It was a pitcher’s duel at Southampton High School on Thursday evening, as the Sag Harbor Whalers defeated the Southampton Breakers 2-0 on the road. Sag Harbor advances to 11-9 on the season, while Southampton falls to 5-14-1.
Nick Murray of the University of Cincinnati got the start on the mound for Sag Harbor. Murray received the victory as he shutout the Breakers through seven innings, giving up three hits and three walks, striking out seven. On the losing end for Southampton was Southpaw Cole Humes of Lehigh, who went seven and a third, giving up two runs, on five hits, with three strikeouts and a walk.
Both teams threatened in the first inning but failed to score. Sag Harbor second baseman Matt Woods (Bryant) singled with two outs in the top of the first, and advanced to second after an infield single from Ramon Jimenez of Boston College. Southampton’s Humes induced a groundball out to keep the Whalers off of the board in the first frame.
Just like Humes, Murray retired the first two batters he faced in the first inning. Southampton Shortstop Chris Wasson of LIU singled up the middle with two away to keep the inning alive. On the very next pitch, first baseman Robbie Holmes (Monmouth) singled up the first base line, advancing Wasson to third. With two away, and runners on the corners, Murray struck out Johnny Hipsman (Richmond) to end the first inning, keeping the game scoreless.
Southampton’s Cole Humes went on to retire nine straight batters in the second, third, and fourth innings. His counterpart Murray struggled a bit, but didn’t give up any runs. Murray allowed three base runners during that three inning span, two walks and a hit by pitch, but no baserunner made it past second base. Humes’ streak of retired batters would be snapped at nine, as Sag Harbor Shortstop Brock Franks of Northwest Florida State double off of the base of the right center wall. He advanced to third on a fly ball to deep center, but a strikeout, and a chopper to second got the Breakers through the fifth inning, still tied with the Whalers at zero.
Both starters worked through seven scoreless innings. Whalers Center fielder Andrew Bates (South Alabama) lead off the top of the eighth with a walk, and was bunted to second by Brendan Dowd (NYIT). Tommy Courtney (Penn) followed it up with a single into the 5-6 hole, bringing Bates to third, and the throw home by Breakers’ Left fielder Michael Ferrara (UNC Greensboro) sailed over the backstop, scoring Bates, and advancing Courtney to third. River Town then singled in Courtney for the second run of the game, ending Humes’ outing, with Sag Harbor up 2-0 in the top of the eighth. LIU’s Michael Lazos entered the game in relief for Southampton, with one out. He struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches, and during the next at bat, Town was caught stealing at third by Breakers Catcher Reed Babin (LSU Eunice).
Leading 2-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth, Sag Harbor sent Miller Freeman (Georgetown) to the mound. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning, walking one batter. Lazos threw a scoreless top of the ninth for Southampton, so the Breakers were down 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth. The Whalers sent another Cincinnati right hander to the mound for the save, Nathan Moore. Moore retired the first two batters of the inning, but gave up a two out single to John Raucci (St Joes) and a walk to leadoff man Tony Zambito of Southern Connecticut State. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, tying run on first, and potential winning run on second, Moore buckled down and induced a fly ball out to second base to end the game, sealing the 2-0 victory for the Sag Harbor Whalers, breaking their five game losing streak.
The @SagHbrWhalers defeated the @SH_Breakers 2-0 tonight behind 7 shutout innings from starter Nick Murray. The Cincinnati right hander picked up 7 K’s on his way to his first victory of the season. He spoke with @mattytredeuce after the win, brought to you by @hamptoncoffee pic.twitter.com/TT0d5n62Su
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 27, 2019
The 11-9 Sag Harbor Whalers will travel to Jean Cochran Park, in Peconic Friday night to take on the North Fork Ospreys at 7pm. The 5-14-1 Southampton Breakers will visit the first place Westhampton Aviators Friday at 5pm.
