by Tucker Terranova
Charlie Aurandt discusses his complete game outing that led the Westhampton Aviators to a 7-1 win over the Sag Harbor Whalers pic.twitter.com/lI2tGk1a0U
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2024
The first half of the 2024 HCBL season has been anything but smooth sailing for the Westhampton Aviators. After finishing atop the 2023 regular season standings and falling one game short of their first championship since 2019, the Aviators have struggled to find their footing early on.
In their last game before the upcoming All-Star Break, the Aviators sought to ignite a spark for the remainder of the summer. Fueled by a stellar complete game from Charlie Aurandt (St. Joseph’s LI) and a barrage of seven unanswered runs, the Aviators soared past the Sag Harbor Whalers with a decisive 7-1 victory, heading into the all-star break on a high note.
The game’s early stages hinted at a classic pitcher’s duel. Both Aurandt and Whalers’ starter Owen Roy (Northeastern) were in top form from the get-go, combining for just 17 pitches in the first inning and allowing only one baserunner, keeping the bats quiet and the scoreboard blank.
The second inning seemed poised to continue the same narrative until Ryan Muskopf (George Mason) broke the silence, sending Aurandt’s offering well beyond the center field fence and putting the Whalers on the board with a 1-0 lead.
This would be the last mistake pitch of the afternoon for Aurandt, who then held the Whalers’ bats scoreless for the remainder of the afternoon.
“I realized hits were going to happen. I made the mistake of throwing a fastball middle-middle and he put a good swing on it,” Aurandt told Axcess Baseball after his outing. “I started getting ahead on every batter and limited the walks.”
Delivering a gem, Aurandt pitched all seven innings, allowing seven hits and one run while striking out three. A key factor in Aurandt’s success was his ability to fill the zone, as he issued zero free passes and threw 64 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
The game remained deadlocked until the fifth inning. Despite the Whalers’ strategy of a bullpen game and cycling through eight pitchers, they managed to keep the Aviators off the bases early on.
However, the Aviators’ offense had been pressing all afternoon, and they finally broke through with a six-run rally.
Tyler Smith crushes a 3-run homer to give Westhampton a 3-1 lead in the 5th pic.twitter.com/l8GK3ic1xi
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2024
Jake Russo (New Haven) and Braydon Wooldridge (California Davis) set the stage by reaching base to open the inning, and Tyler Smith (St. Peter’s) wasted no time in clearing them off the bases with a three-run blast for his team-leading fifth of the campaign.
The Aviators wasted no time in reloading the bases with consecutive singles, setting the stage for Thomas Gould (Santa Clara) to drive Kris Vinski’s (St. Joseph’s Brooklyn) pitch into the right-center gap for an RBI. Tres Organ (Southwestern) joined the offensive surge with a two-RBI single, completing an inning where the Aviators batted around and decisively shifted the momentum of the afternoon.
The Aviators hold on to win 7-1 pic.twitter.com/gZmfvwaRO8
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 11, 2024
In the sixth inning, Gould once again found the right-center gap, this time hitting a double that brought home Zev Moore (MIT) and extended the Aviators’ lead to 7-1.
“I was a little tense on the mound when it was 1-0, but knowing my offense could explode for a big inning and actually putting up seven runs was a great feeling,” Aurandt said.
The best the Hamptons have to offer with square off in the HCBL All-Star Game this Saturday at 4 pm at Mashashimuet Park.
