Shelter Island 17, Sag Harbor 15 (10 Innings)

The Shelter Island Bucks walked off in one of the wildest games of the 2018 HCBL season defeating the Sag Harbor Whalers by a score of 17-5 in ten innings on Saturday at Fiske Field.

Sag Harbor took an early 4-0 lead in the first which was highlighted by a Jason Allbery (Creighton) three-run shot. The Bucks responded rallying for three runs in the bottom of the first to get within a run.

In the top of the third, Sean Trenholm (Binghamton) went deep on a two-run homer for the Whalers while Jace Mercer (Cincinnati) had an RBI double to give the Whalers a 7-2 lead.

Shelter Island would get two runs in the bottom of the third on back-to-back home runs from Jake MacKenzie (Fordham) and Alex Volpi (Holy Cross). Volpi’s home run was his 15th of the season and made him the HCBL home run king passing former Center Moriches Battlecat and Southampton Breaker Rob Moore (St. Peter’s) for the most home runs hit by an HCBL player in a career.

Both teams continued to trade runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Sag Harbor scored three runs in the top of the fourth to take a 10-5 lead, but Shelter Island battled back with five runs in the fourth to tie the score at 10-10. MacKenzie would hit a three-run blast in the fourth for his second home run of the game.

The Whalers came right back taking the lead in the top of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Nick Thornquist (UT-San Antonio). Connor Anderson (Texas State) would hit a three-run home run giving the Whalers a 14-10 lead.

Shelter Island would get two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a solo home run by Dylan Robertson (St. Mary’s (CA) and an RBI single from John Behrends (Belmont).

The Whalers would get an insurance run in the top of the eighth on an RBI single from Daniel Alvarez Jr. (Pittsburgh) which gave Sag Harbor a 15-12 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Shelter Island would have the bases loaded with one out down by three. Volpi would work a walk bringing in a run to put the Bucks within two runs at 15-13. Behrends would then the following at-bat tie the game on a two-RBI single. The Bucks however failed to bring in the winning run sending the game to the tenth.

Jonas Webler (Southern Connecticut State) held the Whalers scoreless in the top of the tenth. Mike Casaleggio (Marist) would hit a one-out double for the Bucks in the bottom of the tenth as pinch hitter Mike Nyisztor (Rutgers) came up to bat. The Rutgers Scarlett Knight took a 2-0 pitch to give the Bucks a dramatic game winning home run.

The Bucks (17-18-2) face the Long Island Road Warriors in a doubleheader on Sunday. The Whalers (17-17-4) play the Westhampton Aviators in Sag Harbor on Sunday in the first game of a home-and-home series to wrap up their regular season.

Long Island 3, Southampton 2

The Long Island Road Warriors went back into first place defeating the Southampton Breakers by a final score of 3-2 at St. John The Baptist High School in West Islip on Saturday.

Matt Codispoti (Albany) singled in a run in the bottom of the first to give Long Island a 1-0 lead.

The Breakers would tie the game in the top of the third on a bases loaded walk with two outs to Daniel Alfonzo (Adelphi).

The Road Warriors would get another run producing hit from Codispoti when he hit a two-run homer in the fifth giving Long Island a 3-1 lead.

Southampton would get a run in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice bunt from Jordan Schulefand (Richmond), but the Road Warrior bullpen would hold onto the lead.

Tim Kranz (Lander), Matt Paghidas (SUNY Maritime) and Brandon LaManna (New Haven) were strong in relief as the Breakers could only get two hits off the Long Island bullpen. Chris Mott (NYIT) pitched five innings earning his second win of the season. LaManna ended up with league leading ninth save of the season.