Thanks to a walk-off hit by Alex Schuchard in the bottom of the seventh inning, the East End Ospreys repeated as the Hamptons Adult Hardball league’s champion Sunday, defeating the Publick House Brewers 4-3 on Bridgehampton High School’s field in the third of a best-of-three-game final.
“All the games were tight . . . couldn’t have asked for a better ending,” said the Brewers’ starting pitcher, Pete Barylski, who a few years ago started the league (which also has a fall season) with Jim Kinnier. “Congrats to the Ospreys.”
Barylski, who’s 62, and whose accurately thrown knuckleballs may travel at around that speed, was on the mound Sunday for six and two-thirds innings, by which time the score was 3-3. Clearly, the Brewers, who have yet to win an H.A.H. summer league championship, were hoping for a better outcome.
The Southampton team took an early 2-0 lead, but the Ospreys tied it up at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a run-scoring single by Max Kra, who was to be the winning pitcher. Kra gave up only two hits during the course of the decisive game, but walked six, and the Brewers, who stole four bases that day, took advantage, though, in the end, they couldn’t quite get it done.
Game one of the final series went the Ospreys’ way 4-2; the Brewers pulled even by way of a 5-4 win last Thursday, Charlie Butler getting the win.
“The league is one of the good things to come out of the pandemic era,” Barylski said afterward. “Jim Kinnier and I were playing in a league in western Suffolk and Nassau when we decided to start this thing. It’s like the fountain of youth. . . . All four of the league’s teams, the Royals, Ospreys, Kraken, and Brewers, have quality starters and relievers. The league has become very competitive, while still being fun.”
“To my Brewer teammates I would say keep your chins up — we had a great season and playoff run and shared a hell of a lot of laughs. I’ve enjoyed just about every moment playing a game we’ve been playing since we were kids. I’d also like to thank the Bridgehampton and Southampton schools for letting us play on their fields, and East Hampton Village for letting us play at Herrick Park. The tentative starting date for the fall season is the week after Labor Day.”
