The Shelter Island Bucks were a dominant force in the 2015 Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League season. Under the leadership of head coach Jamie Quinn, the Bucks tied an HCBL record, winning 27 games over the course of the year.
Shelter Island became the first HCBL team since Riverhead in 2009 to take both the MVP and Pitcher of the Year awards.
Eddie Haus (St. Mary’s (CA) was the top player for Shelter Island, winning the league batting title with an average of .360. Haus would make HCBL history on June 10th against the Southampton Breakers when he recorded the first six-hit game in league history, while driving in five runs in a 13-10 Bucks win. Haus’ hot summer continued at the 3rd Annual HCBL All-Star Game where his two-run home run was all the offense the North All-Stars needed in a 2-1 victory over the South. Haus earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award and at season’s end he would add the league MVP to go along with it.
On the mound, the Bucks were led by Anthony Alicki (Bridgeport). Alicki tied a league record winning seven games while going unbeaten in nine starts. Alicki struck out 42 batters during the season with an ERA of 1.91. The Bridgeport Pitcher would become the first Bucks pitcher to win the HCBL Pitcher of the Year award.
Behind Shelter Island was Westhampton who under first year head coach Dan Luisi finished a game out of the Bucks with 26 wins to earn the #2 seed in the postseason. North Fork at 22-19-1 and Montauk at 22-20 earned the #3 and #4 seeds respectfully.
Both postseason semi-final series would go the maximum three games. Shelter Island in their series against Montauk took Game 1 by a final score of 5-0. Game 2 saw the Mustangs rely on the long ball, Montauk had four homers in Game 2 including a pair from Billy McLean (Stony Brook) to take a 9-4 victory sending the series back to Shelter Island.
The Bucks sent their best pitcher Alicki on the mound for the deciding game and he did not disappoint. Despite allowing an early Montauk run in the first inning, Alicki would not allow further damage as he went six innings while striking out seven batters. The Bucks would rally for three runs in the second inning and five runs in the fourth to take control of the game. Shelter Island would finish off Montauk with a 10-3 victory to advance to their second straight HCBL Championship Series.
In the 2-3 semi-final series, North Fork would take the first game on the road over Westhampton by a final of 5-2. Danny Pobereyko (Butler) would dominate on the mound for the Ospreys striking out 10 Aviator hitters in seven innings. Westhampton would even the series on the road at Cochran Park in Peconic overcoming a ninth inning Osprey rally to win 3-2.
In the third and deciding game at Aviator Field, North Fork would take a 3-0 lead in the third inning on a three-RBI double with the bases loaded by Nick Heath (Northwestern State). Westhampton would turn to the bullpen and rely on Cody McPartland (Dowling) who turned an incredible outing in relief hurling seven shutout innings while only allowing three hits. The Aviators would answer with two runs in the fourth before eventually tying the game in the sixth inning. Westhampton would score three runs in the seventh to pull away and advance to the HCBL Championship Series for the first time since 2011.
In the HCBL Championship Series, it would be all Shelter Island. Following a leadoff home run from RJ Going (Dowling), Shelter Island would score ten unanswered runs being helped by a 10-strikeout outing by Zack Bahm (Columbia) to take Game 1 by a final of 10-3.
Shelter Island would then follow it up in Game 2 scoring five runs in the first inning, a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to lead 8-0. Westhampton would score five runs in the fifth, but it would not be enough as Shelter Island added another four runs to put the game out of reach. The Bucks would take their first HCBL title winning by a final score of 12-5.
Jonathan Moroney (Texas A&M) was named the MVP of the series for the Bucks, going 5-for-8 in the series with a home run and five RBI.
Some noted players in the 2015 HCBL season included Montauk’s JJ Shimko (South Carolina Upstate) who led the league in hits with 57 and finished second to Haus in batting at .358. North Fork’s Frank Moscatiello (St. Thomas Aquinas) led all HCBL pitchers in strikeouts while winning six games. Finally, Southampton’s Rob Moore (St. Peter’s) would close out his three year HCBL career in style.
Moore in his final game as an HCBL player against Montauk on July 25th homered to become the HCBL’s all-time career leader in that category with 14. Moore would close out his accomplished career as the league’s all-time leader in six different offensive categories including hits (119), runs (73) and RBI (78).
22 HCBL alumni were selected in the MLB Draft in June with Seby Zavala (Riverhead ’12) being the first alum selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 12th Round.
Before the HCBL All-Star Game at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, N.Y., eight HCBL players competed in the Inaugural Home Run Derby which was won by Riverhead’s Hunter Dolshun (UMBC) who defeated North Fork’s Ryan Mahoney (Fordham) in the finals 6-2.
