Shelter Island shuts out Montauk, take game one of Hamptons League playoffs
Montauk centerfielder JJ Shimko stood hunched over, his hands tightly clutching his gray uniform pants.
The Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League All-Star from the University of South Carolina Upstate had just watched a line drive off the bat of Shelter Island Bucks’ Ben Prada fly inches above his glove and ricochet off the outfield wall Monday evening at Fiske Field.
Shimko’s posture indicated what everyone was thinking during the opening game of the HCBL playoffs — it wasn’t Montauk’s night.
The Mustang’s trailed the hometown Bucks by 4 runs before Prada’s tripled for the first time this season. Shelter Island’s bullpen held Montauk’s league-leading offense to just four hits en route to a resounding 5-0 victory, leaving the Bucks just one win away from a second-straight trip to the HCBL championship series.
Regular season batting champion Eddie Haus continued his steady play in the postseason opener, recording three hits and driving in 2 runs, while starting pitcher Collin Snider won his second game of the summer after throwing 6 shutout innings.
The Bucks finally broke through against Mustang ace Dylan Mouzakes in the fourth frame and steadily built their lead as the game progressed. After stranding runners in scoring position in the first two innings, Chris Hess singled to left-center to send Haus past home plate and score the game’s winning run.
After arriving on Shelter Island a month after his teammates due to collegiate commitments, Snider, a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt University, was stellar in his third start of the season. He struck out three Mustangs and allowed just one runner past second base. First baseman Rob Vani was one of only two Montauk players to hit safely, a surprising result for a team that batted a league-best .277 during the regular season.
Shimko, who on Saturday became just the third player to ever record 56 hits in HCBL play, went hitless in three attempts, while teammate Chris Appell, whose .395 batting average would have bested Haus had the catcher had more at-bats, also failed to reach base.
Shelter Island added a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, when hits by Dom Brugnoni and Ryan Sabo drove in a pair of runs. Mouzakes was pulled midway through the inning and replaced by reliever Tyler Kardas, but was credited for four earned runs on the day. Although five runs is a relatively tame showing by the Bucks’ offense, doing so against the Montauk duo of Mouzakes and Kardas was no small feat. The two had conceded a combined 11 earned runs in 77 ⅔ innings entering the game, but allowed the Bucks to tally 5 in seven innings at Fiske Field.
Head Coach Jamie Quinn, who refused to comment after the game and made no players available to speak to the Reporter, elected to use starting pitcher Zack Bahm in a relief role on Monday evening. The right-hander from Columbia University threw 1 ⅔ innings, and came within an out of ending the game before Kevin Wiltse was brought in to record the save.
The Bucks will travel to Montauk today for an afternoon game, the second installment of this best-of-three series.
North Fork bested Westhampton 5-2 in the other semifinal, leaving both victors with a chance to clinch a spot tonight for the championship series coming up this weekend.
