the Miami Valley Thunder.

“He’s a rookie in the league,” longtime MVABL president Jonmarc Lippincott said. “So, after we heard about the fire, I asked our coaches to get the word out in an effort to collect donations to help David get a new set of uniforms.

“We raised nearly $200 and presented him with the money and the uniforms before our game on Sunday (June 21). He was totally taken back by the gesture and extremely grateful.”

Contact this reporter at alexsator@verizon.net.

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