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Shelter Island Bucks open HCBL playoffs tonight at Fiske Field

BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO Heading for home. RJ Going cuts the bag at third and races to the plate in the Bucks last regular season home game Thursday. The team hosts Montauk this afternoon at 4  in game one of the HCBL playoffs.
BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO Heading for home. RJ Going cuts the bag at third and races to the plate in the Bucks last regular season home game Thursday. The team hosts Montauk this afternoon at 4 in game one of the HCBL playoffs.

Before the first pitch in early June of the 2015 Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League season, Shelter Island Bucks Head Coach Jamie Quinn outlined his two goals for the year: To lead his team to a winning record and a victory in the HCBL series that fell just beyond the team’s grasp in 2014.

The Bucks sit atop the HCBL standings with a franchise-best record of 27-14-1, but are still a week away from fulfilling Quinn’s second goal. Their long road to hoisting a trophy continues tonight at Fiske Field, where the Bucks play host to the Montauk Mustangs at 4 p.m. in the first of a best-of-three game semifinal series.

Although Shelter Island clinched number one seed with two games remaining in the season, their opponent was determined late Sunday night, when the Mustangs fell to Southampton and dropped half a game behind the North Fork Ospreys into fourth place.

The matchup favors the Bucks, who were 5-2 against Montauk in the regular season, and so barely managed to avoid North Fork’s league-leading pitching staff in the first round. Westhampton, who led the HCBL for much of the season, but is now the second seed, will face off against the Ospreys in the other semifinal matchup.

A promising sign for the Bucks is that Montauk’s two best pitchers were on the mound on Friday and Saturday, likely forcing the Mustangs to choose from a bevy of starters with ERAs hovering around 3.50. A fast start will be critical for the Bucks, because Montauk reliever Tyler Kardas has conceded just 2 earned runs over 27 ⅔ innings of work.

Bucks ace Anthony Alicki pitched five innings in a win against Montauk on Thursday, recording his seventh win of the season in the process. He will not start on Monday evening, likely leaving Quinn with a choice between Kevin Tise and Zack Bahm. Both have thrown 41 innings on the season, and although Bahm’s ERA of 1.53 is highest amongst the team’s starting pitchers, Tise has surrendered fewer hits and struck out more batters. Whoever Quinn elects to start, though, will have his hands full dealing with Montauk’s offense.

The Mustangs lead the HCBL with a team batting average of .277, and also top the league in most power hitting categories, including home runs, triples, and slugging percentage. Star centerfielder JJ Shimko leads Montauk with 56 hits, which ranks third all-time Hamptons League records. Catcher Chris Russo is batting .395 through 23 games, while designated hitter Bryce Packard is hitting .329 with 49 hits.

In spite of Montauk’s prowess at the plate, Shelter Island’s offense still leads the HCBL in baseball’s most critical offensive statistic — runs scored. Coach Quinn has stressed timely hitting to his team since the preseason and the Bucks have continuously responded with productive outings.

Shelter Island has scored 41 more runs than Montauk — nearly one per game — and features a host of offensive stars of their own. Eddie Haus leads all qualifying hitters with an average of .360 and trails league-leader Shimko by just two hits. Four other Bucks are hitting north of .290, while second baseman Chris Hess leads the Hamptons League with 33 RBIs.

Expect to see plenty of runs this evening at Fiske Field, with the league’s two most prolific offenses go head-to-head for the eighth time this year.

Game 2 of the series will be played in Montauk on Tuesday evening, before the teams would return to Shelter Island to play a deciding Game 3, if necessary.