6 Photos
From left, Jack Dickinson, Avery Siska and Colin Ruddy will lead the Bonackers on the baseball diamond this spring. MICHAEL HELLER
Colin Ruddy is expected to be one of the top pitchers in Suffolk County this season. MICHAEL HELLER
Colin Ruddy is expected to be one of the top pitchers in Suffolk County this season. MICHAEL HELLER
East Hampton's Carter Dickinson is welcomed home by his teammates after crushing a three-run homer. MICHAEL HELLLER
East Hampton's Carter Dickinson gets a fist-bump from head coach Vinny Alversa rounding third base coach after crushing a three-run home run on Friday. MICHAEL HELLER
Southampton's Zack Valk gets the throw a fraction of a second too late to prevent a Bonacker to steal second base. MICHAEL HELLER
There has been reason for optimism surrounding the East Hampton baseball team ever since Vinny Alversa took over as head coach in 2016. Numbers have continued to grow, thanks in part to his involvement at the youth and travel levels, and the program has seen its fair share of strong players go through the system in recent seasons.
All of that, though, hasn’t necessarily translated to wins. In the condensed season last spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bonackers were expecting to take a step forward from their 5-15 season in 2019, but didn’t really see improvement in that department, going 4-14.
Alversa, not one to make excuses, said that the shorthanded campaign wasn’t really conducive to a team with a limited pitching staff — and some of the numbers bore that out, with a handful of games being decided by three runs or less.
With a full season spread out as it should be, and the majority of the team returning, Alversa is hoping that things can turn around quickly and the team can break what’s been an 11-year absence from postseason play.
“Nine wins and we’re in,” Alversa said. “It’ll be close this year. Hopefully, we’ll get off on the right foot. Our pitching is our strong point. If we can scratch out some runs, field the baseball, I think we’ll definitely be knocking on the door.”
Drew Salamy and Charlie Condon are the only two key players who graduated last season. The team’s top two starting pitchers remain, senior Colin Ruddy and junior Jack Dickinson, and, along with senior Avery Siska, make up the team captains for this season.
Ruddy, who has committed to Division I George Washington, finished last season with an earned run average just above 1.00 and is expected to be one of the top pitchers in all of Suffolk County this season. When he’s not pitching, Dickinson will play third, and Siska plays all around the diamond.
Ruddy and Siska are the only seniors on the team this season. Will Darrell, the team’s third starting pitcher and also an outfielder, is a junior, along with Hunter Eberhart (pitcher/shortstop), Calum Anderson (outfield), Danny Lester (outfield) and Egan Barzilay (outfield). Nick Schaefer (outfield) is also a junior new to varsity this season.
Nico Horan-Puglia is a returning sophomore catcher; he and Ruddy were the team’s only two All-League selections last season. Michael Locascio is also a returning sophomore and will continue to be the team’s starting centerfielder. Carter Dickinson is entering his second season on varsity as a freshman, and he’ll be joined by classmates Hudson Meyer and Tyler Hansen, who both can play all around the diamond.
East Hampton will play in a competitive League VI this season that will feature Amityville, Harborfields, Islip, Miller Place, Mount Sinai and Sayville.
The Bonackers opened the season with a three-game series against Harborfields starting on Tuesday. The final game of that series is expected to be home this Friday, April 1, at 4 p.m. East Hampton’s next series will start Tuesday, April 5, at Islip at 4:30 p.m.
