Despite Losses, Liberatore Likes What He Sees Early On From Bridgehampton/Ross Baseball Team

The Bridgehampton/Ross School baseball team may have lost two of its first three games this season, but head coach Lou Liberatore isn’t panicking. In fact, if anything, he was encouraged, at least in his team’s first two games.

Hosting neighboring district Southampton in their season opener on March 30, the Killer Bees faced a 3-0 deficit, but stormed back to defeat the Mariners, 5-4. Two days later, Bridgehampton faced reigning Class B county champion Center Moriches at the Moriches Athletic Complex and only lost by a run, 5-4.

“I’m really proud of the way we played the first two games,” Liberatore said. “We’ve played some pretty baseball.”

On Monday, the Bees hosted Babylon, which some think may be the top team in Class B this season, and lost, 7-0.

Facing a strong left-handed pitcher in Southampton’s Jackson Romanow, the Bees left some runners on base early in the season opener which led to their 3-0 deficit. But in the top of the fourth, Romanow was tagged out at home plate, ending a rally for the Mariners, and the Bees carried that momentum into the next inning. Ross junior Milo Tompkins split one of the outfield gaps and drove in a pair of runs on a triple that tied the game at 3-3, then an error in the fifth inning allowed two runs to come around and score to give the Bees a 5-3 lead and they held on to the victory.

Similarly against Center Moriches, the Red Devils jumped out to a 3-0 lead only for the Bees to tie that game as well. Bridgehampton senior Scott Vinski started on the mound and pitched well. He also went 2 for 4 at the plate. The Bees made a few errors in the field behind Vinski, who only allowed two earned runs in six innings, and it’s ultimately what led to the loss.

“There’s a reason why they’re the top Class B team in Suffolk County, there’s really no margin of error with those guys,” Liberatore said of Center Moriches. “Paul Gibson [Jr.] does a great job with that team. But we dropped a fly ball in left field that led to two runs, and when you’re playing these top Class B teams like Center Moriches or Mattituck or Babylon, you can’t make those mistakes.”

To that point, the Bees made more errors in their loss to Babylon on Monday. Kai Alversa, making his first-ever varsity start on the mound, was good, allowing just three hits and three earned runs in five innings. But errors continued to factor into the game.

The Bees played a mandatory nonleague game at Mattituck on Tuesday and then they have a full week off between games until they play a doubleheader at Port Jefferson on Wednesday, April 12, starting at 10 a.m.