Ospreys lose a heartbreaker in championship series

The North Fork Ospreys’ hopes of staying alive in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League championship series went from agony to ecstasy and back to agony again Tuesday, July 29.

They fell behind the South Shore Clippers by seven runs. They rallied to pull within a run, only to see their quest fall short in an 11-9 loss in the second game of the best-of-three series at William Floyd High School in Mastic Beach.

“We played hard. Had to battle back a lot in the game,” said catcher Nick Pratt, whose two-run homer in the sixth inning capped a late rally. “It was really tough. Just wasn’t our day. Could have been better, could have hit better. Could have thrown more strikes at the end of the day. But baseball happens.”

Right fielder Brendan Duffy, who will begin his senior year at Oneonta State in the fall, agreed.

“It was a tough one, obviously,” said the Southold resident, who drove in the Ospreys’ first run with a third-inning double. “It was awesome to see the guys putting up a fight … We just didn’t have enough in the tank today. But it doesn’t take anything away from the great season that we had. I’m proud of everyone on this team.”

The top-seeded Ospreys (21-13-1, 43 points) secured the regular season title. Teams were awarded two points for a win, one for a tie. All games lasted seven innings. In the playoffs, the contests were expanded to nine.

North Fork swept its semifinal series with the Sag Harbor Whalers. The third-seeded Clippers (18-6-1, 37) did the same against the Southampton Breakers. They scored 46 runs in four playoffs games, never less than 11.

Some highlights from a great season for the Ospreys:

LEAGUE LEADERS: The Ospreys boasted the top two league batting leaders in first baseman Thomas Matuszewski (.403) and catcher Nick Pratt (.398). Pratt added a team-high 27 RBIs. Matuszewski, who was next on the team with 24, also had an impressive .498 on-base percentage. The team had three other players who batted above .300 — catcher Steve Kienzle (Southern New Hampshire University) at .327, second baseman Rocco Cimino (Pace University) at .323, and center fielder Trevor Dosenbach (University of Richmond) at .301.

PLAYOFF RECORD: Matuszewski drove in a playoff record seven runs in North Fork’s 14-1 triumph over the Sag Harbor Whalers in the semifinal clincher on July 25 to 26, a game that was delayed by inclement weather.

ALL STARS: Right-hander Brian Espinal (Pace) was the winning pitcher for the HCBL all-stars in an 8-5 victory over the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League in its annual all-star game in Mashashimuet Park in Sag Harbor on July 12. Pratt, the MVP of the 2024 game with a three-run walk-on home run in the ninth inning, continued to shine in the spotlight, going 2-for-3 in the 2025 classic.

TOP HURLERS: No one threw more than AJ Mitchell (Dominican University), who pitched in 26 2/3 innings, striking out 31 batters, tying him with Cristian Rodriguez (Pace), en route to a 3.37 earned-run average an a 3-2 record. Espinal had the best ERA (2.25) with a 1-1 mark. Sebastian Perez (LaSalle University) and Pete DeMaio (Dominican) also recorded three victories.

HOMETOWN HERO: Southold resident Brendan Duffy finished with a .257 average, clubbing two home runs and driving in 20 runs.