Bucks take stormy loss 3-1 to Sag Harbor: Battling Mother Nature and their opponent

July 3, at Fiske Field — a perfect, sunny summer day, until it wasn’t. 

The Shelter Island Bucks battled both the Sag Harbor Whalers and a late-game thunderstorm in a dramatic 3–1 loss in a Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League (HCBL) game.

Righty pitcher Dylan Joseph (Rochester Institute of Technology) dominated on the mound, spinning six shutout innings and striking out 11. Working with a crisp fastball and sharp off-speed pitches, Joseph kept Sag Harbor off-stride all game and gave the Bucks a solid chance to win. 

Shelter Island’s lone run came in the fourth, when a single, a stolen base, and a sacrifice fly brought a runner home in what looked to be a close, low-scoring contest.

Then Mother nature intervened. By the sixth inning, the 85-degree afternoon gave way to a sudden and severe weather shift. Dark clouds rolled in, wind gusts over 30 mph swept across the field, and visibility dropped as dust swirled and branches scattered across the field. Despite the worsening conditions, play continued.

In the top of the seventh, the momentum turned. With a runner on second, Bucks catcher Tommy Munch (Occidental College) blocked a pitch in the dirt, keeping the runner at third. But on the next delivery, another ball skipped away. Munch chased it down and fired home to Joseph covering the plate. The throw looked to beat the runner, but the call was safe. The Bucks’ dugout voiced their frustration, and Head Coach Joe Colucci came out to speak with the home plate umpire, but the ruling stood.

With the score tied 1-1, Shelter Island looked to regroup, but a defensive miscue in the eighth opened the door for Sag Harbor. The Bucks’ third baseman came in to defend a bunt, and the Whalers took advantage, stealing third. A line drive past shortstop moments later brought in the go-ahead run. 

Another insurance run followed, and Shelter Island’s bats couldn’t mount a comeback.

“I’m always going to go to battle for my guys,” Coach Colucci said after the game. “But the only thing we can really do is control what’s in our control. The officials work hard. Mistakes happen. We just have to stay grounded and move forward.”

The loss pushes the Bucks further behind the league-leading North Fork Ospreys. As for the rest of the HCBL’s fourth week, Coach Colucci kept things simple: “We’ll bounce back. Same plan as always — just show up and win today, and worry about tomorrow when it comes.”