Riverhead Tomcats lead league with 5-4 win over SI Bucks

Riverhead is playing host to a group of out-of-towners and they’re loving every bit of it, sitting atop the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.

The Riverhead Tomcats, a collegiate baseball team made up of athletes from all over the United States hoping to go professional, beat the Shelter Island Bucks Sunday night 5-4, improving their league record to 11-7 halfway through the season. The win broke the first place tie between the two.

“It’s a big win,” said assistant coach Todd Van Scoy, who acted as the head coach in place of skipper Randy Caden. “We’ve been struggling a bit against the Bucks this year.”

Despite not knowing each other before the season began, the Tomcats are starting to come together as a team, although it’s inevitable, says Van Scoy.

“Those challenges eventually work themselves out,” he said. “The first week to ten days everyone was still feeling each other out but now they’ve gotten to know each other and hang out often.”

“It’s easier with college kids,” said Van Scoy. “They’ve already done this before when they first went to college and met kids from all over.”

After falling behind 1-0, Andre Jernigan, who plays his college ball for Xavier University, took Buck’s pitcher Jon Young deep for a two-run shot, after falling behind with two strikes, giving the Tomcats a 2-1 lead.

Shelter Island regained the lead in the top of the 6th inning on a pair of sacrifices by Kevin Brantley and Mac James, scoring two runs, making the tally 4-2.

Jerry Downs, originally from Miami, Florida, cut the deficit in half with his league-leading fifth home run in the bottom half of the inning.

Tomcats pitcher Mike Dolce finished the 7th inning, capping his night with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks and just 3 earned runs. And Riverhead would give him a chance to receive the win in the bottom of the 7th inning.

“It took me a while to get going but I eventually found my groove,” said Dolce.

It also didn’t hurt that the umpire had an unusually large, but consistent strike zone.

“Yeah, it was definitely nice for me,” he said, laughing. “But I was still behind in the game, I tried to keep it as close as possible.”

After Tyler Fox and Josh Mason reached base on an error and hit-by-pitch, Charley Gould scored one after a successful groundout bringing the game to a 4-4 tie. After a walk to Mike Brosseau, hot-hitting Jake Farr stepped into the dish.

Farr, all the way from Tennessee, got his pitch, he admitted, but ultimately missed. With runners on first and second he hit a ball off his knuckles right over the third baseman’s head, bringing in what would be the winning run.

It has been that type of season for Farr.

“I’m getting a lot of my hits to fall that wouldn’t usually be hits,” Farr said. “It’s about half luck and half skill.”

Entering the day his batting average was .372.

Not only is this is Farr’s first visit on the Island, it is his first visit “north anywhere.”

“It’s a lot different around here,” he said. “Sweet tea isn’t served everywhere, it’s kind of crazy.”

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Emil Breitenbach Jr.
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