Bucks suffer first loss in a squeaker

The Shelter Island Bucks hit the road on Tuesday to Westhampton to face the Aviators in their first road game of the 2014 season.

On a beautiful evening in Westhampton the Bucks lost a heart breaker with the Aviators notching a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Brenton Arriaga of Loyola Marymount University started the game for the Bucks, and after surrendering a solo home-run in the bottom of the first, settled in to throw five innings of four hit ball while striking out seven. The Bucks got on the board in the top of the seventh after Jimmy Jack, a Loyola Marymount teammate of Arriaga’s, singled and eventually came around to score on a single by John LaRossa of the University of Hartford.

The scored remained knotted at one until the home team came to bat in the ninth. The Aviator’s first batter of the inning reached on a double and then advanced to third before the Bucks intentionally walked an Aviator batter with one out to set up the double play. The next batter hit a popup to shallow center field where Steven Pinales of Sullivan County Community College made a diving catch. But Pinales wasn’t able to get the ball home in time with the Aviator on third tagging up and scoring the winning run for a Bucks 2-1 loss.

Despite the loss, the Bucks continued to show signs of great pitching. Four Buck hurlers limited the Aviators to just two runs and seven hits. In the season opener on Sunday against the North Fork Ospreys, the staff  didn’t allow a run in the win.  Coach Jon Karcich credited the early season success of his pitchers to their ability to throw strikes and not issue a lot of bases on balls.