by Chris Sacchi
WATCH: Brenden Duffy (SUNY Oneonta) belts a home run to lead an awesome offensive showing for the Ospreys.
He tells @cjsacchi he didn’t know if the ball was out or not off the bat, and how his team has come together well to sustain a hot start. pic.twitter.com/JYE78xfbBe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 2, 2025
A game between the two best teams in the HCBL did not disappoint.
After becoming the first team in the collegiate summer league to reach double digit wins, the North Fork Ospreys (11-5-1) added another, defeating the Southampton Breakers (8-7-2) by a score of 11-8, in a game that ended in a nail-biter.
“It’s an absolute blessing for me to compete every day with these guys,” winning pitcher Matt Guido (Lycoming College) said postgame. “I got to give a shout out to them for having my back that game, getting runs and then playing phenomenal defense behind me.”
Guido’s answer truly paints the entire picture of the win, as an all-around effort helped the league-leading Ospreys continue their strong play into the month of July.
“Everyone contributed. We just have a great team. Everyone plays together,” said outfielder Brenden Duffy (SUNY Oneonta), who hit a homerun for North Folk. “Honestly, we just have great team chemistry, everyone’s involved, everyone’s friends with each other, and we have a great time.”
This battle-of-the-best looked like it might have been headed for a pitchers duel early. Southampton starter Marco Citro (Holy Cross) enjoyed a 1-2-3 first inning with two punch outs, while opposing starter Nick Muñoz (Riverside CC,) who was making his first start of the year, allowed a single but recovered for two strikeouts of his own.
However, both starters ended up battling control issues, which led to big innings for both teams early.
Two walks, a perfect bunt from Anthony Equale (Washington U) and a two RBI single from Trevor Dosenbach (U of Richmond) gave the Ospreys a 2-0 lead in the top half of the first.
Southampton fought back to take the lead and then some in their half of the third. Nick Slogik (Rowan College) continued his strong season by lacing a two-rbi double to center field, and later scored on a Luke Ciminiello (Stony Brook) double. Then, Tim Denet (Le Moyne) plated two after an error in right field, and Lukas Egenhauser (Montclair St.) scored Denent on a perfectly placed single into short right field. After all was said and done in the bottom of the third inning, the Breakers batted around and held an impressive 6-2 lead.
North Fork responded by saying “anything you can do, I can do better” the very next half-inning, plating seven runs to jump ahead 9-6. In what became a high-scoring affair, both teams proved their offense can get in-gear quickly, with runs coming in bunches.
What ignited the rally for the Ospreys might have been a good look at losing pitcher Timothy Wozney. The talented right hander from Rochester Institute of Technology simply didn’t have his best stuff. He was rudely welcomed on the home run from Duffy, who was the first batter he faced out of the ‘pen.
“I knew it was going to be really close (over the fence,) said Duffy. “I knew it was either, he was going to snag it, or get over it. So I’m glad it ended the way it did,”
That long-ball was an omen for the relief appearance, as Wozney walked four, hit a batter, and could not record an out. Giacomo Travaglia (Fordham) was put in a tough spot with the bases loaded and nobody out, but was able to strike out all three batters he faced to dance out of danger. The three punch outs atoned for Wozney’s struggles, and an error in the field during the nightmare inning for Southampton.
The fifth inning was the only other inning other than the first where neither team could score, as Travaglia settled things down, and Guido provided productive pitching for an Ospreys team that needed to keep the Breakers at bay. Southampton was coming off an unreal 24-run outburst on Sunday vs. Sag Harbor. A sparkling defensive play from shortstop Rocco Cimino helped Guido cruise on the mound.
WATCH: Matt Guido’s six strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched leads the way for North Fork, who continues to lead the HCBL.
Guido joins @cjsacchi for an interview about earning the win, good team chemistry, and a sparkling defensive showing. pic.twitter.com/jOuKdyZQ5b
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 2, 2025
“Rocco had a great, phenomenal night tonight,” said Guido, adding “it definitely fired me up a little bit. He’s unbelievable. He runs all around the field, not afraid to get dirty. He’s just a class act on and off the field.”
In the sixth, North Fork added two more with RBI’s from Matt Fagnant (Marywood) and Cristian Rodriguez (Pace,) extending the lead to 11-7. Southampton answered back with one run in the bottom half when Michael Vilardi (Queens College) laced an RBI single to make it 11-8.
The game truly came down to an epic finish that was fitting for a top-ranked match. With darkness on the horizon and storm clouds looming large, the Breakers were able to put the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 7th. The powerful Nick Slogik is a 6-5 first baseman, who not only entered play with a team-leading .385 batting average, but was a .364 hitter as a freshman at Rowan University at Gloucester, while belting 11 home runs, good enough for fifth in the entire AJCCL conference.
To add to the dramatics, the Ospreys made a pitching move to face Slogik specifically with the game on the line. After southpaw Connor Foster (Rock Valley) notched the first two outs in the ninth, Ospreys manager
Vinnie Morelli brought in hard-throwing right-hander Diego Reilly-Bell (Fordham) to face the righty-swinging Slogik.
After getting ahead 1-2, and with two runners in scoring position, Reilly-Bell got Slogik to chase a ball in the dirt, and a game-saving play by newly-inserted catcher Nick Pratt (University of Maryland Baltimore) on the drop-third-strike made a dramatic finish worthy of a top-two matchup.
Watch: This game came down to the WIRE!
With the tying run at the plate, Ospreys reliever Diego Reilly-Bell gets the strikeout, and the throw to first by catcher Matt Fagnant seals the 11-8 victory for North Fork. pic.twitter.com/xVWeYrm3Rn
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 2, 2025
Southampton will look to bounce back on the road against the South Shore Clippers, tomorrow at 5:00 ET, while the Ospreys head home to play under-the-lights against the Sag Harbor Whalers at 7:00 ET. Both games will be broadcast through hamptonsleague.org, with the ladder game being covered on Axcess Baseball’s twitter page, with updates and postgame interviews from Jean Cochran Park.
