Jim Kinnier, who coaches the combined Ross-Pierson boys and girls track teams, a program now in its fourth year, said during a recent conversation that “we’re headed in the right direction. I’ve got 25 boys and girls, the most I’ve ever had.”

    The boys and girls teams each have a win thus far, lopsided ones over their Babylon counterparts, though, at the time of the conversation, Ross-Pierson’s teams had suffered losses by similar margins to Port Jefferson and Center Moriches.

    As for the boys, Kinnier said Khalid Al-Mahmoud, a Ross student from Qatar, had turned in “fine times in the 100 and 200 — a 12.2 in the 100, which isn’t bad, not far off the school record, 11.6.”

    Another Ross student, Kayla Jerido, also a sprinter, who played Amateur Athletic Union basketball last spring, has run a 13.5 in the 100, said Kinnier, “a very good time for a girl.”

    Moreover, a Pierson sophomore, Oliver Lauro, a sprinter, had run a 12.4 in the 100, and Marco Lanuto’s 57.9 in the 400, he said, was “very good for a sophomore — he has a very nice future.”

    Elena Skerys, who ran cross-country for Pierson in the fall, has run a 5:54 in the 1,500, which, said Kinnier, “isn’t bad.” Among his male distance runners, “the best miler I have is also a shot-putter — Ross Kadri, a 220-pound Ross senior. He placed second in the Katy’s Courage 5K, and he’s run the 1,600 in 5:15 . . . he’s an incredible athlete.”

    “Over all,” Kinnier said in conclusion, “I’m really very happy. . . . We’ve been practicing at Ross and at East Hampton, where we use the long jump and triple jump pit and the high-jumping pit. We’re at East Hampton once or twice a week.”

    Kinnier said he hoped to have “three or four or five kids compete in individual events in the division meet and a couple of relay teams.” 

    Chris Reich, who coaches East Hampton High School’s boys track team, repeated as the winner of the Paddlers 4 Humanity off-road half-marathon in Montauk Sunday, and Laura Brown, a top masters runner on the roads, topped the women.

    Mike Hamilton, one of Reich’s high school competitors, on Monday reported his young coach as having said that “the race [through Hither Woods] was longer this year, but that his time was faster.”

    A former East Hampton High School and college star, Reich covered the tortuous but beautiful course in 1 hour and 32.48 seconds. In his debut last year (which prompted the race director Ed Cashin to say the new generation had arrived), Reich ran a 1:37.

    Anthony Snoble, a triathlete from East Islip who pushed Reich for most of the race, wasn’t far behind, finishing in 1:34.22. The two were virtually neck-and-neck at the halfway point water station near Hither Hills’ West Overlook.

    When Diane O’Donnell, the high school’s girls track coach, was asked who Snoble was, she said, looking over at her niece, Christina Melli of Bohemia, “He’s Christina’s boyfriend’s brother-in-law.”

    Brown, who, likewise, was neck-and-neck at the halfway point with Caroline Cashin, who often wins the off-road races based at Ed Ecker County Park, wound up winning (and finishing ninth over all) in 1:52.16. Cashin, who was 11th, finished a little more than a minute behind, in 1:53.36.

    Last year’s women’s winner, Sinead FitzGibbon, did not compete this time. She is reportedly pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy in Provo, Utah.

    Besides Reich, there were two other members of “the new generation” there — namely Reich’s brother Bob, who finished sixth in 1:47.20, and Joe Sullivan, who was 16th in 1:56.16. Among those East Hampton High School students who volunteered that day were Hamilton, Erica Silich, a member of the girls lacrosse team, Taylor Harned, who, according to Reich, “is carrying the boys track team on his shoulders,” and Deilyn Guzman, who pitches and plays shortstop for Bonac’s baseball team.

    The event drew about the same number as last year, 60 or so. Scott Bradley said that all the proceeds, which totaled $3,800, would go to LICoP, an organization founded by Helene Fallon that provides free recreational activities for East End youngsters with disabilities.

    “We host 30 events a

year, including surfing, music, art, and bowling camps,” said Fallon. “We’re making sure that the kids on the East End are served.”

    Sunday’s half-marathon was the first of several Paddlers’ fund-raisers, including a Wahine (women and girls) three-mile paddle on July 17, a three-person stand-up paddle relay on July 31, and an 18-mile Montauk-to-Block Island open ocean paddle on Aug. 27.

