Riverhead’s Six-Run First Powers 12-8 Victory Over Southampton
The Riverhead Tomcats did all of their damage early and then withstood a late Southampton rally to earn a 12-8 victory on Sunday at Southampton High School.
Riverhead sent 12 batters to the plate in a six-run first inning, capitalizing on six walks before recording its first hit. Riverhead got six walks to start the game without a batter being retired as the Tomcats built a commanding lead.
Matthew Ryan (Adelphi) started the scoring with a bases-loaded walk before Richie Heyder (Farmingdale St.) and Evan Schickler (Rider) followed with RBI walks to make it 3-0. Kevin Schnupp (UMass Amhest) then delivered Riverhead’s first hit, a run-scoring single to center, before Joey Cohen (Post) added an RBI groundout. Jack Byrne (Fairfield) capped the outburst with an RBI single to left, giving the Tomcats a 6-0 advantage before Southampton came to bat.
The Breakers answered with a run in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly from Brendan Gardner (Holy Cross), then trimmed the deficit further in the second. Sean Sailer drew a bases-loaded walk, and Chase Jones (West Chester) was hit by a pitch with the bases full to cut the lead to 7-3 after Schnupp had added another RBI single for Riverhead in the top half of the inning.
Riverhead continued to add insurance. Schnupp collected his third RBI hit of the afternoon with another run-scoring single in the fourth before Jagger Adamo (LIU) lined an RBI single to center that turned into a two-run play after a defensive miscue, extending the Tomcats’ lead to 10-3.
The Tomcats made it 11-3 in the fifth on Schnupp’s sacrifice fly before Bryan McCleary (Adelphi) added an RBI single in the sixth for a 12-3 cushion.
Southampton refused to go quietly. Gardner highlighted a three-run sixth inning with an inside-the-park home run, racing all the way around the bases after driving the ball into the outfield to score Jones and Sean Sailer (Villanova), trimming the deficit to 12-6.
The Breakers added two more runs in the seventh on Jones’ sacrifice fly and Gardner’s RBI groundout, but Riverhead was able to close out the victory before the comeback could gain any more momentum.
Schnupp led the Tomcats’ offense, finishing with three hits and four RBI while adding a sacrifice fly. Byrne drove in two runs, McCleary scored twice and added an RBI, while Adamo contributed an RBI single and scored twice. Riverhead totaled nine hits but took full advantage of 11 walks issued by Southampton pitching.
The Breakers were held to just four hits but showed patience at the plate, drawing 15 walks. Gardner drove in five of Southampton’s eight runs, including the inside-the-park homer, while Sailer, Michael Caron (Assumption), and Hector Francia (St. John’s) each reached base multiple times during the comeback attempt.
Riverhead’s pitching staff also battled through control issues. John Parpis (Felician) recorded just five outs but escaped after allowing only one earned run despite seven walks. Elijah Lewis (Herkimer CC) earned the win with 3⅓ scoreless innings of relief, giving up just two hits while striking out three. Jack Puvogel (Iona) surrendered five runs over the final two innings but secured the final six outs as the Tomcats held on for the 12-8 victory.