Bucks strong out of the gate: Small ball a winning strategy

It hasn’t been the opposition that’s bothered the Shelter Island Bucks early in the season. But battling Mother Nature is a different story.

So far only one thing has really rained on the Bucks’ parade – literally. The team has had two games postponed due to rain and Tuesday’s game at Fiske Field against the Riverhead Tomcats was suspended after seven innings due to storms rolling over the Island with the score tied 5-5.

But earlier in the day, the Bucks finished up a game against the Tomcats that had been suspended last week due to darkness, picking it up tied at 3-3 in the top of eleventh inning. In the bottom of the twelfth, catcher Joe Burns of St. John’s University hit an infield single that allowed shortstop Justin Jones of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to score the winning run. Alex Katz, a teammate of Burns at St. John’s, picked up the win for the Bucks after escaping a jam in the top of the twelfth.

When asked what’s most opened their eyes so far this season, both Coach Johnny Hernandez and center fielder Cody Howard — like Jones, a Runnin’ Rebel from UNLV — talked about the rain. Hernandez’s word for the weather was “crazy,” while Howard noted that, coming from Nevada, “I don’t think I’ve had a rain delay game in about a couple of years.”

Although putting up with constant weather interruptions, a week and a half into the 2013 Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, the Bucks are playing well, sporting a 4-2 record. The first couple of weeks of the season in the league is usually a period of adjustment for athletes from various colleges playing together for the first time, getting used to life in a new home and acclimating themselves to a new league. Despite all of the adjusting, the Bucks believe things will only continue to get better.

Coach Hernandez is pleased with his team. “The season’s been pretty good so far,” he said following the game Tuesday. “We’re playing our type of baseball. Hit and run, steal bases, get guys in scoring position. And we’re pitching a little bit so it’s been good so far.”

Small ball is certainly the name of the game for the Bucks. Most of the team’s success is found in its ability to keep games close with good pitching and defense and then taking the lead by moving runners over and timely hitting.

With the team clicking as a whole, Hernandez said it was tough to single out players who have really impressed him. “Pitching wise Frank Trimarco’s been pretty good,” he said. “We’ve got some timely hitting from a bunch of guys. Overall I think everybody’s been doing a pretty good job.”

Trimarco of Monmouth University, who is beginning to look like the ace of the staff, doesn’t believe he can take all the credit for his own success. “I’m doing well now,” he said before continuing about the team that plays behind him. “What really helps me is the defense. The more hard work we put in, the more team chemistry we build and we’ll be successful.”

On the offense side, the Bucks have been getting solid production from all spots in the lineup. Center fielder Howard normally hits second and is one of the Bucks’ many producers.

Just like his manager and Trimarco, Howard is happy with how the season has kicked off. In his evaluation of the team’s performance so far, he repeated the theme that the team is playing well despite just coming together. “We’re working well together for just putting the team together and playing from different schools all across the country,” Howard said. “I think we’re going to be pretty good.”

Trimarco was not as fazed by the stormy spring as other teammates, and instead said the biggest surprise so far was how well the team was playing fundamentally. “How well we work on the base paths,” he said. “Our pitching too, we have a strong bullpen and there’s really no weak points on our team.”

Hernandez wants his team to just keep getting better. “Putting everything together, you know, like today,” he said. “Good teams win, great teams come back. We were down 5-1 at one point and came back and tied it up.”

Tuesday against the Tomcats the Bucks were down early in the third inning but clawed back. Timely hits by designated hitter Jimmy Jack of Loyola Marymount University, left fielder Jesse Lee of the University of Rhode Island and Howard made the difference in the Bucks knotting it up in the seventh.

The Bucks are back in action next against the Tomcats once again this evening, Thursday, June 13 at 5 p.m. in Riverhead. Next home game: Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Fiske Field to take on the Southampton Breakers.