Ressegger’s Strong Pitching Gets Riverhead Back to .500

The Riverhead Tomcats used a strong pitching performance and timely offense to defeat the North Fork Ospreys 5-3 on Tuesday night at Veterans Park in Calverton.

Riverhead wasted little time getting on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Joey Cohen (Post) reached on a leadoff walk and eventually came home on a sacrifice fly by Evan Schickler (Rider), giving the Tomcats an early 1-0 advantage.

The Tomcats added to their lead in the second inning when Dylan Kennedy-Fujah (Umass Boston) scored on a Matthew Ryan (Adelphi) double to center field, an error by the North Fork shortstop on the throw home advanced Ryan to third base as the Tomcats took a 2-0 lead.

Riverhead broke the game open in the fourth inning with three more runs. Ryan continued his productive night by driving in Matt Hesselbirg (Mercy) with a groundout to shortstop. Moments later, Cohen lifted a sacrifice fly to center field that brought home Kennedy-Fujah, making it 4-0. The Tomcats added another run when Sam Leonard (Hofstra) scored on a wild pitch, stretching the lead to 5-0.

Meanwhile, Riverhead starter Eric Ressegger (Adelphi) was in control on the mound. Making just his second appearance of the season, Ressegger worked 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five and walking one. His strong outing kept the Ospreys off the scoreboard through five innings and improved his record to 2-0.

North Fork finally broke through in the sixth inning. Gianni Generoso (SUNY Westchester CC) scored on an RBI triple by Justin Pierre (American International), and Pierre later came home on an RBI double from Bradyn Thompson (Bates), cutting the deficit to 5-2.

The Ospreys continued to battle in the seventh when Mike Siano (St. Lawrence) scored on an RBI double by Max Doninger (St. Peter’s), trimming the Riverhead lead to 5-3 and bringing the tying run to the plate.

However, Tyler Lopez (SUNY New Paltz) shut the door from there, preserving the victory and improving Riverhead’s standing in the early-season HCBL race.