7 Photos
Westhampton shortstop Brady Short (Stony Brook University) makes a play behind second base.
Justin Rosner (Binghamton) fired eight strong innings on Sunday with 10 strikeouts but took the tough-luck loss. DREW BUDD
Matt Alifano (Adelphi/Center Moriches) races toward third base after an errant throw goes into the outfield as he stole second base. DREW BUDD
Justin Rosner (Binghamton) fired eight strong innings on Sunday with 10 strikeouts but took the tough-luck loss. DREW BUDD
Westhampton second baseman Jake Liberatore (Iona) fires to first to try and get the back end of a double play. DREW BUDD
Tim Feliz (Adelphi) is pumped up after stealing second base late in the game. DREW BUDD
Pitcher Coleton Reitan (Wesleyan) is congratulated by teammate Tyler Galletti (Sacred Heart) after helping the Tomcats defeat the Westhampton Aviators, 1-0, on Sunday to reach the HCBL Championship. DREW BUDD
The Westhampton Aviators will not repeat as Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League champions after getting swept by the Riverhead Tomcats in the best-of-three semifinal series.
The Aviators, who defeated the Tomcats for the league title in 2019, suffered a pair of tough-luck losses in the semis, losing game one, 6-5, on Saturday, July 24, at home before suffering a 1-0 loss at Veterans Memorial Park in Riverhead the following day. Riverhead — dubbed the “Cardiac Cats” this season after needing to come from behind to win their wild card game over the North Fork Ospreys last week as well — is the third team in HCBL history, joining the North Fork Ospreys (2009-2011) and the Aviators (2015-2017), to reach the HCBL Championship Series in three straight seasons.
Behind a strong pitching performance by Nic Luc (Adelphi), Westhampton led game one of the series, 5-0, after seven innings, only to see that lead quickly dissipate in the top of the eighth, due largely to a grand slam by Ethan Farino (Marist). After tying the game on a sacrifice fly in the ninth, Riverhead took the lead in the 10th on an RBI double by Tyler Cox (Dartmouth), and it held on to the 6-5 lead in the bottom half of the inning to steal game one from the Aviators.
Westhampton got another great starting pitching performance from Justin Rosner (Binghamton), who made one mistake but paid for it, allowing a solo home run to Ryan Micheli (Stony Brook University) in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rosner’s line of an eight-inning complete game with four hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts certainly looked like that of a winning pitcher, but that wouldn’t be the case.
Chuck Sanzio (St. John’s) and Coleton Reitan (Wesleyan) combined for the 1-0 shutout for the Tomcats, the latter of which struck out 10 of the 14 batters he faced after entering the game with two outs in the fifth inning. The Aviators left 10 runners on base and wound up being shut out the final 12 innings of their season, having not scored since the sixth inning of game one of the series.
Westhampton manager Alex Brosnan said it was a tough way to go out but that a summer season isn’t measured by wins and losses.
“It’s a matter of these guys making lifelong memories, they’ve met some new friends, created a culture that was fun to be around,” he explained. “They never had any off-the-field issues, they enjoyed their summer out here. Only one team can win. As great as 2019 was winning, win or lose, summer still ends. They’re healthy going back to their school, that’s all the important stuff.”
Brosnan — who noted this would most likely be his final summer in Westhampton, needing to focus more on his full-time job as pitching coach at Molloy College — said he felt for his starting pitcher in Rosner, whom he’s known since he was a 14-year-old freshman at Farmingdale High School.
“I said to him before, I think he’s one of the best big-game pitchers I’ve ever been around,” he said. “As a freshman, he threw a one-hitter in the playoffs against Massapequa. Next year, on three days rest, he beat Calhoun. Next year he beat Oceanside, so nothing fazes him. I would go to war with him any day.”
