by Chris Sacchi
In a win or go home game three of a first round playoff series between the Riverhead Tomcats hosting the Sag Harbor Whalers, it truly came down to the wire in an exciting 6-4 victory for Riverhead, moving on to face the Westhampton Aviators in the championship series.
After a scoreless top half for Tomcats starters Nick Desalvo, his team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, thanks to production from some of the best hitters in the entire Hamptons League.
Robert Gallagher hit .319 and set his own record for stolen bases in a Tomcats season with 38. Jason Coules set the Tomcats record for triples and was the only Hamptons Leaguer to bat over .400 this season.
Coules was the one who got it starter for Riverhead with a walk against Whalers southpaw starter Johnny Lapointe.
With Coules and Jarden Greene on base, Louis Antos, a key member of last year’s championship squad who overcame a poor start this year to hit over .300, knocked in Coules with a single. Bryce Wallace followed with another base hit to score Greene, who reached on a hit by pitch, and Riverhead was out to a 2-0 lead after one.
In the third, it was time for Gallagher and Coules to add another. Gallagher began the bottom half with a fantastic at bat; down 0-2, he fouled off and laid off very tough pitches from Lapointe, a fellow lefty, and worked ball four.
Coules followed with a single to right field, and Gallagher raced to third. Sag Harbor Shortstop Lucas Stalman cut off right fielder River Town’s throw to third. Instead, he tried to get Coules, who was a bit off of first, but throw it into the outfield, and Gallagher trotted home. Lapointe got out of the inning by retiring the next three hitters, thought, and it was 3-0 Riverhead after three innings.
In the top of the fourth, it was Sag Harbors turn to add a run. River Town, hitting over .300 almost all season for the Whalers, got things going with a single off the hard throwing Desalvo.
Town then stole second, and with two outs catcher Brenden Dowd scored his teammate on a single and gave his team their first run.
Sag Harbor added another the following inning, in large part due to a Lucas Stalman booming triple. With one out, Matt Woods showed fantastic situational hitting by driving in Stalman with a grounder to second to make it a 4-2 game.
The action was quiet until the eighth inning. Lapointe gutted out 7 innings of four run ball, keeping his Whalers in the game until they tied it back in the eighth.
In the seventh, Dowd led off for the Whalers by reaching on error, and the mistake ended up coming back to bite as he scored.
He came around from a rally that included Matt Donlan, who subsequently singled, and Peter Giombetti, reaching an on error by starter Nick Desalvo. The misplay allowed Dowd to cross home plate to make it only a one run deficit for Sag Harbor.
Riverhead then went to lefty Joe Murphy to get out of the jam, a fellow member of last season’s championship squad. He came in and immediately stopped the rally, striking out two straight, with Sag Harbor clawing back 4-3.
Lapointe finished his start with a 1-2-3 in the seventh, even without his best stuff and a bit of fatigued.
This allowed the Whalers to add a run in a second straight inning in the eighth.
Peter Marren and River Town, and Andrew Bates opened up the top of the eighth inning with three straight singles, with Marren scoring.
Despite allowing the run, Murphy continued his elite strike out day by striking out the side in the inning. He finished with 7 in 2.2 innings pitched, and nailed down the save after his team rallied back in the bottom of the eighth.
Replacing Lapointe was right hander reliever Miller Freeman, given the ball in an absolutely huge situation: a decisive, win-or-go-home game three, attempting to keep it tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth on the road.
Unfortunately for Freeman and the Whalers, he was only capable of getting one man out, allowing two runs to make it the final 6-4 line.
Freeman hit Bryce Wallace with his third pitch, and then walked Brian Morrell to allow two early base runners.
Next up was a Saint John’s product, Tomas Papadopoulos, who had been a reliable “small ball” player for Riverhead all season.
On the first pitch from Freeman, Papadopoulos laid down a bunt, and his speed forced a Freeman error that allowed Wallace to score and runners on second and third with no out.
Markell Graham, who recorded the fastest 60 yard dash time of any player (6.65) at the Hamptons League scout day at Baseball Heaven, came in to punch run for Morrell at third.
Nick Desalvo (7 IP, 4ER, on the left) and Louis Antos (2-3, 2B, RBI) both paced the @RHTomcats in a 6-4 victory over the @SagHbrWhalers to advance to the championship series vs the Westhampton Aviators. Members of last season’s championship team, they talk to @sachchristopher. pic.twitter.com/zABjYz9iJY
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 28, 2019
Following was Isiah Payton, better known for his defense at shortstop, who had a late season hit streak raise his average to .203. Payton, though, gave a professional at-bat, taking tough pitches, and stuck his bat out in a 2-2 count for a sacrifice fly. Graham’s speed may have been the difference maker, as most players would have stayed put on the bag.
Murphy closed out the Whalers in the ninth to nail down the save, and give Riverhead it’s second straight championship series appearance, this one against the Westhampton Aviators, the top seed. Riverhead looks to become the first team in HCBL history win back-to-back titles.
