HCBL 2022
Summer Ball is Over – What’s Next?
It’s been another thrilling year of baseball and that’s not just limited to the high school and college season. The good times have continued right through summer ball where we covered the Hamptons League, Boys of Summer, Blue Chip Collegiate League and several Blue Chip tournaments – not to mention the annual Axcess Invitational. So what’s next? In less than two weeks we will have coverage of the East Coast Youth Labor Day Bash (September 2-5th). The following weekend we will be hosting the first annual Axcess World Series which will feature 12 teams from around Long Island at the Charles Wang Athletic Complex. We will also cover the LI Boys of Summer Fall League as well as a pair of Town of Brookhaven Fall tournaments, Blue Chip Prospect tournaments and, of course...
Sag Harbor Whalers Capture the 2022 HCBL Championship
THE WHALERS ARE 2022 @HamptonsLeague CHAMPIONS! pic.twitter.com/efla0DYfgy — Sag Harbor Whalers (@SagHbrWhalers) July 31, 2022 It couldn’t have been any more dramatic as the Sag Harbor Whalers and Westhampton Aviators were tied in the bottom of the ninth in Game 3 of the HCBL Championship series. Westhampton had previously captured the championship four times (most recently in 2019), while Sag Harbor hadn’t came out on top since 2008. A perfectly executed bunt by Wyatt Benson combined with an error by the pitcher allowed the go-ahead run to score and send the hometown team into a frenzy. Brett Borcherding fired two shutout innings of relief to earn the victory. Ryan Miller was tagged with the tough luck loss – after striking out four over three innings and allowing just t...
CJ Dean’s Walk-Off Propels Sag Harbor to Game 1 Victory
Walk off hit by CJ Dean propels the Whalers to an 8-7 win over the Breakers in the @HamptonsLeague playoff pic.twitter.com/SEbMhs7FMo — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 26, 2022 The HCBL playoffs is always filled with excitement and that was on display in Game 1 of the semifinals between the Sag Harbor Whalers and Southampton on Tuesday afternoon. Despite falling behind 3-0 after one half inning of play and 6-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Whalers were able to come storming back and win, 8-7, on a walk-off hit by CJ Dean. It was Dean’s third hit of the day out of the leadoff spot and delivered a crucial Game 1 victory for the No. 2 seed Whalers (18-15-3). Brett Borcherding fired 1.1 innings with two strikeouts to earn the win. Overall, the Whalers were outhit 14-7 &...
Shelter Island Finishes Regular Season with 6-3 Victory over Riverhead
by Blake Buscemi Liam Doyle discusses his start, his pitch arsenal, and his goal going forward into next year. pic.twitter.com/oru7fPV981 — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 23, 2022 The final game of the regular season for the Riverhead Tomcats and the Shelter Island Bucks took place at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton on Saturday afternoon in the second game of a doubleheader. This game was a must-win for Shelter Island, as they were one game out of the playoff race going into this. Nick Papageorge took the mound for the Tomcats to start the game. The Tomcats have had a busy schedule recently and were low on pitching, so most of the arms they put on the mound today were not primary pitchers. Shelter Island was able scratch one run across in the first with an RBI single from Bi...
Cole Hansen Fans 9 in 13-4 Win For Riverhead Tomcats
By Blake Buscemi Jason Shockley discusses his big day and his future aspirations for this season. pic.twitter.com/E7Lnfrzqjq — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 13, 2022 The Shelter Island Bucks and the Riverhead Tomcats faced off in an afternoon matchup Tuesday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park. Playoffs approaching in the next couple of weeks makes every game crucial going forward. Rutgers’ Cole Hansen took the mound for the Tomcats against Liam Adpierto of Villanova and the Bucks. Hansen is having a nice year for himself, posting a 3.51 ERA thus far across 25 innings. Shelter Island was able to get to him early, however, as Bradley University’s Ryan Vogel started the game with a double to right field and Pace University’s T.J. Keefe drove him in with an RBI single to make it ...
