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Good News in Bonac as the Season Begins

Wed, 03/30/2022 - 18:21

Versatile players, strong pitchers on the varsity baseball team

Will Darrell was one of four East Hampton pitchers who blanked Southampton in a scrimmage here Friday. He recorded six strikeouts in the two innings he worked. Colin Ruddy struck out six as well, Jack Dickinson struck out five, and Hunter Eberhart fanned three. 
Craig Macnaughton

Spring began for a few of East Hampton High School’s teams last week, and the results were good all around.

The varsity girls lacrosse team lost 13-7 at Babylon Saturday, but Jessica Sanna, the head coach, said she was “proud of them.” Some 80 tried out for the team, a record for that sport and possibly for all high school sports here. Melina Sarlo, an East Hampton sophomore returnee, Lily Perello, a Pierson (Sag Harbor) sophomore returnee, Ava Tintle, an East Hampton ninth grade returnee, and Lola Garneau, an East Hampton sophomore returnee, scored the goals.

Meanwhile, the varsity baseball team on Friday trounced Southampton 12-0 in a scrimmage during which Colin Ruddy, Jack Dickinson, Will Darrell, and Hunter Eberhart took turns pitching. Vinny Alversa, the head coach, and his assistant, Henry Meyer, think the playoffs are within reach simply given the strength of the above-named pitchers, who, all told, struck out 20 Mariners over the course of seven innings. Ruddy, a George Washington University recruit, struck out six, Dickinson, five, Darrell, six, and Eberhart, who pitched the final inning, three.

It’s not just the pitchers, though: The Bonackers can also hit. “The big blow,” Alversa said afterward, “was Carter Dickinson’s three-run homer in the first, though we had other hits, scattered throughout the lineup.”

The boys tennis team also saw action in the past week, defeating Sachem East 6-1 in its league opener. It would have been 7-0 had Nick Cooper, East Hampton’s second singles player, not pulled a groin muscle in the first set, forcing him to retire with the score 4-2 in his favor.

Kevin McConville, the coach, who thinks this team can vie for the county championship, said he expected Cooper to be out for a couple of weeks, which means he’ll have to do some shuffling. Despite that, the team ought to remain strong, he said during Sunday evening’s practice at the East Hampton Indoor Tennis club, even though most of his 12 players — nine of them new to him — are underclassmen.

At Sachem East, Max Astilean, a junior, Nick Cooper, who’s a sophomore, Nick’s younger brother, Henry, who’s an eighth grade r, and Kiefer Mitchell, a ninth-grade transfer from the Ross School, played singles.

“I don’t see anyone matching up with us in doubles,” said McConville, who has Cameron Mitchell, a sophomore — also a transfer from Ross — and Chris Belarski, a Pierson sophomore, at one; Jagger Cohen, an eighth grader, and Dane Schwalbe, a Pierson freshman, at second doubles, and Armando Rangel, a junior, and Carlos Quintana, a freshman, at three.

Astilean, Nick Cooper, and Rangel are returnees. Astilean, who has picked up his game considerably in the past few months, was all-county last season, as was Nick Cooper.

The team was to have played a match at Connetquot Tuesday and is to play at Comsewogue today. “We’re still waiting for our renovated courts at the high school to be painted — that’s why we’re playing so many matches away early in the season,” said the coach.

Ward Melville is the preseason pick to win the league, with East Hampton ranked second, and Westhampton Beach third, he said.

Sanna, the girls lacrosse coach, said she and her assistant, Lisa Farbar, had decided, given the huge turnout, to field two junior varsities this spring, one of which is being coached by Joe DiGirolomo and Jenna Pirro and one by Robyn Mott.

There are four seniors on the varsity team: Laura Calderon, the goalie, Ella Bistrian, a midfielder, and Julia Erickson and Melanie Lugue, defenders. The team has seven juniors — Emily Flores, Claire McGovern, Scout Lynch, Madison Elflein, Mariana Carreno-Marin, Sophia Sanchez, and Tahnie Sullivan. Its 10 sophomores include Sarlo, Eva McKelvey, Emma McGrory, Garneau, Ruby Terrell, Clotilde Ceva, Helena Kolhoff, Perello, Ally Schaefer, and Garcie Rasi. It also has three ninth graders — Tintle, Ani Bedini, and Bella Eldridge — and an eighth grader, Aly Rascelles.

Sullivan, McKelvey, Kolhoff, Perello, Bedini, Eldridge, and Rascelles are Pierson students. The rest are East Hamptoners.

The varsity baseball team’s roster comprises three seniors: Ruddy, Nick Lerner, and Avery Siska. Its 10 juniors are Jack Dickinson, Calum Anderson, Eberhart, Egan Barzilay, Nick Schaefer, Danny Lester, Aryan Chugh, Ned Rowan, Darrell, and Alex Lombardo. Rounding out the team are two sophomores — Nico Horan-Puglia and Mike Locascio — and three freshmen, Hudson Meyer, Tyler Hanson, and Carter Dickinson. It’s the first time since the early 1990s — not since Ross Gload, the late Kevin Somers, and Justin Geehreng played — that so many freshmen have been kept up on the varsity team.

Asked what the lineup looked like, Alversa said, “Colin will play first base when he’s not pitching. When Colin’s pitching, Carter will play first. Hudson Meyer or Hunter Eberhart will play second. Avery Siska, Hanson, and Eberhart can play short, and Jack or Avery will play third. Either Danny Lester or Mike Locascio will be in left, Will Darrell or Mike will play center, and as for right field, take your pick. It could be Calum Anderson, Egan Barzilay, or Nick Schaefer.” Nico Horan-Puglia is the catcher.

While East Hampton wasn’t quite two deep in each position, “We’ve got a lot of versatile players,” said Alversa, whose team was to have begun the league season Tuesday at home with Harborfields, the first of a three-game set. The other games are scheduled for today and tomorrow.

“Harborfields will be a good test — they’ve had a fairly long run in the playoffs,” said East Hampton’s coach, who, with Meyer, has been rebuilding East Hampton’s program in the past few years. “When it comes to the playoffs, we’re trying to end a 13-year drought,” Alversa added.


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