Fred Thiele’s first pitch was high and tight
(07/15/2009) The grand opening of the new baseball diamond at Stony Brook Southampton was held at last on Saturday under overcast skies. Fans
 Timothy Small
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had plenty of time to take their seats — yes, individual seats, not traditional bleachers — as Irish step-dancers and a rock band provided pregame entertainment.
Those who brought about the new field — Rusty Leaver, the president and founder of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, Bill Mitchell, Jim Hagen, Mace Mohrman, Frank Berry, Bruce Peterson, Karen Foley, Skip Norsic, Tom White, Roy and Frank Dalene, Mike Clarity, Ian Hysell, John Tintle, and Mark Lohr — were all honored.
They broke ground back in April and completed the project on June 23, something that could not have been done without support from the college. The school’s new dean, Dr. Mary C. Pearl, enamored with the Cape Cod Baseball League, gave it a thumbs-up. Joe Russell, the facilities coordinator at the college, was also instrumental.
The game itself was commenced by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., a supporter of the project, who threw out the honorary first pitch. “It was a little high, but I didn’t bounce it,” he said.
The action on the field was not packed with drama. The Southampton Breakers rolled past the Sag Harbor Whalers 11-1. Powered by two home runs, the Breakers didn’t need much to hold on to their 2-0 third-inning lead because John Hughes was dominant on the mound.
Hughes struck out 11 Whalers, allowed just one hit, and left with an 8-0 lead after six innings. The Whalers’ lone hit off him came in their very first at-bat — a single to right field by Ed Squeri. Hughes struggled in the second, walking two batters and then putting a man on third base with a wild pitch, but he threw that runner out at home plate and got out of the inning having given up no runs and no hits.
From that point on it was smooth sailing for Hughes. In the third, he struck out Brandon Boykin in the cleanup spot and forced Kyle Crean into a double play. He retired the side in the fourth with two strikeouts and a groundout, and did exactly the same in the fifth and sixth.
Tim Welch, the Whalers’ starter, who is not unfamiliar with dominant performances (he threw a no-hitter in his first start last week), gave up five runs and five hits in four innings. He was relieved by Nick Laude, who allowed three runs and three hits in two innings.
Mark Sunga put the Breakers on the board in the third with a two-run home run. His shot was followed by Kyle Kubitza’s single. In the fourth, the Breakers added three runs to their 2-0 lead. E.J. Smith led off with a single and advanced to second when Andrew Babb was walked. A sacrifice bunt by Tom Boggiano put both runners in scoring position.
Brian Blasik took advantage by ripping a shot over the fence. It was one of three hits on the day for Blasik, who led Southampton offensively.
The Breakers scored three more runs in the sixth, two in the seventh, and one in the eighth. The Whalers’ only run came in the seventh on a pinch-hit home run by James McNamara against Brandon Curson.
The win moved Southampton into second place at 14-9, one game behind the Westhampton Aviators, who are 17-10. The Whalers fell to 10-11, and they then lost both games of a doubleheader to the Aviators on Sunday at Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor, 8-5 and 2-1. They are now in fourth place, trailing the Riverhead Tomcats (14-11) by three games and the North Fork Ospreys (14-10) by three and a half.
Sag Harbor was to have played a doubleheader against the Tomcats on Tuesday at Riverhead High School. They face the Ospreys tonight at 7 at Cochran Field in Southold, and will have a chance at redemption on Sunday, when they play a doubleheader against Southampton on the new field.