HCBL
North Fork Ospreys and Sag Harbor Whalers Split in Thursday Double Header
The North Fork Ospreys and the Sag Harbor Whalers settled for a split of today’s Hamptons League doubleheader at Baseball Heaven. Sag Harbor is now 10-5 with the split, as the Ospreys are 3-14. GAME 1 The visiting North Fork Ospreys went down quietly in the first inning of game 1 against Sag Harbor starting pitcher Ryan Taurek of St Mary’s of California. In the seven inning game, Taurek tossed a complete game shutout giving up only two hits, striking out five. The Sag Harbor offense got to North Fork starter Justin Baeyens (STAC) early as they exploded for seven first inning runs. Leadoff man River Town (LSU at Eunice) singled followed by a walk to second baseman Will Strauss of McDaniel College. Bucknell’s Peter Marren singled to load the bases before Ramon Jimenez (Boston College) drove...
LI Road Warriors Defeat Riverhead Tomcats, 5-4
In @HamptonsLeague play, the LI Road Warriors went down 2-0 in the top of the first, but Jake Liberatore’s 2 run double tied it up in the bottom half. Long Island went on to win 5-4 against Riverhead. Reporter Matt Weinstein spoke with Liberatore after the game. pic.twitter.com/yVQGEznufb — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 2, 2019 by Matt Weinstein It was a successful opening night of the 2019 Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League Season on Saturday where both the Long Island Road Warriors and the Riverhead Tomcats picked up victories to begin their respective seasons 1-0. One of these two early win streaks would be halted however, as Long Island hosted Riverhead in a rematch of last year’s HCBL championship series on Sunday evening at Bellport High School. Jared Restmeyer, a rising...
Q & A With Pat Barrett
(Editor’s Note: Pat Barrett is a 2013 graduate of MacArthur HS. Following his career, he pitched at Virginia Wesleyan College. He has transitioned to coaching and has quickly risen from a Volunteer Coach to a Pitching Coach to a Recruiting Coordinator in just over one year.) I had the chance to speak with him and here’s what he had to say… What was it like playing at MacArthur? Why are they always so successful? Playing for MacArthur HS was a very unique experience which I glad I was able to do. I honestly really didn’t play that much during my time as I was apart of a very stacked generation of talent which had many players recruited and go on to play in college such as Adam Heidenfelder, Rob Andreoli, Dom Danetti, etc. The success honestly starts at the youth level in t...
Riverhead Tomcats Win HCBL Title for First Time in Team History
FINAL: For the first time in HCBL history, the Riverhead Tomcats are champions! @RHTomcats defeats @LIRoadWarriors 8-4 in game 3, winning the Championship Series 2-1. #LIvRH pic.twitter.com/AL13yo8JqQ — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 1, 2018 Prior to this season, six of the seven teams in the Hamptons Colligate Baseball League have won the league’s championship. On Wednesday afternoon, the Riverhead Tomcats completed the list of champions by capturing the title in game 3 of the Championship Series. John Galanoudis’ squad defeated the Long Island Road Warriors, 8-4, in the decisive game at Veterans Memorial Park. “It’s unbelievable that we finished this season the way we did,” Galanoudis said. “We have been through so much this season, but everyone here has gelled so well and w...
Stage is Set for Game 3 of HCBL Championship
Our Player of the Game is Eric Roubal. The Queens College righty came up huge in today’s win-or-go-home game, going 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBIs, including a three-run home run. He spoke with our @jpaura24 postgame. #RHvLI pic.twitter.com/nq37sLVqiB — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 31, 2018 The Long Island Road Warriors are accustomed to success. In their inaugural season, Head Coach Neal Heaton and his squad won the HCBL Championship without losing one game in the playoffs. This postseason has gone a lot differently as the team dropped its first semifinal game against Westhampton and game 1 of the Championship Series to Riverhead. Just like in the semis, Long Island bounced back from a game 1 loss, defeating the Tomcats 11-10 at home. The two juggernauts play a winner-ta...
