Sports

Fish Market catches on

Southold Fish Market knew it was going to be a tough test.

After getting off to a sluggish start early in the Greenport Men’s Softball League season, Southold Fish Market went into last week’s schedule of games at the Polo Grounds, against the top three teams in the league, playing better. But a slate of showdowns against Skippers, Founders Tavern and league-leading Marcello Masonry was still daunting.

Southold Fish Market (5-3) played solid softball all week, clobbering Skippers, 18-6, on June 14 and edging Founders, 15-14, the next night before ending the week with an 8-5 loss to Marcello on Friday.

As Meatloaf once sang, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”

Against Skippers (5-2), Southold Fish Market erupted for 11 runs in the third inning to take a commanding 12-2 lead. Chris Doucett led the way with four hits while teammates Jordan Doroski, Jeff Dinizio, Rob Kettenbeil and Warren Bondarchuk all had three hits.

Trailing by 10-9 against Founders, Southold Fish Market scored six times in the fifth inning to take the lead at 15-10. Doucett again was the hitting star with four hits while Dinizio and winning pitcher Dave Angevine both had three hits. Ed Michaelis belted a three-run homer and Carl Ruthinoski followed with a solo homer in the seventh to pull Founders (5-2) within a run. But its rally fell short.

In a tight, well-pitched game by both teams, Marcello (8-0) held off Southold Fish Market. John Hansen outdueled Angevine to get the win.

“We had a good week,” Bondarchuk said. “We’re building some momentum. We started slow, but we’ve evened things out. We’re right back in it.”

Earlier in the week, Marcello Masonry ran off to a 14-5 lead, then held off a late Claudio’s rally to win, 14-10, last Wednesday. Marcello snapped a 5-5 tie with five runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth to take command of the game.

But this young Claudio’s team never gives up, and once again made a late move, scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh. Greg Cochio, Ned Baker, John Condon, Mike O’Brien and Matt Vescovi all had run-scoring hits. In the end, though, the mountain was just too high for Claudio’s to climb.

“We played a good game,” Vescovi said. “We have a problem scoring runs early. If we could get out to an early lead, it would give us a cushion. This way, it is tough to bounce back from. It was too late.”

Claudio’s opened last week by splitting a pair of games, beating Pool King, 16-7, on June 14, then falling the next night in a 7-4 loss to Skippers.

Pool King, on the strength of a pair of Aaron McGiness home runs, had built a 7-2 lead over Claudio’s after five innings.

But Claudio’s erupted for 11 runs in the sixth and added three more in the seventh to seal the win. Condon’s two-run double ignited Claudio’s uprising in the sixth. Ian Ryan and Luke Grigonis lined run-scoring singles and Mike O’Brien capped the rally with a run-scoring double.