    “This year,” said Bradley, “we’ve tightened up our mission to support programs that deal with children . . . LICop, the Retreat, and the East Hampton Day Care Center.”

October 8, 1987

    An unexpectedly tough Southampton High School football team came close to rocking East Hampton in Sunday’s stormy weather, but thanks to an early Bonac score, a defense that rose to the occasion, costly Mariner miscues, and an untried place-kicker, East Hampton repossessed the handsome silver Hampton Cup, 7-6, to continue undefeated.

    Southampton was said to have compiled the more impressive statistics, and East Hampton’s coach, Ted Meyer, whose stats were “obliterated” by rain and wind, didn’t disagree. “But we’ll take the win,” he added, “even though it wasn’t pretty.”

    . . . When the clock ran out, East Hampton’s bench cleared, and the team’s captain and senior right tackle, David DiSunno, was hoisted aloft to display the Cup, which will now be displayed in East Hampton’s trophy case. In the six years of the Cup’s existence, the Bonackers have won it four times, although the rivalry, which began in 1923, is vastly in Southampton’s favor.

—

    The East Hampton-Pierson cross-country team continued undefeated, at 3-0, last week as it bested Mattituck 22-37 on Sept. 29.

    Jim Lattanzio, the team’s top runner, won the 3.1-mile race in 17 minutes and 10 seconds. Matt Murphy was third at 18:04; Artie Fisher was fifth at 18:09; Ken Hallock was sixth at 18:40, and Joe Tucker rounded out East Hampton’s scoring as he finished seventh in 18:50.

October 15, 1987

    Susan Menu, the mother of one of East Hampton’s linemen, Jason Menu, was at Saturday’s game with a television crew, producing a segment on the Bonackers for a weekly Coca-Cola high school sports show that is aired by Madison Square Garden cable.

    The segment featured interviews with the team’s coach, Ted Meyer, its quarterback, Jamie Grubb, the captain, David DiSunno, and the tight end, Michael Sarlo, and bits of the game, during which the Bonac fans were prevailed on to cheer for the camera when, with fourth-and-six, East Hampton turned the ball over in the first quarter at the Mercy 35.

—

    Paul Annacone, the East Hampton-reared touring tennis professional, had one of the best tournaments of his career last week as he wound up as the runner-up to John McEnroe in the AT&T Challenge in Atlanta, Ga., 6-4, 7-5.

    In earlier rounds the 24-year-old East Hampton and Knoxville, Tenn., pro had defeated the world’s number-one and number-two players, Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg. Annacone disposed of Edberg 6-2, 6-3, and dispatched Lendl 6-3, 6-2. It was the first time that Annacone had defeated Lendl. He had defeated Edberg in the Volvo-Los Angeles final in 1985, his first professional tournament singles win.

Thursday, April 28

BASEBALL, Sayville at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS TRACK, Sayville at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, April 29

BOYS TENNIS, Southampton at Ross, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, Pierson-Bridgehampton at Mattituck, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, Pierson-Bridgehampton at McGann-Mercy, Riverhead, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 30

BOYS TRACK, East Hampton at Westhampton Beach invitational, 8:30 a.m.

TENNIS, Junior clinic with Patrick McEnroe, Ross School, 9 a.m.

BOYS TENNIS, Ross at Half Hollow Hills West, nonleague, 10 a.m.

BOYS LACROSSE, East Hampton at Mount Sinai, 10 a.m.

GIRLS TRACK, East Hampton at Westhampton invitational, 1 p.m.

Sunday, May 1

HALF-MARATHON, benefit Paddlers 4 Humanity, Ed Ecker County Park, Montauk, 9 a.m., check-in, 8.

Monday, May 2

SOFTBALL, Hauppauge at East Hampton, and Pierson at Babylon, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE, Bayport-Blue Point at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, East Hampton vs. Southampton, Southampton Recreation Center, Majors Path, and Ross at Shoreham-Wading River, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS TRACK, East Hampton at Shoreham-Wading River, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, East Hampton at Rocky Point, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 3

BOYS LACROSSE, Bayport-Blue Point at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, Southampton at Pierson, Sag Harbor, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 4

GIRLS LACROSSE, Harborfields at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, Rocky Point at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, Shoreham-Wading River at East Hampton, and Eastport-South Manor at Ross, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TRACK, Shoreham-Wading River at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, East Hampton at Islip, 4:30 p.m.

