Hamptons Adult Hardball Ready To Embark on Third Season This Weekend

Hamptons Adult Hardball will embark on its third season of bringing a 30-and-over wooden bat baseball league to the East End, starting this Sunday, May 21, with a full slate of games.

The Southampton Brewers and last year’s runner up, the East End Ospreys, will kick things off at 9 a.m., while the defending back-to-back champions, the Harbor Kraken, will take on the Sag Harbor Royals at noon. Both games will be played at the Bridgehampton School, where a large majority of the league’s games will be played this season.

“We’re looking forward to the new season, recruited a couple of new players,” noted HAH co-founder Pete Barylski, who manages the Brewers. “We’re all gunning to unseat the Kraken, the two-time reigning champs. The league continues to get better. Should be a fun time. Play ball.”

“The Royals are looking for a great and healthy season this year,” noted Jim Kinnier, co-founder and Royals manager. “Mostly the same roster as last year with a few new additions. This could be the year the Royals win it all.”

One of the best things about the league, Kinnier said, is that there are many differences between all of the players, but that they all come together to play the great game of baseball. The players range from local doctors, teachers, contractors, plumbers and laborers, and with the only restriction being that every player has to be over 30, there is a wide-ranged age group.

Kinnier even remarked that he’s been surprised that no women have come down to try and play, which he would welcome.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s how you play the game,” he said. “We haven’t had any women play, but if a woman was so inclined to come down and play, we would certainly have her. It hasn’t happened yet, but it’s not from a lack of trying on our part.

“With this being 30 and over, there are literally some guys who play who are almost half my age,” Kinnier added. “We have some lawyers, financial guys — the nice thing about sports, in general, is when you get on the field it doesn’t matter how much money you make, where you live and so on. It’s how well you play the game, and baseball is certainly a great equalizer.”

Last season ended with two riveting days of baseball. The first game featured an epic extra innings pitchers’ duel as both the Osprey Leo Santiago and Kraken Dr. Stephen Petruccelli impressively pitched the entire game. The Kraken eventually scored the game winning run in the 10th inning to win, 8-7. The best-of-three championship series continued the following day with an 8-4 win by the Kraken, who will be provided with their championship belt prior to their game on Sunday.

“I’m going to be 60 this year and I still love it. It’s a great game at a great time of year,” Kinnier said. “It is such a pleasure to play. I consider it a privilege, especially at my age, but I’m going to keep doing it for as long as I can hold up.

“Sometimes during the season there will be a blowout, and whether you’re on the winning or losing side, it’s never a big thrill, but it’s those real close games that are nip and tuck throughout that make it a fabulous experience,” he continued. “Playing a close game in baseball is just a great experience and I’m hoping we have plenty of them this year.”

After two successful seasons, Kinnier said the league will not be able to continue to grow until it finds a field with lights so that it can host night games, which will not only help player participation, he feels, but also fan and family participation. Currently, some games are held on weekend mornings, but mostly at 5:45 p.m. during the week, smack dab in the middle when families are trying to have dinner. Kinnier is very aware of that so the league is going to try some Saturday afternoon 3:30 p.m. games to see how those turn out.

Ultimately, though, the league is facing its biggest challenge yet in getting fields with lights. Kinnier has spoken to Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor to try and do repairs there to use the field it has lights on, and he’s also spoken to Southampton Town Parks Director Kristen Doulos who had told him this past winter that Iron Point Park in Flanders will be getting lights at some point, but Kinnier said he hasn’t heard back from Doulos as to when that might actually happen.

“The issue is a lot of the guys work in the service industry, so right now, especially before the Fourth of July, there is an enormous amount of pressure to get work done and then to get to a game in Bridgehampton at 5:45 p.m. It’s very challenging,” he said. “We still have four teams, which I’m grateful for, but until we are able to play at night under the lights I don’t think the league can expand.”

That being said, there are still some spots still available on some of the rosters — Kinnier said he’s definitely looking for a catcher — so if there is anyone who is interested in playing, go to hamptonsadulthardball.com for more information or to register.