Sports Notebook: Southampton Baseball Team Picks Up Needed Wins

The Southampton Mariners varsity baseball team has managed to bring some light on its season after a rocky 0-8 start in Suffolk League VII, winning two of its last three games to improve to 2-8. After picking up its first varsity win; a 9-2 victory over Hampton Bays on April 28, Southampton’s latest victory occurred on May 3 when the Mariners edged Mount Sinai 4-3 behind the efforts of super senior Colin Buoniello.

Buoniello, who had plenty of standout efforts for the Southampton basketball team this past winter, gave his best performance of the season, pitching as well as hitting his way to the Mariners second win of the year.

In the bottom of the third inning with the score tied 1-1, Buoniello belted a two-run home run to give Southampton a 3-1 lead and then later in the game, with the score tied 3-3, he was able to hit a sacrifice fly into the outfield which allowed teammate Nick Acquino to race home for the winning run.

Buoniello’s pitching line included scattering seven hits over six-and-two-thirds innings, with eight strikeouts mixed in. The Mariners finish their series at Mount Sinai on May 6 and play at Babylon on May 10 (both 4:30 games).

Pierson/Bridgehampton Baseball Upsets Mercy

The Whalers varsity baseball team improved to 6-6 in League VIII after defeating first place Mercy (8-3) by a score of 14-8 in their most recent game on April 29. Pierson/Bridgehampton had taken a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, with Tyler Gilbride delivering an RBI double. The Whalers would fall behind by a few runs later in the game, but delivered the knockout punch in the sixth, when they scored eight runs. Pierson/Bridgehampton broke out the big bats that innings as Sean Hartnett smashed a grand slam home run and Gavin Kudlak added a two run homer. Jake Weingartner was the winning pitcher.

The Whalers, who haven’t played a game since the win over Mercy, resume their season on May 10 when they begin a three-game series with Smithtown Christian (6-6), another team that is hungry to grab one of the last few remaining playoff spots.  

Pierson/Bridgehampton Softball Team Moves Closer To Playoffs

The Pierson/Bridgehampton varsity softball team picked up a big win over east end rival Southampton on May 3, defeating the Lady Mariners 4-0 in a league crossover game. Lady Whalers (7-5 in League VIII) ace starting pitcher Melanie Stafford was once again masterful, hurling a complete-game, four hit shutout with eight strikeouts and her control of the strike zone was equally impressive as she did not issue a walk. Standout hitter Kaci Koehne had three hits and drove in two of Pierson/Bridgehampton’s four runs. The loss saw Southampton slip to 3-7 in League VII.

The Lady Whalers hosted Shelter Island/Ross on Friday and play at Southold/Greenport on May 10.