    “It’s just Manny being Manny.”                        

    That tired, enabling quip was one that followed Manny Ramirez throughout his brilliant and bizarre career. Fitting, as it may also best sum up the abrupt retirement announced by the fabled, dreadlocked slugger on Friday.

    For the second time in two years, Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Back in 2009, while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ramirez did not appeal the 50-game suspension imposed on him, opting to simply serve out the sentence with an “aw shucks” smirk on his face. But the punishment doubles for second-time offenders, and rather than accept a 100-game suspension from Major League Baseball, the 38-year-old slugger opted to walk away from the game last week.

    Always a magnet for attention, the news of his sudden retirement had an impact throughout the league.

    “We were obviously surprised,” said Tampa Bay Rays vice president Andrew Friedman, “and hurt by what transpired.”

    It’s understandable that Friedman is a bit hurt, particularly in the wallet region. Paying Ramirez $2 million to go 1 for 17 with his new ball club before hanging up his spikes probably wasn’t the impact the Rays were hoping Ramirez would have on their organization.

    So while the defending American League East champion Rays scramble to replace Ramirez in the lineup with a suitable power hitter, and also turn around their dreadful 1-8 start to the season, what is Manny doing? Well . . . he’s just being Manny, of course!

    “I’m at ease,” Ramirez said. “God knows what’s best [for me]. I’m now an officially retired baseball player. I’ll be going away on a trip to Spain with my old man.”

    Adios, amigo.

    Believe it or not, this is the best thing that could have happened to the Rays and M.L.B. With each passing day, Barry Bonds is being exposed as the fraud that he is in a court of law. Completely vanished from our radar are the likes of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. Even Jose Canseco couldn’t last more than a week on “Celebrity Apprentice.”

    It isn’t just that the baseball world doesn’t have a tolerance for these headliners of the steroid era anymore; it simply doesn’t have the room nor the time for them. The game is healing before our eyes, and as the scab of shame deteriorates, so too do the men who befouled the game. They traded everything for a brief moment of immortality, and ironically that cost them a lifetime of shunned obscurity. This is poetic justice in its purest form.

    There really is no point to exhaust the arguments of the legitimacy of Manny’s career numbers. The asterisk that haunt­ed Roger Maris like a scarlet letter has long lost its impact in society. How can a symbol designated to call attention to a discrepancy mean anything when the symbol is as common and plentiful as the tainted numbers themselves? The rogue wave of baseball’s steroid era left behind an ocean of asterisks to swim through.

    No one will remember Manny Ram­irez for his 555 career home runs. No one will remember his .312 lifetime batting average, or that he knocked in 1,831 runs. And when it comes to this particular character, most people won’t even remember the steroids. What everyone will remember about Manny, though, was the odd, uncomfortably childish clown persona that he molded himself into.

    In a sophomoric inability to accept the responsibility that came with being a premier athlete, Manny attempted to come across as a fun-loving man-child who just loved playing the game. He relished any opportunity to remind the world (often by flopping around in the outfield after misplaying a line drive) that baseball is just a game, and therefore can’t be taken too seriously.

    This is a healthy mantra to adopt if you plan on suiting up to play beer league softball in Montauk this summer. But when you are paid to be the cornerstone of the offense for the Cleveland Indians, or the Boston Red Sox, or the Los Angeles Dodgers, or even as a midseason acquisition for the Chicago White Sox, or as the veteran designated hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays, you need to try a little harder.

    “It’s sad, man,” said David Ortiz of his former teammate in Boston, where they won two World Series rings together. “He got his issues, like a lot of people know. But as a player, I think he did what he was supposed to.”

    Ortiz isn’t alone in saying that, despite his antics, Manny was a great player. Inside the fraternity of Big Leaguers, Manny was regarded not only as a great teammate, but a very hard worker. There are tales of his rigorous self-imposed batting practice sessions, all of which were fueled by his love for the game and his desire to excel in it. Though mysteriously, none of that footage has ever been captured on tape.

    The sad truth is that his B.P. sessions were probably accurate accounts. And in his own heart, Manny Ramirez probably did love the game. But he sure did have a funny way of showing it.

