Breakers Blank Bucks 8-0 Behind Bezick’s Strong Start
The Southampton Breakers continued to show with they are the top team right now in the HCBL on Friday, shutting out the Shelter Island Bucks 8-0.
Southampton broke through in the second inning, taking advantage of a Shelter Island error to build an early lead. Alex Apicella (Stony Brook) scored the game’s first run when Owen Beatrice (St. John’s) lined an RBI single to center, and Brody Ruyle (Pomona-Pitzer) followed with an RBI single to right-center to make it 2-0. The Breakers added another unearned run later in the inning when Beatrice scored during a pickoff sequence involving Ruyle, extending the advantage to 3-0.
The Breakers padded the lead in the fourth as James Rice (Gardner-Webb) came home on an RBI infield single by Brendan Gardner (Holy Cross) making it 4-0.
Southampton then put the game away with a four-run fifth inning. Beatrice drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run before Ruyle added his second RBI single of the night. Hector Francia (St. John’s) contributed a sacrifice fly to score James Rice, and the inning concluded with Beatrice stealing home on a failed pickoff attempt, giving the Breakers an 8-0 cushion.
The pitching staff made the lead stand up. Starter Brevin Bezick (Rowan College at Gloucester) earned the victory, improving to 2-0 after tossing five scoreless innings. He scattered six hits, walked one, and struck out four over 74 pitches. Ashton Hammond (Nichols) added a scoreless sixth with a strikeout, and Collin Tobin (Hillsdale) closed out the combined seven-hit shutout with a scoreless seventh.
Southampton collected 10 hits in the victory. Gardner and Ruyle each finished with two hits, with Ruyle driving in two runs. Beatrice reached base three times, going 1-for-2 with two RBI, two runs scored, and two walks, while Rice added two hits and scored twice. Apicella also crossed the plate twice, and Aidan Colsante (Harvard) scored twice despite going hitless, reaching base twice on walks.
Shelter Island managed seven hits, led by a 3-for-4 performance by Jack Pittman (Bentley) and a two-hit night from Sam Ametrano (Quinnipiac), but the Bucks stranded 11 runners and were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Noah Heath (Rider) took the loss after allowing four runs, two earned, over four innings.
With the victory, the first-place Breakers improved to 16-9, while Shelter Island fell to 11-14 on the season.