Shelter Island Bucks shine in HCBL All-Star game
Saturday night the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League hosted its annual All-Star Game at the home of the North Fork Osprey’s in Peconic. The North team, consisting of players from the Osprey’s, Riverhead Tomcats and Shelter Island Bucks, won 7-2 over the South Team.
The Bucks sent eight representatives to the game and part of the festivities was honoring each of the players. The young athletes enjoyed meeting other players from around the league and playing in front of a large crowd under the lights.
Among the capacity crowd were scouts from major league organizations, hoping to find the next MLB All-Star.
Major League scouts with their speed guns Saturday night in Riverhead.
Bucks outfielder Trevor Freeman of Florida Southern College started the game in left field and picked up one hit in three at-bats along with one RBI. Freeman led the Bucks through their first 28 games prior to Saturday night with a .329 batting average.
“It’s obviously a honor to be chosen for the All-Star Game,” Freeman said. “And to play with all these great players around us and get to meet different people from different teams.”
Designated hitter Juan Soriano of Louisiana State University-Eunice also started the game. Like Freeman, he picked up one hit and a RBI in three trips to the plate. Soriano hit .273 in the Bucks’ first 28 games while also picking up 12 RBIs and hitting two home-runs.
“It was a pretty good experience being here with all of us, we’re All-Stars,” Soriano said. “It was just a great experience getting chosen to play here.”
Brenton Arriaga of Loyola Marymount University was the first Bucks’ pitcher to appear in the game when he came in to pitch the second inning. Arriaga struck out the three batters he faced. In six starts for the Bucks, Arriaga has struck out 25 batters and posted a 2.90 ERA.
Nick Freijomil of Long Island University appeared on the mound in the seventh inning, striking out one batter and allowing no base runners. In six starts for the Bucks, Freijomil has posted a 3.60 ERA while winning three games and striking out 23.
“It was a great experience and a honor to be selected first and then come out and play in front of a bunch of fans who seemed to really care about the game,” Freijomil said.
Jackson Bubala of Dartmouth College pitched the eighth, allowing one hit, one walk and one run while also striking out two batters. Bubala has been lights out coming in from the bullpen for the Bucks allowing no runs in 12 innings pitched while striking out 16.
“It was a honor to be selected,” Bubala said. “It was a great atmosphere out here. A lot of great people came out.”
Jimmy Jack of Loyola Marymount University came in to play first base later in the game. Jack reached base via a walk in his second HCBL All-Star Game. He also represented the Bucks in 2013. Jack has 12 RBIs and two home-runs in 24 games played this season.
“Second year playing in the All-Star Game is quite the honor,” Jack said. “It was a fun experience.”
Troy Scocca of Fairfield University came in to play right field and picked up one hit. Scocca is batting .291 so far for the Bucks and also has 12 RBIs on the season.
“It was a honor to be chosen to play and represent Shelter Island,” Scocca said. “Made a lot of new friends with the other kids in the league so it was a great night overall.”
Will Savage of Columbia University played second base to finish the game and reached base once via a walk. Savage is tied for the team league with 14 RBIs and his 15 stolen bases is best on the Bucks.
“It was a great honor,” Savage said. “And it was a fun atmosphere to be a part of.”
