6 Photos
Hampton Bays senior River Orlando rounds second base.
Hampton Bays senior Jordan Adelson delivers a pitch to the plate during Friday's blowout victory. DREW BUDD
After fielding a ground ball, Hampton Bays second baseman Aidan Kamp throws to first for an out. DREW BUDD
Hampton Bays senior Kai Leporati crosses home plate on a passed ball. DREW BUDD
Hampton Bays senior Gus Schmidt throws to first. DREW BUDD
Bayman Pat Donahue launches a double into the left field corner. DREW BUDD
The Hampton Bays baseball team is enjoying one of its best seasons in recent memory, and while that may not necessarily mean a playoff spot for the Baymen, they’re still enjoying their time on the field.
Hampton Bays defeated Greenport, 16-1, at home this past Friday, then traveled to the North Fork the next morning where it defeated the Porters, 10-2, to improve to 7-4 on the season. With three games remaining as of Tuesday morning, that record would usually be good enough for the Baymen to be in line for a postseason berth, but an agreement they made with Section XI, the governing body of Suffolk County high schools athletics, prior to the start of the season, made them ineligible to do so.
Hampton Bays is classified as a large school in baseball, based on school enrollment, and should have played in League V this season. But the way the alignment was shaping up, League VI was only going to have four teams, so the county came to Hampton Bays, asking it if it wouldn’t mind playing a season in League VI. For a rebuilding program such as the Baymen, head coach John Foster didn’t think it was all that bad of an idea, even if it meant his team wouldn’t be eligible for the playoffs.
And his team — made up primarily of seniors, eight of them to be exact — doesn’t seem to mind either. After their lopsided victory, the players talked about finishing up their final season with their classmates and how much they’re going to miss one another.
Jordan Adelson, who pitched a complete game and struck out 11 on Friday, said he’s looking forward to the team’s Senior Game, which will be this Friday, June 11, when the Baymen host Pierson at 4:30 p.m.
“I really like the group of guys that we’ve had the past two, three years, and it’s been really fun,” he said. “And we’ve been progressively getting better and better through the years and I think that will keep happening, even though I’m not there. But it’s been a lot of fun winning more and more games, growing as a team and I’m excited just to finish off strong.”
Kai Leporati, the team’s pitching ace, got a day off on the mound with Adelson on the hill. He tied fellow senior River Orlando with three hits and three RBIs in the victory over Greenport. He’s personally looking forward to this Friday’s game against Pierson because the last time out against the Whalers on May 25, the Baymen wound up suffering a tough 16-9 loss, a stark contrast to the first time the two teams met on the first day of the season. The Whalers edged the Baymen, 1-0, that day in what was a pitcher’s dual between Leporati and Pierson ace Daniel Labrozzi.
But Leporati liked what he saw from his team against Greenport last week.
“We looked solid out there,” he said. “Hit the ball, put it in play, didn’t strike out as much.”
That’s something that Foster has been preaching to his team, putting the bat on the ball and limiting their swings and misses. He said that through the first nine games of the season, his team had struck out 89 times, averaging close to 10 strikeouts per game.
“I like how we put the bat on the ball,” Foster said. “I like how we ran the bases and I feel the guys are just getting quality at bats. We’re trying to cut down on our strikeouts, put the ball in play and make the defense make some plays.”
Foster is going to miss the large group of seniors, many of whom he coached on junior varsity prior to making the jump to varsity this season. Joining Adelson, Leporati and Orlando at graduation in a few weeks will be Gus Schmidt, Aidan Kamp, Mickey Bracken, David Catena and Reese Springer.
“This is a special group,” he said. “They're a fun group. They're easygoing and they enjoy themselves. Each and every day they come to compete. A lot of these guys have been with the program for a long time. I've coached a couple of them on JV and all the way. Next week, it’s going to be all about them.
“Overall, we’re doing pretty well,” Foster added. “Had a couple against Southold and Pierson where we let a couple of those get away. We would have liked to have competed better in those, but overall, I’m pleased and feel like we’re moving in the right direction and we’re trying to build something here.”
