Shelter Island Bucks battling their way to first place
“That is how you do it, boys. That’s how you put a team away.”
That was Shelter Island Bucks Head Coach Jamie Quinn’s message he shouted to his team following a 9-4 win over the visiting Montauk Mustangs.
After nearly blowing a late-inning lead, the Bucks, who improved to 10 and 7 on the season, rallied to score 5 runs in the seventh inning to take sole possession of second place in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.
A third-inning home run by left fielder Jonathan Moroney gave the Bucks an early lead before two scores by Montauk in the top of the seventh tightened the contest. After Shelter Island’s fireworks in the bottom of the frame concluded, they added an additional run in the eighth. Reliever Tyler Brandon allowed the Mustangs to load the bases with no outs in the ninth, but managed to escape relatively unscathed.
“We only scored in three innings, but we were able to manufacture plenty of runs,” Coach Quinn said. “We did a great job when we had runners on third, getting those timely hits.”
The Montauk game was Shelter Island’s fourth in five days. After most of the team worked out in Southampton during the June 18 “Scout Day” the team returned to the same venue the following afternoon.
The Bucks took the lead in the first but proceeded to allow 15 runs over the next eight innings for a loss. But Shelter Island put together wins over the weekend against Riverhead and Sag Harbor. All-American Chris Hess led the team over the stretch of road games, driving in 6 runs over the three matches.
“We needed that reality check from Southampton,” Coach Quinn said. “It showed the guys we really have to start taking care of the little things.”
As the HCBL season nears its halfway point, Shelter Island’s offense is firing on all cylinders. Led by Hess, Machonis and Eddie Haus, the Bucks lead all seven teams in virtually every statistic, including at-bats, runs, hits and RBIs. Their team batting average stands at .271, just marginally behind league leader Sag Harbor and the Bucks steal bases with greater success than any other team.
With first place sitting just beyond their grasp, Shelter Island will play the second game of a week-long homestead this evening, June 25, against the North Fork Ospreys, who trail the Bucks by just one game in the league standings.