    You can say you love your wife, but if every time you appear with her in public, you act the fool and deeply embarrass her, then you really aren’t showing her any love. Despite your pleas of being a misunderstood and happy-go-lucky guy, you’re just being an asshole. Toss in repeated drug abuse to go with a childish insistence on defying any form of accountability, and you don’t just have misrepresented love, you have a blatant disrespect.

    And that is Manny being Manny.

    Have fun in Spain.

Ruggers Win Again

    The Montauk Rugby Club, with the addition of Conner Miller, who, according to Charlie Collins, “looked like he’d been playing for years,” defeated Hudson Valley 24-15 on Saturday.

    The game also featured the first tries to be scored by Brian Anderson and Scott Abran. Jarrel Walker, a former professional arena football player, was the man of the match because of his “tenacious defense and overpowering physical play.”

    A long ride and the cold weather played a part in Montauk’s falling behind early, but the Sharks, who trailed 15-0 at the break, came back with a vengeance in the second half. A chip kick by Rich Brierley set up a score in the corner of Hudson Valley’s try zone by Steve Turza, one of Montauk’s wingers. James Lock then scored following a lineout play, assisted by Hamish Cuthbertson and Miller. Anderson and Abran scored on long runs.

    Next up for the Sharks is a game at Hartford, Conn., on April 30. Others who played Saturday were Ryan Borowsky, Nick Lawler, Joe Iapozetta, Matt Reilly, Brian Powell, and Matt Brierley.

Hurricanes

    Tom Cohill, the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter’s aquatics director and head coach of the Y’s youth swim team, the Hurricanes, will oversee spring practice sessions at the Y from May 2 through June 24. The Hurricanes placed fifth among the 39 teams that competed in the recent state meet, with the 9 and 10-year-old girls placing second and the 9-10 boys placing third among their peers.

    Those interested in the Hurricanes’ program have been asked either to phone the RECenter or to visit its Web sites — ymcali.org or ehyhurricanes.org.

Spring Into Action

    A Spring Into Action 5K family road race and fun run sponsored by the Rotary Club of East Hampton and the Star of the East Lodge, which is to start at the East Hampton Day Care Learning Center on Gingerbread Lane and end on the field behind the John M. Marshall Elementary School, is to be held May 7, the day before Mother’s Day.

    The co-chairs are Lara and Bruce Siska. There will be three races — a 5K for children 10 and up, a one-miler for 5 to 9-year-olds, and a 400-meter race for 3 to 4-year-olds.

    “This is a family event,” a flier says, “and parents are encouraged to run with their children, especially those running the mile and the 400.”

    Proceeds are to go toward the day care center’s year-round programs for young children, and to the upgrading of its outdoor play areas. The rotary club’s Web site, easthamptonrotary.us, has further details, as do the Siskas.

Saturday, April 23

BASEBALL, Greenport vs. Pierson-Bridgehampton, Mashashimuet Park, Sag Harbor, 2 p.m.

SOFTBALL, East Hampton at Kings Park, 11 a.m.

Monday, April 25

BASEBALL, Sayville at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, Longwood at Ross, 4:30 p.m.

SOFTBALL, East Hampton at Harborfields, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE, East Hampton at Eastport-South Manor, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, April 26

BOYS TENNIS, Westhampton Beach at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, Pierson-Bridgehampton at McGann-Mercy, Riverhead, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 27

SOFTBALL, Eastport-South Manor at East Hampton, and Bayport-Blue Point at Pierson, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS LACROSSE, Huntington at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, East Hampton at Longwood, 4:30 p.m.

BASEBALL, McGann-Mercy vs. Pierson-Bridgehampton, Mashashimuet Park, Sag Harbor, and East Hampton at Sayville, 4:30 p.m.

TRACK, Ross-Pierson boys and girls at Stony Brook, 4:30 p.m.

BOYS TENNIS, Ross at Westhampton Beach, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 28

BASEBALL, Sayville at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

GIRLS TRACK, Sayville at East Hampton, 4:30 p.m.

    The news was uniformly good for Pierson High School’s varsity baseball and softball teams this past week. As of Monday, the boys stood atop League VIII, along with McGann-Mercy, at 5-1, and the girls, also in League VIII, were in second place, behind 7-0 Port Jefferson, also at 5-1.

    The baseball team, coached by Jon Tortorella, swept a three-game series from Southold last week, by scores of 8-3, 9-3, and 8-3 behind the pitching of Jake Weingartner, Colman Vila, and Forrest Loesch.

