Bucks Clinch No. 2 Seed, First-Round Bye with 14-4 Mercy-Rule Win Over Tomcats
The Shelter Island Bucks punched their ticket to the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League semifinals with an emphatic 14-4 victory over the Riverhead Tomcats on Wednesday at Fiske Field, ending the game in the fifth inning via the league’s 10-run mercy rule.
The win capped Shelter Island’s regular season at 18-15, securing the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The Bucks will host an HCBL semifinal game on Saturday.
The Bucks opened the scoring in the first inning when David Swift (Bates) grounded out to third, allowing Sam Ametrano (Quinnipiac) to score for a 1-0 lead.
The offense erupted in the second. Ben Prince (Maine) lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Cayden Van Dolah (Holy Cross) before George Proffitt (St. Lawrence) lined an RBI double to score JD Stemhagen (Dickinson). Ametrano followed with an RBI double of his own, and moments later Noah Heath (Rider) stole second while Ametrano raced home on the play, stretching the lead to 5-0.
Riverhead got on the board in the third when Matt Hesselbirg (Mercy) singled home a run, but Shelter Island answered immediately.
The Bucks loaded the bases, and Heath drew a walk to force in Proffitt. Swift then ripped a two-run double, scoring Jackson McBride (Bates) and Sam Ametrano to make it 8-1.
The Tomcats chipped away with two unearned runs in the fourth. Evan Schickler (Rider) scored after an error and Joey Cohen (Post) added an RBI groundout to trim the deficit to 8-3.
Hesselbirg’s RBI double in the fifth made it 8-4, but Shelter Island put the game away with a six-run bottom half.
Van Dolah started the rally with a bases-loaded walk before Stemhagen was hit by a pitch to force home another run. Prince followed with another bases-loaded walk, and although Proffitt grounded into a double play, another run crossed the plate. Sam Ametrano then delivered the final blow with a two-run single, scoring McBride and Stemhagen to give the Bucks a 14-4 lead and trigger the HCBL’s 10-run mercy rule.
Shelter Island collected 10 hits and showed remarkable patience at the plate, drawing 13 walks while never striking out.
Sam Ametrano led the offense by going 2-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, three RBI, and three stolen bases. Swift drove in three runs with a double and a groundout, while Proffitt doubled, scored twice, and knocked in two runs. Prince contributed two RBI, and Van Dolah, Heath, and Stemhagen each drove in a run during the decisive fifth inning.
Xavier Hall (Emerson) earned his first victory of the season, allowing four runs—only two earned—on six hits over five innings while striking out five.
With the victory, Shelter Island completed a strong finish to the regular season, earning the league’s No. 2 seed and a direct berth into Saturday’s HCBL semifinals. Riverhead will now turn its attention to Friday’s Wild Card matchup against the third-seeded Westhampton Aviators, looking to extend their season.