Whalers Rally Past Breakers 6-5 at Mashashimuet Park

The Sag Harbor Whalers erased an early three-run deficit with a four-run fifth inning and held off a late Southampton rally to defeat the Southampton Breakers 6-5 Friday night in Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League action at Mashashimuet Park.

Southampton jumped out to an early advantage in the top of the first inning. Alex Apicella (Rowan College at Gloucester) opened the scoring with an RBI single that plated Hector Francia (St. John’s) before Owen Beatrice (St. John’s) followed with a two-run double, bringing home Aidan Colsante (Harvard) and Apicella to give the Breakers a 3-0 lead.

Sag Harbor got on the board in the third when Eddie Morrissey (St. John’s) delivered an RBI single to center field, scoring Lincoln Oelschlager (Ponoma-Pitzer) and cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The Breakers answered in the fourth. After James Rice (Gardner-Webb) scored on an error earlier in the inning, Nick Slogik was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to extend Southampton’s lead to 4-1.

The Whalers immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning when Anthony Sarro (Fairleigh Dickinson) launched a solo home run to right field, trimming the deficit to 4-2 and setting the stage for Sag Harbor’s decisive rally an inning later.

In the fifth, the Whalers’ offense came alive. Milo Suarez (Dartmouth) singled home Ethan Righter (Hamilton) to make it a one-run game before Carter Dickinson (Castleton) followed with an RBI single to score Suarez and tie the contest at 4-4. Aaron Vetter (Palm Beach Atlantic) then lined a single to center field, bringing home Dickinson with the go-ahead run. Moments later, Sarro crossed the plate on a Southampton throwing error to give Sag Harbor a 6-4 cushion.

Southampton threatened in the sixth, pulling within a run when Luke Ciminiello singled to center field to score Brody Ruyle (Pomona-Pitzer) and make it 6-5. However, the Whalers bullpen shut the door from there.

Paul Roesel (Russell Sage) earned the victory for Sag Harbor, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits over five innings while striking out six. Ethan Righter worked the sixth inning, and Derek Desmarais (Tufts) picked up his league-leading third save by tossing a scoreless seventh.

Anthony Sarro paced the Whalers offensively, going 1-for-2 with a home run and two runs scored. The home run was Sarro’s league-leading fourth home run of the season. In addition, Morrissey, Suarez, Dickinson, and Vetter each drove in a run during the comeback effort.