Justin Prince, a senior who hasn’t started a game since the second week of the season and who is fourth in East Hampton High’s pitching rotation, answered the call Monday, grinding his way to a 2-1 win over Half Hollow Hills West in a tense contest here that afternoon, a win that set up another showdown at top-seeded Eastport-South Manor Tuesday.
The winner of Tuesday’s game — the Sharks edged the Bonackers 7-6 the first time around — is to play for the county’s AA baseball title at a neutral site Saturday.
Chiefly a curveballer, Prince pitched from behind most of the day, but hung in there, giving up only one run — a homer in the top of the first inning — and seven hits during the course of the six and one third innings he pitched. Tyler Hansen got the save.
Hills West’s starter went to full counts on four hitters and walked three in the bottom of the first, but somehow escaped unscathed as Carter Dickinson, with one out and runners at first and second base, and Trevor Meehan, with two outs and the bases loaded, looked at third strikes.
Livs Kuplins, East Hampton’s center fielder that day, made a diving, inning-ending catch that prevented the visitors from scoring a run in the top of the third. Dickinson tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom half with a hot drive over third that plated Hudson Meyer, who had led off with a double and had advanced on Mason Miles’s 6-to-3 groundout.
With two gone in the top of the fifth, Miles, East Hampton’s third baseman, dropped a two-out line drive hit his way, resulting in Hills West having runners at the corners, and, with their sixth hitter up, trying to sneak in the runner from third as the runner at first broke early. The gambit failed, however, as Meyer’s throw home to Dickinson arrived well in time to nail the would-be thief six feet up the line.
That play was greeted with raucous hoots by the Bonac faithful, who turned out in great numbers that day.
Meyer, the team’s shortstop and its number-two hitter, was robbed of a lead-off hit in the bottom of the fifth by the Colts’ third baseman, who leapt high to snag the ball. Miles followed with a one-hop double to the left field fence, but he advanced no farther as Dickinson flied out to center field and, after Victoreddy Arguero was intentionally walked, Meehan grounded out pitcher-to-first.
Prince was loudly applauded when Coach Vinny Alversa brought in Hansen to relieve him with one out in the top of the seventh. After giving up a base hit, Hansen struck out the Colts’ number-two hitter and retired the third — and the side — on a groundout to Meehan at first.
Hansen led off East Hampton’s seventh, flying out to center field. Then Meyer singled and Miles singled. Dickinson made the second out, lifting a high fly to center, but Arguero, with the count 2-1, sent Bonac’s fans home happy, lining the next pitch to left field, a walk-off blow that tallied Meyer from second with the winning run.
