Baseball team battles the cold but gets hot
Cold, wet, gray, muddy— yes, looks like baseball season.
The Shelter Island School junior varsity boys baseball team has been crushing it though, no matter the weather, with two wins against Wyandanch and wins at home against Southold and Smithtown-Christian.
On Wednesday they lost to Pierson at Fiske Field and then again at Thursday’s game played in freezing weather.
With Nick Young on the mound, the Islanders had it tied at 2 against Pierson at the end of the first inning with runs scored by Luke Gilpin and Junior Gil. At the end of the third, the Indians were up 3-2. Young held them until the fourth inning when error at first base cost the Islander’s a run in the bottom of the fifth.
Coach Peter Miedema called for Gilpin to pitch, who walked the first batter he faced. The second batter hit a shot stopped by Lucas Quigley Dunning (QD) at second who threw to Ben Waife at first for the out.
With two outs, a Pierson hitter cracked one to left field that was dropped and two runners scored making it 5-3 Pierson. The Indians went three up and three down in the home fifth and Pierson scored again in the sixth.
With the temperature dropping and the players wet from a drizzling rain, it wasn’t a pleasant scenario. A box of hand warmers dropped in the dugout helped out a bit.
At one point the right side of the field was manned by 7th graders: Ben Waife at first, Bazzy Quigley Dunning at second and Elijah Davidson in right field. These passionate players are showing promise for their first year on the JV plus Henry Binder was solid for two big outs in center field.
Final score: 6 -3 Pierson
It was different story on Monday, with nothing but sun and blue sky as the Indians took the field against Smithtown-Christian. With Nick Young starting, Smithtown came away with one run in the top of the first. Gilpin’s fly out to center was followed by a Henry Binder single, who was caught attempting a steal at third.
But then Junior Gil singled and swiped second and third. QD was hit by a pitch and Eric Thilberg cleared the bases with a triple.
Nico Seddio popped out to end the inning with the Indians up 3 – 1. The visitors came right back to tie it up in their half. But in a back-and-forth battle, the Indians went ahead 5 – 3 before blowing it open later in the game for an 18 -7 win.
It was a happy home crew at Fiske Field, especially since none of the spectators were wearing parkas. Now that looks like baseball.
