Behind timely hitting and strong pitching, the Southampton Breakers earned a 4-2 victory over the Westhampton Aviators on the Fourth of July at Southampton High School, improving their record to 9-9-2, while the Aviators fell to 8-12 on the season.

The Breakers broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning, taking advantage of several Aviators defensive miscues and stringing together key at-bats. Collin Quintano (Villanova) lifted a sacrifice fly to plate the first run, and Patrick Gozdan (West Chester) followed with a two-run single to make it 3-1. The Breakers added an insurance run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Derek Diaz (Le Moyne), capping their scoring for the afternoon.

Southampton’s offense was efficient despite collecting just four hits. Leadoff hitter Sean Sweeney (Binghamton) and center fielder Luke Treese (Haverford) each scored a run, while Luke Ciminiello (Stony Brook) and Quintano added base hits to fuel the attack.

On the mound, Aden Soroca (Hamilton) turned in a stellar outing, tossing six innings of one-run ball, striking out six without issuing a walk. Marco Citro (Holy Cross) closed the door in the seventh, earning his second save despite allowing a run in the final frame.

Westhampton struck early with a first-inning RBI single by Tim Ford (Fordham) to grab a 1-0 lead, but couldn’t add much more against the Breakers’ pitching duo. Ford finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base, and Luke Rizzo (College of Wooster) added an RBI single in the seventh to cut the deficit to 4-2. Grant Dalton (Lackawanna) and Grant Kennedy (Richmond) each contributed hits, but the Aviators stranded six runners and committed four costly errors, which ultimately sealed their fate.

Anthony Butkevicius (Salem State) took the loss for Westhampton despite allowing only three unearned runs over five innings, striking out two. Paden Mather (Wagner) allowed one run in relief.

The Breakers will look to build on this win on Saturday against the South Shore Clippers in Mastic Beach, while Westhampton seeks to snap a recent skid and climb back into playoff contention against Sag Harbor on Saturday.