The Hampton Whalers were officially the home team, but the Sound Bay Battlecats and their starting pitcher, Bret Moyer, clearly had the hearts of many of the several hundred fans who turned out for the showcase game between the two summer league baseball teams composed of college players. Moyer, whose trademark high leg kick brings his left knee to within inches of his head, made his first pitching performance on the North Fork in four years a memorable one. The right-hander pitched seven scoreless innings before being relieved in the Battlecats' 11-1 win at Jean W. Cochran Park on Friday night.
In what amounted to a homecoming of sorts, Moyer, who was an all-state pitcher at Mattituck High School before moving on to West Chester University in Pennsylvania, was cheered and encouraged all the way through. He gave up only one hit -- a first-inning single by Chris Walker that was lined off the tip of first baseman Kevin Curtis' outstretched glove -- and struck out eight. Before entering his final inning, Moyer had retired 15 batters in a row.
"I thought it was great," Moyer said of the experience of playing in front of family and friends, one of whom waved a sign that read, "Marry Me, #35", referring to Moyer's uniform number.
Using an assortment of pitches, including curveballs, sliders, fastballs and a few changeups, Moyer kept the Whalers off-balance. He showed good control, spotting 64 of his 109 pitches for strikes and throwing 17 first-pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced.
Moyer had good speed, too. His fastball was said to have been clocked by a scout at 88 and 89 miles per hour, hitting 90 a couple of times.
"He played for us the last three or four years, and I saw what I expected to see," Battlecats Manager Bill Batewell said. "He's really a special kind of a guy. I've heard the buzz. He was kind of big out here. I'm sure the adrenaline was flowing for him. He lived up to the hype, and that was good."
The exhibition game was scheduled as a showcase event by the Whalers' founder and president, Rusty Leaver, who is trying to form a division of East End college summer league teams that would include Riverhead and Southold. The Whalers, who normally play their home games in Sag Harbor, are 13-20 in their debut season in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. The Battlecats, based in Center Moriches, are 24-3 in the Federation of Amateur Baseball Leagues.
Designated hitter Bill Alvino, who has been rehabbing a rotator cuff injury, gave the Battlecats a shot in the arm on Friday by driving out two home runs that brought in five runs. Jerry Smith also smacked a home run and Brian Smith went 3 for 4 with a run-scoring single, a walk and a stolen base for the Battlecats.
Brian Smith also had quite a defensive game. The New York Tech shortstop made an outstanding diving grab of a line drive hit by Kyle Crean, and made another great stop on a ball hit into the hole by Chris Walker before throwing him out.
With his side holding onto a 4-0 lead, Moyer ran into a bit of trouble in the seventh, yet escaped unscathed. A pair of walks and a hit batsman loaded the bases for the Whalers with two outs. After a conference at the mound, Moyer's 29th pitch of the inning got Crean to chop the ball back to him for an easy assist.
The Whalers left 10 runners on base, and went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
By contrast, the Battlecats stranded only three runners, going 8 for 13 with runners in scoring position, and totaling 13 hits off nine pitchers.
The bulk of Sound Bay's offense came in the ninth inning when it scored seven times from seven hits and an error. Run-scoring singles by James Teta, Brian Smith and Brian Ferguson, followed by Alvino's three-run blast over the left-field fence, highlighted the surge.
The Whalers averted being shut out in the ninth when a two-out infield single by Crean was followed by Karl Derbacher's double.
A couple of other local players, aside from Moyer, are on Sound Bay's roster. Curtis, a Riverhead High School product who plays at Farmingdale State, started at first base. Joe Finora, who was Moyer's high school teammate and is a member of the Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) team, didn't play; he had an upcoming pitching assignment.
Whalers Manager Julio Vega was a center fielder when he was drafted out of Shoreham-Wading River High School by the San Francisco Giants. He is also an assistant coach at St. John's University.
Moyer said he felt nervous about not living up to expectations after asking friends to attend the game. As it turned out, he had nothing to worry about.
"He's a gamer," Batewell said. "He's a great competitor, and he gears up to compete. You have to love him for that."