On Saturday, the All-Stars of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League will prepare to play the All-Stars of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League (ACBL) for the first time since the 2012 ACBL All-Star Game at what was then known as MCU Park (Now Maimonides Park) in Brooklyn.

To honor this occasion, we go back to the first couple of years when the HCBL was affiliated with the ACBL from 2008-2012.

The 2008 season was the first season of Hamptons Collegiate Baseball with just one team, the then-Hampton Whalers. The Whalers had a miraculous run to the ACBL Title Game after starting the season 0-6. The Whalers won eight of their last nine games to make the playoffs at 19-21 and would win the ACBL Kaiser Division Championship in two games over the Metro NY Cadets before falling short to the Kutztown Rockies in that season’s ACBL Championship Game.

The Whalers would take part in the ACBL’s 2008 All-Star Game at Jack Kaiser Stadium at St. John’s University, representing the Kaiser Division All-Stars who would fall short to the Wolff Division All-Stars by a score of 9-5.

The 2009 season would see HCB expand from one team to five with the additions of the North Fork Ospreys, Riverhead Tomcats, Southampton Breakers, and Westhampton Aviators. In the 2009 ACBL All-Star Game, with HCB again representing the Kaiser Division, Sag Harbor’s Brandon Boykin (Rutgers) led an offensive attack for the Kaiser Division with two hits, including a home run, in their 11-0 win over the Wolff Division. Boykin was recognized as the game’s MVP.

In the HCB playoffs, Westhampton would beat North Fork in what’s recognized as the first modern HCBL Championship Series, two games to one. Westhampton would face the Jersey Pilots in that year’s ACBL Championship Game and would overcome a 3-0 first-inning deficit to take the ACBL title by a score of 7-5.

Riverhead’s Peter Greskoff (Brown) was named the ACBL’s Most Valuable Player in 2009 and would be the league’s Triple Crown winner. Greskoff would be the only player in HCBL history to do that until Sag Harbor’s Jack Gold (Pomona-Pitzer) did it in 2024. 

Nick Tropeano (Stony Brook) of Riverhead would be named the ACBL Pitcher of the Year, going 7-3 with a 1.61 ERA and striking out 77 batters.

In the 2010 season, the North Fork Ospreys stood out among the pack in the ACBL, finishing 27-14 and winning both the ACBL and HCBL regular season championships. North Fork would defeat the Riverhead Tomcats in three games in the 2010 HCBL Championship Series and would have to wait out a 16-inning Championship play-in between the Kaiser Division champion Torrington Titans and Wolff Division champion Quakertown Blazers to see who the Ospreys would play in the ACBL Championship Game.

Quakertown would be victorious over Torrington, setting up the title game at Cochran Park. The Ospreys, on the strength of home runs from Rocco Gondek (Sacred Heart) and David Jacob (Monmouth), defeated the Blazers by a final score of 5-4 to make it two in a row for HCB, taking the ACBL championship.

In the 2010 ACBL All-Star Game, the HCB teams would represent the ACBL East All-Stars but would fall short 4-1 to the ACBL West All-Stars. Despite the loss, North Fork’s Billy Ferriter (UConn) was named the game’s MVP, going 4-for-4 with four stolen bases.

Southampton’s Mike Mandarino (Broward) was selected as the 2010 ACBL Pitcher of the Year, while Westhampton’s D.J. Voisine (UConn) was recognized as the 2010 HCBL Reliever of the Year.

In the 2011 ACBL season, the Westhampton Aviators had a dominant lineup led by the ACBL MVP that season, Kevin Heller (Amherst), who slugged a then-HCB record 11 home runs with 30 RBI. Brandon Kuter (George Mason), who had 11 saves for the Aviators and gave up only one earned run the entire season, was picked as the 2011 ACBL Reliever of the Year.

The Aviators would go on a 4-0 sweep in the HCB playoffs, beating Sag Harbor in the Semifinals and North Fork in the Championship Series in sweeps. In the ACBL Championship play-in game, Westhampton would beat the Wolff Division champion Lehigh Valley Catz before falling short to the Kaiser Division champion Staten Island Tide in the ACBL Championship Game.

In the 2011 ACBL All-Star Game at MCU Park in Brooklyn, HCB would again represent the ACBL East All-Stars, this time winning by a final score of 5-4 over the ACBL West All-Stars. North Fork’s Matt Carroll (San Jose St.) drove in three RBI in the win, sharing MVP honors with Robert Bernardo (Queens) of the Jersey Pilots.

In the HCBL’s final year of affiliation with the ACBL, the Hamptons Division added two teams in the Shelter Island Bucks and Center Moriches Battlecats. That season would see the Southampton Breakers win their first of four Hamptons League titles, sweeping the Riverhead Tomcats in that season’s Championship Series in two games.

The Breakers would fall short to the eventual 2012 ACBL Champion North Jersey Eagles in the Championship play-in game.

ACBL MVP honors were shared by Center Moriches’ Joe Solomeno (Pace) and Shelter Island’s Thomas Roulis (Dartmouth). Solomeno hit .421 for the Battlecats and hit seven home runs and drove in 53 RBI. Solomeno remains the HCBL’s all-time single-season leader in the RBI category. Roulis hit .399 for the Bucks in their expansion season with two home runs, 29 RBI, and 24 stolen bases. Roulis’ .399 average would remain a single-season team record until Conor Kiely (Stonehill) hit .425 for the Bucks in the 2023 season.

Southampton’s Paul Paez (Rio Hondo JC) was picked as the 2012 ACBL Pitcher of the Year with one of the most magnificent seasons by a pitcher in HCBL history. Paez led the Breakers' championship squad with a 7-2 record with a 1.65 ERA in 60.0 innings pitched. Paez struck out 82 batters, setting the HCBL single-season record in that category.

In HCB’s final season in the ACBL All-Star Game, the Hamptons Division All-Stars played against the All-Stars from the ACBL’s Kaiser and Wolff Divisions. The Kaiser/Wolff Division squad scored two runs in the top of the first and held a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth, where the Hamptons All-Stars got to within a run but left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in a 2-1 defeat.

The All-Stars of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League and Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League will be on full display this Saturday for the 12th HCBL All-Star Game at Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor. Action starts at 4 PM.