Golden Eagles’ Assistant Baseball Coach Saves Umpire’s Life

hile coaching a championship tournament game for his Long Island Titans travel baseball team in Georgia last summer, Andrew “Asch” Aschettino was hoping for a win.

He had no way of knowing he’d end up doing something much more important — saving a man’s life.

After witnessing the home plate umpire collapse in the middle of an at-bat, Aschettino rushed onto the field and immediately performed lifesaving CPR on the man.

“It was intense, to say the least,” Aschettino, an assistant baseball coach at St. Joseph’s Long Island Campus, told News 12 Long Island, as part of the news station’s coverage of his heroics. “It at first didn’t look good. I saw right away that he wasn’t breathing, took his pulse and there was nothing there, so I started chest compressions.”

Aschettino of Miller Place was joined on the field by a player’s mom, Rachel Cowan, who has worked as a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn for 22 years. The two successfully revived the umpire — who Cowan said collapsed due to a number of reasons, including the heat and his diabetes — before the ambulance arrived.

“This comes as no surprise to any of us within the St. Joseph’s Athletic Department,” said Melody Cope, athletic director at St. Joseph’s Long Island Campus. “We are extremely proud of Coach Asch’s willingness to jump in and take action. CPR training is such a valuable tool that everyone should have.”