Weekly Roundup: Ruddy's Gem Helps Bonac Baseball Avoid Being Swept; Local Track Athletes Compete In Invitational Over Spring Break

The East Hampton baseball team (10-2 in League VI) suffered its first losses of the season last week, dropping two of three to Miller Place. Colin Ruddy pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout with 15 strikeouts, leading the Bonackers to a 1-0 victory in game two of the series on April 20. Carter Dickinson drove in what stood up as the game-winning run with a single in the fifth inning. Miller Place won the first game of the series, 6-0, on April 19, and the series finale, 3-0, on Friday.

The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls track team competed in the Deer Park Invitational on April 19 and the Joe Brandi Relays at Connetquot High School this past Friday and Saturday. Ryleigh O’Donnell won the 400-meter dash, in 66.47 seconds, and placed second in the 1,500-meter race, in 5:25.03, at Deer Park. Leslie Samuel placed second in the 200-meter dash, in 28.44 seconds. O’Donnell, Alexa Gomez, Sara O’Brien and Dylan Cashin placed third in the distance medley relay at the Joe Brandi Relays, crossing the finish line in 14:21.23. Cashin (7:50.21) and O’Donnell (8:13.09) teamed up to place fourth overall in the 4,000-meter steeplechase.

In one of the biggest boys track invitationals of the season thus far, the Suffolk Coaches Invite at Commack High School on Saturday, Southampton’s Billy Malone placed second in the 1,600-meter race, in 4:25.72, finishing less than a second behind Commack’s Andrew Rosenblatt.

The Mariners have won their first four matches of the season, including their first home match on Monday at Bridgehampton Golf Club, 8-0, over Riverhead. Southampton started the season with a big 7-2 victory over Ward Melville on April 4, then followed up with a 9-0 victory over Longwood on April 11 and a 8.5-0.5 victory over Mount Sinai on April 13.

After a tough start to the season, the Westhampton Beach softball team (1-5 in League IV, 5-6 overall) has won four straight, its latest a 1-0 victory at home over crosstown rival Eastport-South Manor on Monday, a game in which the Hurricanes didn’t record a hit. Antonella Russo scored on an error in the sixth inning, and it was enough for Addison Celi, who struck out 12 in a one-hitter. Lena Ryan struck out five in what was a six-inning no-hitter loss for the Sharks. Westhampton Beach also defeated Hampton Bays, 12-0, on Friday, and had defeated Ward Melville, 13-1, on April 20 and Riverhead, 10-3, the day prior.

The Hurricanes (6-3 in Division II, 7-4 overall) have lost their past three games each by one goal, the latest a 9-8 loss at home to West Babylon on Monday. Kaci Bates created a turnover for West Babylon with 11 seconds to go, then West Babylon drove down the field, and Emilia Lynch scored the game-winning goal with three seconds remaining to win it. Ava Derby tallied five points (two goals, three assists) for the ’Canes. Westhampton Beach lost a nonleague game, 9-8, at North Shore on Thursday, April 21, after having lost, 8-7, at home to Comsewogue on April 19.

Maxwell Garcia won the 100-meter dash at the Suffolk Coaches Invitational at Commack High School on Saturday. He crossed the finish line in 11.66 seconds. Timothy Kraycar placed third in the shot put with a throw of 43 feet 6½ inches.