Team Red Overcomes Early 7-1 Deficit for 9-8 Win in HCBL All Star Game
Freddy Forgione was named MVP as Team Red came away with the 9-8 win. He went 2-for-2 with a 2-R HR and 2 runs scored @HamptonsLeague @MTimeBaseball pic.twitter.com/ASUbm8p3Oy — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 7, 2022 It was an exciting day all-around on Wednesday for the HCBL All Star Game at Cochran Park in Peconic. The festivities began with a HR Derby in which Tommy O’Connor captured the title with an impressive showing – hitting six bombs for the win. Later in the day, the stars aligned for the annual All-Star Game in which former Riverhead Tomcats player and current cop Jimmy Luppens threw out the first pitch in his uniform and appeared like he could be used in relief later in the day. After a scoreless first inning, Sean Keys got the scoring going with a solo s...
GAME RECAP: Jared Restmeyer Fires CG Shutout in 1-0 Win
By Blake Buscemi Jared Restmeyer goes the distance, throwing a complete game shutout in a shortened second game of a doubleheader. His final line was 7 innings, 3 hits allowed, 5 strikeouts, and ZERO walks. Final: Tomcats 1, Whalers 0 pic.twitter.com/4nLQWPZEyH — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 1, 2022 The second game of a doubleheader featuring the Sag Harbor Whalers and Riverhead Tomcats took place at Veteran’s Memorial Park Friday afternoon. Both teams are in the top three in the Hamptons League standings, so it was expected to be a competitive game. The pitching matchup featured two of the best pitchers statistically in the entire league in Jared Restmeyer of the Tomcats and Will Pacheco of the Whalers. Both pitchers have an ERA under 1.00 as of the conclusion of this game, ...
Matt Minio and Danny Gargano Combine on Shutout in 3-0 Clippers’ Win
by Blake Buscemi Danny Gargano shuts it down for the save, retiring Orologio to end it. Final: South Shore 3, Riverhead 0 pic.twitter.com/BwCSJh0pmb — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 21, 2022 Two Hamptons League squads in the Riverhead Tomcats and the South Shore Clippers battled it out at Veterans Memorial Park in Calverton Tuesday afternoon. I have covered two Clippers games already this season and they won both of them, so I had high expectations for them in this one. The pitching matchup consisted of Pace’s Grant Biederman for the Tomcats and New Haven’s Matt Minio for the Clippers. Both pitchers had it working early on but suffered from some control issues. Minio induced two groundouts before hitting Sacred Heart’s Dante D’Amore with a pitch and walking Rutgers’ Jason Shock...
Rizzo’s Arm, Camera’s Bat Lead South Shore Clippers to 6-3 Win
By Blake Buscemi Gargano retires Adamo to end the game after a couple of North Fork runs to end the game. Final: South Shore 6, North Fork 3 pic.twitter.com/omWT1Zb2Xf — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 17, 2022 Another Hamptons League matchup took place at Cochran Park in Peconic this afternoon, this time between the South Shore Clippers and the North Fork Ospreys. I covered a Clippers game last week and saw some impressive performances, so I knew I would see some more notable performances today. Adelphi standout John Rizzo took the mound for the Clippers, coming off a ten-strikeout performance last week. He faced off against Andrew Neff, who pitches for the University of Cincinnati. Neff was rolling right away, as he induced a groundout to short from Adelphi’s Johnny Catuosco,...
South Shore Clippers Come Away With 4-2 Win on HCBL Opening Day
By Blake Buscemi South Shore gets the win as Ryan Hynes closes it out for the save, inducing a Milone strikeout. Final: South Shore 4, Westhampton 2 pic.twitter.com/wiOsJZ0Aou — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 11, 2022 The Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League is officially underway, starting with an afternoon matchup between the Westhampton Aviators and the South Shore Clippers. The Hamptons League is an elite summer league for prospects nationwide, so it was a given that we were going to see some competitive baseball. The pitching matchup was as good as someone could have asked for. John Rizzo, who posted phenomenal numbers at Adelphi as a freshman with a 3.70 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 73 innings, took the mound against Cole Koeppel, who pitches for the University of Massachusetts...