Riverhead Inches Closer to HCBL Title with Game 1 Win
Our Player of the Game is Daniel ODonnell. The Riverhead starter lasted six innings and held a dangerous Long Island offense to just two runs. He spoke with @jpaura24 after his clutch performance. pic.twitter.com/x0ykbkLhKR — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 30, 2018 One month ago, Daniel O’Donnell was not a member of the Riverhead Tomcats. He pitched only two games during the regular season before his first playoff start in game 1 of the HCBL Championship Series. The Lesley senior rose to the challenge and earned the win as the top-seeded Riverhead Tomcats defeated the Long Island Road Warriors, 8-2. Long Island’s offense seemed to be a problem in the beginning of this game. In their three-game series against Westhampton in the semis, the Road Warriors averaged seven runs p...
Riverhead to Challenge Long Island for HCBL Championship
Our Player of the Game is Louis Antos: 2/4, HR, RBI, 2 R. One of the league’s best spoke with @jpaura24 after aiding Riverhead past Sag Harbor. The Tomcats host No. 2 Long Island in game 1 of the best-of-three championship series Monday. #SAGvRH pic.twitter.com/wKXmObbTab — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 28, 2018 The Riverhead Tomcats are celebrating their best season in franchise history. They secured the No. 1 seed in the HCBL playoffs for the first time in their 10-year history and earlier this week, they got their first playoff win since 2012. On Saturday, Riverhead accomplished another feat it hasn’t conquered in six years: make the HCBL Championship Series. In a winner-take-all game 3, the Tomcats grinded out a 4-1 victory over the Sag Harbor Whalers to earn a date with th...
Long Island Survives to Force Winner-Take-All Game Saturday
Long Island forces a game 3 in the @HamptonsLeague semifinal and our Player of the Game is winning pitcher, Sal Zafonte. The Cortland lefty tossed 3.1 innings in relief, surrendering only two hits. pic.twitter.com/884jQyzvsE — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 27, 2018 The defending HCBL champions were playing for their season Friday afternoon. Long Island lost its opening playoff game to Westhampton at home Thursday, meaning a loss would spoil its opportunity to repeat. But Friday’s game went much differently than Thursday’s and the Road Warriors proved deserving of their name. Neal Heaton’s squad never trailed in a 6-2 victory at Aviator Field to even up the semifinal series at one game apiece. Westhampton sent their best starting pitcher to the hill in Tyler Thorington. The leag...
Stefl Shines, Riverhead Wins First Playoff Game in Six Years
Chris Stefl (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11K) on the 4-0 Game 1 victory for Riverhead pic.twitter.com/wFpm5htluy — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 26, 2018 For the first time in Riverhead Tomcat history, the team earned the top seed in the HCBL playoffs. The Tomcats won their last seven games of the regular season and beat Long Island by one point in the standings to secure home field advantage. No team on the Island was hotter coming into the playoffs then Riverhead and it showed Thursday. Chris Stefl blanked the fifth ranked Sag Harbor Whalers through seven innings in route to a 4-0 victory. John Galanoudis elected to use Stefl over Tyler Henry for game 1. Henry leads all Riverhead starters in ERA, a mark of 2.31 that ranked third in the league during the regular season. The risk pai...
2018 HCBL Playoff Preview
It has been quite an exciting summer of baseball in Long Island’s premiere collegiate league. The Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League (HCBL) features an abundance of high level talent and the best have emerged as the playoffs are set to start on Thursday. The top-seeded Riverhead Tomcats take on the Sag Harbor Whalers, who defeated the Shelter Island Bucks in a one-game playoff Wednesday night. On the other side of the bracket, the Long Island Road Warriors go to battle with the Westhampton Aviators in a rematch of last season’s championship series. As per usual, each series in the playoffs is best two-out-of-three, including the championship series, with rotating home field advantage. There was a lot to follow this season, so you may not know what to expect in the next week. But have no f...
Tyler Becker’s Amazing 2018 is Catching the Eyes of Many
(Photo Credit: Chris Bergmann) The HCBL is full of elite five-tool players with hopes of elevating their baseball careers. The league is made for athletes who may not have been on a scout’s prospect list, but have a ceiling to make a name for themselves. Nobody has taken that opportunity and ran with it quite like Westhampton’s Tyler Becker. “I think he is the best overall player in the Hamptons League,” Bill Ianniciello, coach of the North Fork Ospreys and Becker’s assistant coach at Adelphi University, said. “He is an all-around player. He hits for average, hits for power and his range defensively is really impressive.” Becker hits at the top of the order and starts at shortstop for an Aviators team that has already clinched a playoff berth. He ranks third in the HCBL in RBIs and home ru...
Greene Walks Off for Riverhead in Late Season Thriller
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, thi...
