No sport takes hold of the habits of the superstitious as much as baseball. Whether it’s stepping over baselines, wearing certain clothes or eating specific foods, throughout the history of the game, players, coaches and fans alike have all taken to ascribing mystical power to their preferences; doing things to ensure success which have nothing to do with what goes on when the ball is in play.
One of those is not talking about no-hitters, let alone perfect games, when one is in progress. When the field umpire asked Sag Harbor Whaler first baseman Mike Labrozzi (Farmingdale State), “Are you superstitious?” with one out in the seventh in last Sunday in Mashashimuet Park, Labrozzi suddenly had a sinking feeling. Whaler pitcher Tim Welch (Bowdoin) just two outs away from a perfect game.
And sure enough, the next batter hit a sharp grounder to third that was misplayed, ending Welch’s bid to go 21 batters up and 21 batters down. Unfazed even by the stolen base that followed, Welch induced a line drive to right and a grounder to short to finish seven shutout innings without surrendering a hit.
That almost-perfect pitching and timely base-loaded hitting by out-fielder Stanley Fich (Stanford) led the Whalers to an 8-0 game-one win over the North Fork Ospreys in Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League action. In game two, the Whalers evened their season mark at 9-9 making the most of scant opportunities in winning 3-1. Starting pitcher Steve King (Farmingdale State, five innings) and relievers Patrick Shanahan (Fisher, one inning) and Nick Lettes (High Point, one inning) combined to three-hit and further frustrated the Ospreys (12-8).
After the doubleheader sweep, Whaler skipper Jason Lefkowitz (Brown) was much relieved, saying “We’ll win a lot of ballgames with pitching like that.” Injuries, sickness and inconsistency have plagued the Whalers of late, but Coach Lefkowitz sees that as part of any season. “What we’ve had to deal with has come suddenly, but it’s not unexpected. We’re almost through it. Now we’re starting to get healthy and we’re starting to hit. We’ll be good to go for the second half.”
A Three Game Skid
Bad bounces and bad baseball led the Whalers to post a three-game losing streak last week, Riverhead, Southampton and North Fork narrowly outscoring the Whalers in weekday games. Two first-inning errors helped the /tomcats to three runs in a 3-2 los sin Riverhead Wednesday; a five-run fifth was the Whalers undoing in a 6-4 loss against the Breakers in Southampton Friday; and 13 walks and a hit batsman negated at 7-3 lead and turned it into an 8-7 extra-inning loss in Mattituck Saturday.
Saturday’s game was the most mind-boggling for Coach Lefkowitz and his players, the Whalers leaving 11 runners on, the attack did not fully take advantage of six North Fork errors. Seeing the winning run cross on a bases-loaded walk in the tenth nearly took away all the fun from the fireworks that came after.
Along Comes Welch
Looking for pitching help with injuries and rainouts wearing down the rotation, Coach Lefkowitz was able to recruit Tim Welch from a summer job in Maine for weekend games here. The lefty made his team debut in a scoreless inning of relief in Friday’s loss to the Breakers, allowing two hits.
In taking the mound in the park Sunday, Welch had no knowledge of the perfect game Whaler Phil Klein (Youngstown State) threw last July 13, the first ever perfect game in the 42 year history of the ACBL. Settling into an easy rhythm and getting eight groundouts, seven fly outs and six strikeouts. Welch consistently kept the Ospreys from closing in on the 7-0 lead the Whalers worked up by the second inning.
Four of those runs came off the bat of Fich, who singled in one run with the bases loaded in the first and then cleared them all with a double in the second. A Brazen steal of home by Chris Migani (Quinnipiac) closed out the Whalers scoring in the sixth.
After the game, Welch recalled pitching to no-hitters at Portsmouth High School (NH) last spring, but never coming so close to a perfect game. When asked what he would remember most about the game, he answered, “That it happened.”
He later added, “the mound felt good all game and I was able to hit the corners and not leave pitches in the middle. I mixed it up more after their first time through and everything worked.”
Whaler pitching coach Jonathan Anderson (Duke) claimed not to have said much to Welch, noting he had “command of all three pitches, fastball, change-up and curve, and was able to throw them for strikes in any count.”
Weekend games
On July 9, the Whalers host the Long Island Mustangs at Stony Brook Southampton at 5 p.m. On Saturday, the Whalers and local dignitaries officially dedicate that new diamond in a ceremony there at 4 p.m. followed by game against the Breakers at 5 p.m.
This Sunday, the team is home in the Westhampton Aviators, games at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Next Sunday the Breakers are in the park for a pair of games starting at the same times.
Whaler All-Stars
Representing Sag Harbor in the ADBL All-Star game at St. Johns University on Monday are pitcher Steve King (Farmingdale State), infielder Ed Squeri (Dowling) and outfielder Brandon Boykin (Rutgers). The trio will take the field for the Kaiser (Long Island) Division against the league’s Wolff (Northern New Jersey) Division. Whaler manager Jason Lefkowitz will coach the Kaiser team.
Squeri leads the Whalers in batting with a .407 mark, while Boykin (second at.323) leads in runs scored (11) and is six-for-six in stolen base attempts. King is 3-0 with a 1.12 ERA, with 13 strike-outs and just 10 hits in 16 innings pitched. Whaler pitcher Gardner Leaver was also selected for the team but is unable to play due to injury.
Above: Whaler Tim Welch tossed a near perfect game in his first Mashashimuet Park start last Sunday. His new teammates outscored the Ospreys 8-0
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