    The girls pummeled McGann-Mercy 13-1 on April 12, and edged Hampton Bays 7-6 on Friday.

    Kaci Koehne, the softball team’s hard-hitting senior shortstop, went 4-for-4 in the game with Mercy, which was played on Pierson’s new softball diamond behind the high school, and Alexa Lantiere went 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Melanie Stafford was the winning pitcher.

    Koehne found the fences twice in that game, with a solo shot in the third inning and a two-run blast in the fifth that ended the game because of the “mercy rule.” She drove in five runs in all, and scored four.

    Koehne didn’t play in Friday’s game with Hampton Bays, so others had to step up, said Pierson’s coach, Melissa Edwards. Among them were Kasey Gilbride, who went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs driven in, Emma Romeo, whose base hit tied the score in the bottom of the seventh, and Sariah Cafiero, who drove Romeo in with a walkoff single.

    Stafford again was the winning pitcher.

    It seems as if the Whalers are on a collision course with Port Jefferson, which, as of Monday, remained undefeated, at 7-0. The Royals edged the Whalers 9-7 the last time they met, on April 6. They are to meet again on May 16, a date that Edwards has circled. It could well be that these two teams meet in the county Class C final as well.

    Concerning the new field, Edwards said she much preferred playing behind the school rather than in the far reaches of Mashashimuet Park.

    Back to the baseball team, last Thursday’s win was the first of Vila’s varsity career. He went the distance, giving up eight hits, walking one, and striking out three. Tyler Gilbride went 3-for-5, and Hunter Leyser went 2-for-4 with a key two-run double in the sixth.

    In Friday’s game with the Settlers, Aaron Schiavoni went 2-for-3 at the plate with a two-run double in the seventh. He also threw out a runner at the plate.

    Others with multi-hit games that day were Sean Romeo, who was 2-for-4 with two r.b.i.s and two runs scored, and Emet Evjen, who went 2-for-3 with one r.b.i. Forrest Loesch, who pitched five and two-thirds innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits, earned the win — the first of his varsity career.

    The Deer Park Falcons came into East Hampton riding high last Thursday, boasting an undefeated record in League V and undoubtedly buoyed by the fact that Newsday had ranked them third last week among the high school softball teams on Long Island.

    Moreover, Casey Waleko, East Hampton’s imperturbable freshman pitcher, who’s still trying to find her way following a long layoff this past winter caused by an operation on her pitching hand, couldn’t for the most part find the plate.

    And still East Hampton won! By a score of 5-4, which sent everyone — at least everyone from here — home happy.

    Waleko got off on a good foot (with two strikeouts and a lazy fly to Courtney Dess in center field in the top of the first inning) and ended on a good one (setting the Falcons’ one, two, and three hitters down in order in the sixth, and, in the seventh, following a line double to the fence by the cleanup hitter, Aly Dzierzynski, clinched the heady win as she induced a popout to Deryn Hahn at third, a foulout to Ricky Slater at first, and a flyout to Amanda Thompson in right). But the innings in between were rocky indeed!

    According to one count, Waleko threw 139 pitches in those seven innings, during which she faced a full count 12 times. She gave up six hits, walked seven, struck out nine, and unleashed four wild pitches.

    Kathryn Hess, Bonac’s catcher, was kept busy that day, for Waleko’s riser often sailed high, and her drop frequently was in the dirt.

    “Between all those walks and the hits, they had a lot of people on base!” Lou Reale, East Hampton’s coach, said afterward, adding that “the only pitch of Casey’s that was working was her fastball, which had some movement. That’s how she got their batters to fly out, foul out, and pop out in the last two innings. But it was a good win for us, a very good win. The girls battled back and showed a lot of character.”

    East Hampton, 4-2 in League VI as of Friday, was to have played the once-defeated league leader, Shoreham-Wading River, here Saturday morning.

    The Bonackers, whose intensity was to Reale’s liking — “much better than in the [8-0] loss to Miller Place” — jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat. After Maysie Makrianes, the leadoff slap hitter, was thrown out on a comebacker to Deer Park’s pitcher, Lisa Bonacasa, Kathryn Hess, whose shallow fly was dropped by the center fielder, Sam Johrden, went right on around to second, sliding in under the throw.

    “That set the tone,” said Reale. “It was heads-up baserunning. Kathryn didn’t hesitate.”

