Tomcats Ride Lopez’s Strong Start to 4-3 Win at North Fork

The Riverhead Tomcats received an early power surge from Joey Cohen (Post) and held off a late North Fork rally to earn a 4-3 victory over the Ospreys on Wednesday night at Cochran Park in Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League action.

Starter Tyler Lopez (SUNY New Paltz) earned the victory, improving to 2-1 after allowing three runs—only two earned—on four hits over five innings while striking out four. Lopez worked efficiently through 59 pitches before handing the ball to Elijah Lewis (Herkimer CC), who retired the Ospreys over the final two innings to record his first save of the season. Lewis allowed just one hit and one walk while preserving the narrow lead.

After dropping Tuesday’s meeting between the two clubs, Riverhead bounced back by capitalizing on timely hitting and strong pitching to secure the one-run win.

The Tomcats struck first in the second inning. Following singles by Matthew Ryan (Adelphi) and Sam Leonard (Hofstra), Cohen turned on the first pitch he saw and launched a three-run home run, giving Riverhead a 3-0 advantage.

North Fork answered in the bottom half of the inning. Demetrios Bardatsos (Rider) reached base on a one-out single ahead of Carter Heagle (Merrimack), who blasted a two-run homer to quickly pull the Ospreys within one at 3-2.

The Ospreys evened the score in the fourth. Bardatsos reached base again and eventually scored when Eli Sitzer (Washington (MO) reached on a Riverhead error, tying the game at 3-3.

Riverhead reclaimed the lead in the sixth after putting together a patient rally. Matt Hesselbirg (Mercy) came around to score when Leonard worked a bases-loaded walk, giving the Tomcats a 4-3 advantage.

Cohen finished with the game’s biggest swing, driving in three runs with his second-inning home run. Leonard reached base and drove in the go-ahead run with his sixth-inning walk.

North Fork managed just five hits on the night. Heagle supplied the biggest blow with his two-run homer, while Sitzer was credited with the game-tying RBI after reaching on an error.

Sadier Vicioso (Felician) kept North Fork in the game by allowing three runs over four innings before Luis Florian (Felician) took the loss after surrendering the decisive run in the sixth. Matt Guido (Lycoming) finished with 1⅔ scoreless innings in relief.