Hamptons Collegiate Baseball

2008
Initially, the organization had one franchise -- the Hampton Whalers -- who in their first season of play won the Kaiser Division title before falling to the Kutztown Rockies, 8-2, in the ACBL championship game on August 9. This came after the Whalers started their season with an 0-6 record only to win eight of their last nine and finish 19-21. That left them in a tie with the Peekskill Robins, against which Hampton owned the tiebreaker, thus setting up the division championship against the Metro New York Cadets. With the winner going on to the title game, the Whalers plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 2-1.

The individual accolades were in great number. Phil Klein (Youngstown State), not only lead the ACBL in earned run average by posting a 1.02 ERA but also threw the first perfect game in league history, setting down all 21 hitters in a 7-0 victory over Metro N.Y. on July 13, 2008. Additionally, left-hander Andrew Guarrasi of New York Tech finished fourth in ERA (1.70) and second in strikeouts (57). At the plate, Alan Parks (Charlotte) stole 22 bags to rank third in the league; more impressively, he did so in 22 attempts.

2009
Hamptons Collegiate Baseball welcomed four new franchises to compete in the Kaiser Division. Led by head coach Shawn Epidendio of Santa Clara University, the North Fork Ospreys won the regular season title with a mark of 25-15, a game ahead of second-place Southampton, which was coached by former major league pitcher Andrew Lorraine. North Fork prevailed over Riverhead in one semifinal, and Westhampton blanked Southampton in the other to set up the best-of-three division championship series. The Ospreys took game one on an eighth-inning go-ahead home run by Adam Clear (San Francisco), but Westhampton forced a decisive third game by routing host North Fork in game two behind ace Alex Pracher (Stanford). In the third game, Westhampton broke open a tight game late to reel in the division title. Mike Mandarino (Camden County) struck out nine to earn the victory.

Westhampton went on to play the Jersey Pilots, who won the Wolff Division championship. After the Pilots socked back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning, the Aviators crawled back into the game and earned a 7-5 victory. Alex Aycoth (Campbell) went 3 for 3 in the title game and batted .556 in five postseason games (10 for 18). Ray Courtney (Fairleigh Dickinson) picked up the win with 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and Pracher struck out the side in the ninth to clinch the championship.

Postseason awards were given out en masse to Riverhead RHP Nick Tropeano (Stony Brook) and 1B Peter Greskoff (Brown). Tropeano won the pitching triple crown by leading the league in wins (7), strikeouts (77) and earned run average (1.61) and thus was named the ACBL Pitcher of the Year. Greskoff hit .397 with 10 homers and 37 RBI to be named Co-Player of the Year along with the Pilots' Ken Gregory (Kean). Greskoff was also selected as a Co-National Player of the Year by SummerCollegeLeagues.com, sharing the honor with Drew Heid of Gonzaga.

2010
Four new managers took over, with Epidendio the remaining carryover from the 2009 season. Rob Cafiero, a standout at Villanova and former Philadelphia Phillies farmhand, took the reins in Southampton, while Jim Buckley, who played for Siena College and in the Boston Red Sox farm system, managed the Sag Harbor squad. Elsewhere, St. John's assistant Jeff Quiros was appointed the Westhampton post, and St. Joe’s (N.Y.) head coach Randy Caden was named the Riverhead manager.

Under Epidendio, North Fork ran away with the 2010 regular season title, posting an HCB record 27 wins to win the division by five games. Billy Ferriter of Connecticut led all Hamptons hitters with a .373 average, and the middle-of-the-order production came from Sebastian Grazziani (New York Tech), who belted five homers and drove in 31.

In the first round of the playoffs, third-seeded Riverhead went on the road and beat No. 2 Westhampton, while North Fork held off No. 4 Southampton. The Ospreys and Tomcats met in a best-of-three championship series, and after North Fork won game one, 10-3, Riverhead forced a decisive third game on a walkoff homer by Matt Fleishman (Villanova) in the 10th inning of game two. The Ospreys proved to be too tough in the rubber match, riding 6 2/3 outstanding innings by starter Robert Kelly (Saint Anselm).

North Fork met the Quakertown Blazers in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League championship game. Back-to-back homers by Rocco Gondek (Sacred Heart) and David Jacob (Monmouth) were part of a four-run third inning that erased a 1-0 deficit. Aaron Snyder (Southern Illinois) and two other pitchers staked closer Lee Weld (Southern Illinois) to a 5-2 advantage in the ninth. The Blazers crossed two in the inning, but a groundout to Grazziani gave the Ospreys their first ACBL title and HCB's second league championship in as many years.

Southampton's Mike Mandarino (Broward) was named the Darrin Winston Most Valuable Pitcher Award, going 4-3 with an 0.83 ERA. He also led the Breakers in batting average (.303), home runs (7) and RBI (16). Westhampton closer D.J. Voisine (Maine) shared the Outstanding Relief Pitcher of the Year award, setting an HCB record with seven saves.