First-Place Breakers Win 5-3 Over Whalers Behind Four-Run Fourth Inning
The Southampton Breakers used a decisive four-run fourth inning and another strong pitching performance to defeat the Sag Harbor Whalers 5-3 Tuesday night at Southampton High School.
After Sag Harbor struck first in the second inning, the first-place Breakers answered in a big way to improve to 17-10, while the Whalers moved to 14-12-1.
Sag Harbor opened the scoring in the top of the second when Finley Holmes (Palm Beach Atlantic) lead off with a double and later came home on an RBI single to left by Eddie Morrissey (St. Lawrence), giving the Whalers an early 1-0 advantage.
Southampton responded in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate. Luke Ciminiello (Stony Brook) tied the game with an RBI single before James Rice (Gardner-Webb) followed with a run-scoring single to plate Vic Patel (Wallace CC) for a 2-1 lead. Moments later, Owen Beatrice (St. John’s) worked a bases-loaded walk to force home Ciminiello, extending the advantage to 3-1.
The Whalers trimmed the deficit in the fifth when Thomas Shaw (Castleton) lined an RBI double to left field, scoring Tim McGrath (Tufts) to make it 3-2.
The Breakers answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Patel continued his big night with an RBI single that brought home Michael Caron (Assumption), and Ciminiello delivered again with an RBI single to right that scored Sean Sailer (Villanova), pushing Southampton’s lead to 5-2.
Sag Harbor mounted one final rally in the seventh as Collin Harty (Nichols) connected for a solo home run to left-center, cutting the deficit to 5-3, but Daniel McDonnell (Roger Williams) retired the next three hitters to record his first save of the season.
Southampton’s offense made the most of five hits. Ciminiello finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Patel also collected two hits and an RBI. Rice added an RBI single, and Beatrice drove in a run with his bases-loaded walk.
Holmes paced the Whalers with a 2-for-3 night that included a double and a run scored. Morrissey, Shaw, and Harty each drove in a run in the loss.
On the mound, Luke Raho (West Chester) improved to 4-0, allowing two runs on four hits over six innings while striking out seven. Chase Curran (Lasell) took the loss for Sag Harbor in his season debut after allowing three runs in 3⅓ innings.