Mariners Grind Out Series Win Over Babylon

In its first two series of the League VIII season, the Southampton baseball team hasn’t been exactly dominant or consistent, but the Mariners have found a way to win, getting off to a 4-2 start on the year.The Mariners grinded out a three-game series win over Babylon last week, with a pair of one-run wins sandwiching a 10-run loss.The series opener was an 11-inning marathon, one that began on Tuesday, April 1, in Southampton and concluded the following day in Babylon, with the Mariners ultimately winning, 5-4. The teams played to a 3-3 tie through eight innings on April 1 before the game was suspended due to darkness. The following day, Babylon took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 11th, but Southampton won it with two runs in the bottom of the frame. A bases-loaded walk drawn by Garrett Pike plated the tying run before Eddie McLaughlin had a base hit with no outs to end the game. Thomas Beckman got the win, pitching the final three innings with three strikeouts, three hits and one run. Kevin Edgar was 1 for 4 with four walks for the game.The Panthers had the edge early in the game, back when it started in Southampton on April 1, going up 3-0 in the third. In the bottom of the third, Southampton scored two runs to cut it to 3-2, and then tied it at 3-3 in the fourth when Jake Marano singled and Chad Pike brought him home with an RBI double.After losing, 12-2, in Babylon in the second game on April 3, the Mariners came back and won the rubber game, another nail-biter, prevailing 2-1 at home on Friday. Beckman was sharp on the mound, pitching a complete game with eight strikeouts, four hits and four walks. Edgar was 3 for 3 with a solo homer that put Southampton up 1-0 in the third inning. Babylon tied it in the fifth, but in the seventh inning, McLaughlin was the hero again, driving in the winning run with one out.Babylon had threatened to score in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but Marano made a great fielding play to make the final out at first base.Southampton was set to take on Center Moriches, another tough team, in its next series. The competition in League VIII is fairly spread out this year, according to Southampton head coach Gary Pike, who said any number of teams in the league are capable of beating others on any given day. “They will be tough,” he said of Center Moriches. “They have two good pitchers. All the teams are pretty even, but hopefully we can grind it out and our pitching keeps getting better and our at-bats keep getting better too.”