Young Settlers team stays positive despite no-hit loss

During an 11-0 loss on a rather dreary, chilly, cloudy Monday afternoon on the South Fork, there was a ray of sunshine for Southold High School.

That turned out to be freshman Indie Riddell. The right-hander retired six of eight batters over the final two innings in his varsity debut against Bridgehampton/Ross in the Suffolk County League VIII contest.

If he had any nerves, Riddell did not show it.

“Indie did a great job,” said Southold head coach Greg Tulley. “He did really a nice job today.”

It was a tough day for the Settlers (2-3, 2-2), who were victims of a no-hitter by junior right-hander Kai Alversa in a game that was limited to five innings due to a mercy rule — a margin of 10 or more runs after the fifth inning.

Riddell’s stint certainly helped his confidence for future outings.

“I felt good out there,” he said.

The freshman got his opportunity in the bottom of the third inning, entering the game in relief amid a no-out, bases-loaded jam. The Killer Bees (6-4, 6-4) had already scored six runs in the inning for a 10-run lead. Tate Foard got on due to an error before Riddell retired Alexi Kardaras on a run-scoring sacrifice fly. He induced first baseman Sean Jayne to pop out to second and struck out Ari Kardaras. After Tyler Fitzgerald (three hits, 2 RBIS) got on with an infield single, he retiring three straight in the fourth, striking out two.

Riddell said that he didn’t do anything fancy.

“Just throwing strikes. That’s it,” he said. “The most important part of baseball is just being able to throw strikes. Nor really worrying about locating. Just throwing it right down the middle.”

Throwing strikes is precisely what Alversa did for Bridgehampton. He struck out eight batters and walked four. Right fielder Brady Woods reached base on an Alversa error in the third inning, which Tulley thought should have been called a hit.

In the long run, it probably didn’t matter. Woods stole second but was left stranded.

“[Alversa] is always a tough guy,” Tulley said. “When he has his stuff, he’s good and he was throwing a lot of strikes.”

Junior shortstop Travis Sepenoski was hitless in three at-bat against Alversa, fanning once.

“He caught me off guard,” he said. “I was expecting him to come inside on me a little bit, but he threw outside pitches, and I swung and missed. That’s on me. I tip my hat to him. He’s a good player. He threw strikes. At the end he got a little wild, but he still honed it in, got the strikes.”

Southold loaded the bases in the top of the fourth inning on walks to Christian Mohr, Aaron Davis and Woods, but Alversa got out of the inning by striking out Riddell.

“He threw a two-seamer which had a lot of run,” Riddell said. “It was hard to hit.”

The Settlers endured a rough beginning as junior left-hander Antonio Pirano allowed four runs in the first inning. Alversa (walk), Foard (triple) and Kardaras (single), the first three hitters in the lineup, reached base safely and scored.

After pitching a perfect second inning in relief, things unraveled for senior right-hander Jacob Steinfeld as Bridgehampton scored seven runs.

Southold is a young team. On Monday, it fielded just two seniors — Woods and Steinfeld, who started the game in center field before he came on to pitch. When Riddell relieved him in the third, Steinfeld moved to second base.

“We’re only returning three to four starters from last year, so we’re a young, pretty inexperienced team for the most part,” Tulley said. “A lot of growing pains this year.”

Which has left it to the team’s veterans to make sure things will stay steady.

Woods said that it was “making sure everyone doesn’t beat themselves up over the little things, like making a little error or something.”

“We’ve all done it,” he added. “You just got to get back in the game and tough it out. If you lose yourself in it, it’s going to create more errors.”

Sepenoski said that it was about every player keeping their concentration.

“Just try to stay focused in the field,” he said, adding that he wants to be “one of the people talking, making sure everyone else keeps their focus and knows what to do. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

Added Riddell: “Just remind yourself that’s it a young team. Don’t let it get to you.”