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Baseball: It’s a fine start to season for 3-1 Ospreys

North Fork Ospreys pitcher Greg Marino 060616

The pieces have quickly fallen into place for the North Fork Ospreys. Fielding. Hitting. Pitching. It has all been there.

That surely was the case for the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League team Monday as pitchers Greg Marino and Tevita Gerber combined for a one-hitter in a 3-1 defeat of the Southampton Breakers at Stony Brook Southampton.

Marino, a 6-foot-6 righthander, handled the first five innings before Gerber, a lefty, tossed four hitless, shutout innings to wrap things up for the Ospreys (3-1). It was the first outing for both pitchers and the first game Marino, a red-shirt freshman at Stony Brook University this past season, has played in since last August.

On a sunny, warm day with the temperature in the mid-80s, relief came in the form of a nice breeze. An early pitching duel developed between Marino and Jared Finkel, who fielded grounders for assists on four of the Ospreys’ first five at-bats. Finkel did not allow a hit or a run in his three innings.

Southampton (1-2) struck first when Gable Whitacre slugged a two-out double to score Kevin Kolesar in the third inning.

That was the only hit the Breakers managed off of Ospreys pitching, which conceded three walks.

The Ospreys put up a run in each the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. A two-out single by Max Smith scored Rodrigo Duluc, who had led off the sixth by tagging a single. The go-ahead run, off a sacrifice fly by Duluc, followed Sean Buckhout’s scorching single that lined past the shortstop, Cusenza, and a hit-and-run single by designated hitter Rich Villa. Max Smith, who reached base on a dropped popup in the eighth, stole second base and came home when Bobby Romano ripped a liner that short-hopped past Cusenza, making it 3-1.

Good defense is a pitcher’s best friend. The Ospreys played a clean game in the field, without any errors. It was steady defense, but the third baseman, Romano, provided some sparkle, too, making a diving backhanded grab of a sinking liner hit by Dan McEvoy in the fifth.

Smith and Romano both had two hits each as the Ospreys totaled eight.

Dylan Resk (0-for-4 with a strikeout) didn’t get a hit, but entered the game on a tear for the Ospreys, hitting .417 with two home runs (both in a split doubleheader with the Westhampton Aviators on Sunday) and four runs batted in.

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Photo caption: Greg Marino pitched the first five innings and shared a one-hitter with Tevita Gerber for the North Fork Ospreys. (Credit: Garret Meade)