    Hahn, who was to go 3-for-3 that day, promptly doubled Hess home, and Meghan Hess, Kathryn’s older sister, followed with a double of her own that plated Hahn, prompting a conference on the mound.

    Bonacasa then struck out Thompson on three pitches, the last one a changeup, but Sam Mathews lined a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Meghan Hess with East Hampton’s third run. Waleko grounded out short-to-first to end the inning.

    The visitors got one back in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly that scored Dzierzynski, who had singled and had moved to third as the result of a walk and a wild pitch. A strikeout, a walk, and a strikeout prevented any further scoring.

    Deer Park had runners at the corners with two outs in their third, but Waleko, with the count full, got the fifth batter, Sam DeMarco, to fly out to Dana Dragone in left-center field.

    Through the first three innings then, Waleko had given up just one hit, had walked four, and had struck out five.

    Hahn began East Hampton’s third with a line drive double to left. Meghan Hess popped out to the shortstop, Sabrina Riley. The next batter, Thompson, grounded a ball off Bonacasa’s glove, but the second baseman Jackie D’Aries’s throw home caught Hahn as she tried to score.

    Later, Reale said that his hard-hitting third baseman had got a late start.

    Mathews followed with a single, putting runners at first and second for Waleko, who worked the count full before hitting a rope to left-center field that the left fielder, DeMarco, caught on the run.

    The visitors had a runner on second with two outs in the fourth, but Waleko caught Johrden, who was batting ninth in the order, looking at a called third strike.

    After East Hampton had gone down one-two-three in the bottom half, the Falcons finally cashed in in the top of the fifth, with three runs on four hits.

    After Waleko had retired the leadoff hitter, Riley, on a short-to-first groundout, Marie Racaro, the third baseman, D’Aries, and Dzierzynski all singled, loading the bases. A fielder’s choice plated one run, another single, which curled tantalizingly over Meghan Hess’s head, tied it up, and a bases-loaded walk gave Deer Park the lead before Waleko, with the bases still loaded and two out, stopped the bleeding with another inning-ending strikeout of Johrden.

    East Hampton went to bat in the bottom half trailing 4-3. Kathryn Hess led it off and drew the sole walk Bonacasa was to give up that afternoon. Hahn followed with a single, and Meghan Hess drove in her sister from second with a hard ground ball over the third-base bag, tying the score at 4-4.

    With runners at second and third, Thompson’s grounder to the right side drove in Hahn with what proved to be the winning run. Meghan Hess also tried to score on the play, but was gunned out at the plate. With Thompson on second and one out, Mathews grounded out pitcher-to-first and Waleko grounded out short-to-first to end the inning.

    Waleko, as aforesaid, set Deer Park down in order in the top of the sixth. Meredith Janis, pinch-hitting for Slater, almost found the fence in left field in leading off East Hampton’s sixth, but DeMarco gathered the ball in. Bonacasa then retired Dragone on a pop to D’Aries at second, and Makrianes on a ground ball slapped to Riley at short.

    Dzierzynski led off the visitors’ last at-bat with a roped double to the fence in center. But Deer Park’s catcher was stranded at second base as Waleko induced, as aforesaid, DeMarco to pop out, Ari Tedeschi to foul out, and Bonacasa to fly out, clinching the win for East Hampton.

    There were no postgame cupcakes, but it didn’t matter.

     Two "polar bear" plunges into the icy Atlantic will be held on Jan. 1 in East Hampton, after the cancellation of one at Gurney's Inn in Montauk, due to beach conditions there after the weekend's powerful northeaster.

     While the chance for a frigid hat-trick or trifecta of pain has been eliminated, the remaining dips, at East Hampton’s Main Beach at 1, and at Beach Lane, Wainscott, at 2:30, give the most intrepid of that day’s brave souls a chance to do repeat the feat.

The Main Beach plunge, put on by the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter Hurricanes youth swim team, is to benefit East Hampton’s food pantries. Participants have been asked to donate at least $25.

Colin Mather, whose Wainscott plunge apparently was the first such here, has asked that participants there donate at least $10 to Phoenix House.

In a flier he sent out this week, Mather, who owns the Seafood Shop on Route 27 in Wainscott, said that he will set off on a 1.6-mile run to the Beach Lane road-end from his shop at 2 p.m.

“If you want to join Colin for the jog, knock on the front door — the shop will be closed. Only polar bears can enter,” it said.