Baseball boys in big comeback win against Mattituck in home opener at Fiske Field
The Shelter Island JV baseball team faced off against the Mattituck Tuckers on Tuesday for their home opener at Fiske Field, coming away with an 8–5 win. It was a big win early in the season, since the Islanders suffered losses on the road to Babylon and Southampton.
Tuesday was a bright, perfect day for baseball as the Islanders took the field with a healthy roster of 15 players, several of whom are playing for the first time. There was a last minute scramble for someone to call the game — umpires have been hard to come by on the East End these days — but Brian Springer, no stranger to be being behind the plate, stepped in at the last minute, and it was “Play Ball!”
Harrison Weslek was on the mound for the Islanders and gave up a couple of singles for the Tuckers. With one out, 7th grader Ryan Sanwald scooped up a grounder and got it to Evan Weslek at first for the put out. One more strike out and the Islanders got their chance at bat.
It was a quick three up and three down and the Tuckers were back up. But not for long. Two strikeouts and an out at first and the Islanders got another shot. Harrison got on first and stole two bases before Jackson Rohrer stroked a single sending Harrison home and the Islanders were on the board, down by one run.
The Tuckers scored again in the top of the third, but with two outs and a man on first, shortstop Bazzy Quigley-Dunning shut it down with a hot double play tag out at second and throw to Evan for the out at first.
After one strike out, Quigley-Dunning was on first and took two more for the price of one, hanging out on third when Elijah Davidson cracked a deep sacrifice fly to center field, sending Quigley-Dunning home, making the score 3–2.
The Tuckers put up two more in the next inning and the Islanders responded in kind when Leo Dougherty hit a single, stole second, and was brought home by an Evan Weslek RBI single.
Ryan Sanwald got his first hit as a JV player to right field, followed by Jose Frausto sending him home with an RBI single, closing the gap with the score 5-4 Tuckers.
The top of the fifth saw a strike out by Harrison who was still very much in it, and two quick outs from his infield.
Then the Islanders got to work. Harry Clark took a walk and stole two bases, Elijah Davidson bounced one to center, Harrison got on first and it was bases loaded. Dougherty was back at bat and singled to center for the RBI, followed by Rohrer for another RBI, Evan with the sacrifice popout RBI, and Sanwald for his second big hit — not just beginner’s luck, it seems.
The inning ended with the Islanders on top 8-4. The Tuckers put up one more run and Evan Weslek relieved Harrison on the mound for the final inning, striking out one, catching a pop infield fly, followed by a Harrison catch for the final out, ending the game for a score of 8-5.
The JV team plays Amityville away on April 18 and are home versus Amityville for a doubleheader on Saturday April 22 at 10 a.m. Come out and support the team!
