The HCBL regular season comes to an end Monday, but there is no shortage of excitement in the games leading to the postseason. The four playoff teams were set in stone on Thursday and we saw a potential first-round matchup between third-place Sag Harbor (17-16-4) and second-place Riverhead (21-13-3) at Veterans Memorial Park. The Whalers seemed firmly in control throughout the afternoon, but reliance mixed in with a little bit of luck put the Tomcats on the top. Josh Greene capped off a five-run comeback inning with a walk-off double as Riverhead defeats Sag Harbor in an 8-7 classic that featured 27 hits.
Before Sag Harbor made their mark in the ball game, Riverhead got on the scoreboard first. With three of the league’s top four hitters (in terms of batting average) sitting at second, third and fourth in John Galanoudis’ lineup, runs are expected to come in waves. That started in the bottom of the first when Alex Baratta and Louis Antos reached base on back-to-back singles, setting up Eduardo Malinowski who smacked a hit to bring home Baratta and give the Tomcats a 1-0 lead.
Josh Greene spoke with Justin Paura following his walk-off 2-R double to give Riverhead an 8-7 victory over Sag Harbor pic.twitter.com/4M4eywTzv2
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 20, 2018
The Whalers didn’t get going until the top of the third. League MVP-candidate Nick Thornquist stepped up to the plate with two-on and only one out. The UTSA-commit smacked a single to score Daniel Alvarez jr. and bring the game even at 1. Fellow all-star Jason Allbery came up next and properly followed suit with a double to right-center field. Jace Mercer and Thornquist scored and Sag Harbor went into the bottom of the inning up by two runs.
Riverhead responded with its big bats in the bottom of the third. Baratta, Antos and Malinowski all got on base with one out to set up Xavier Vargas. The big left-handed hitter drove a fly ball deep to right field, allowing Baratta to tag-up and score from third and cut the Tomcats’ deficit in half.
There was no additional scoring until the sixth inning, but Sag Harbor had a couple of huge opportunities to put this game out of reach. Mercer, Thornquist and Allbery loaded the bases to lead off the top of the fifth, but Sean Trenholm and Sam Cachola each hit the ball right to Antos at third base, who made the throw home to prevent any runs from scoring. Peter Myers followed by striking out Kros Bay to end the threat and spoil a golden chance.
Despite missing out on extending their lead, the Whalers had another opportunity to help themselves only one inning later. Sag Harbor had three runners on before getting out for the second straight frame, jump-started by a lead-off triple from Brandon Miller, this time with the top of their order in position to drive in some runs. However, Joe Murphy entered the game to limit the damage and forced Mercer to ground into a fielder’s choice, which stopped a run from scoring. Thornquist came up next and hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, leaving multiple runners stranded once again.
The Tomcats did not miss out on their chances to score, and that ultimately proved to be the difference. Connor Echols sent a ball deep to left field, working as a sacrifice to score Ben Jackson and knot the game up at 3.
Sag Harbor broke its cold spell in the top of the seventh. Bay came up with two runners in scoring position and hit a sacrifice fly of his own to put his team back on top. With morale at a high in the Whalers’ dugout, the team stayed hot going into the eighth. They loaded the bases and with two outs, Cachola hit a hard ground ball to short. Malinowski couldn’t field the ball cleanly and did not recover in time to get the final out, leading to another run for Sag Harbor. Thanks to the error, the inning was extended and Bay took advantage. The Enid, Oklahoma-native got the ball through the infield for a base hit, bringing home Thornquist and Allbery to put his team in the driver’s seat going into the bottom of the eighth.
7-3 was the count and it seemed all but over for Riverhead. When Baratta came up with two outs and the bases loaded, he hit a high fly ball right to Miller in center. Miller somehow misplayed the ball and let it fall out of his glove and it hit the ground, allowing two runs to score. Even though Hayden Brauser ended the inning with the next batter, there was a feeling at the park that the error changed the entire momentum of the game.
Sag Harbor couldn’t score in the top of the ninth, so it was 7-5 going into the bottom of the ninth. Brauser, who did not allow an earned run before Thursday, gave up a solo home run to Malinowski on the first pitch he threw in the frame. After Riverhead cut the Whalers’ lead to just one, Vargas and Jackson each hit singles and both worked themselves into scoring position for Greene. The all-star stepped up to the occasion and scorched a double to left-center field, sending both runners home and ending the game in walk-off fashion. That hit earned Greene our Player of the Game honors.
Riverhead is now in prime position to finish the regular season as either the first or second seed in the league and despite the loss, Sag Harbor has clinched a playoff spot with a loss from North Fork. The other two playoff spots have been clinched by Long Island and Westhampton.
