Hamptons Adult Hardball Returns with 2022 Season Opener This Sunday

Hamptons Adult Hardball (HAH) is kicking off the league’s 2022 season with a special Opening Day doubleheader this Sunday, May 15 at Southampton High School. Along with playing the first two games of the season back to back, players and fans will watch a presentation of the HAH championship belt to 2021 champs, the Harbor Krakens.

Sunday’s debut game features a rematch of the 2021 Championship — with Tim Pilinko and the Harbor Krakens taking on HAH cofounder Pete Barylski and the Southampton Brewers (previously the South Fork Giants) at 9 a.m. The doubleheader will continue with the Sag Harbor Royals (managed by HAH cofounder Jim Kinnier) playing the East End Ospreys (managed by Michael Chiarello) at noon.

Both games will take place at the Southampton High School varsity baseball field (141 Narrow Lane, Southampton — field is located beyond the tennis courts).

“After a successful inaugural season, we are happy to say ‘Play ball!’ again,” Barylski, a Water Mill resident, said in an announcement of the Opening Day events. “Our second season looks to be competitive, there has been a youth push by all four teams and more local players. Three of the four teams are back: the defending champs the Harbor Krakens, Sag Harbor Royals and Southampton Brewers, and the new team on the block is the East End Ospreys.”

Hamptons Adult Hardball is a wood bat baseball league (only wood and composite bats allowed — no aluminum) for adult players age 30 and older. Longtime players in regional leagues and tournaments west of the Hamptons, Kinnier and Barylski founded the HAH league last year, manifesting something for the community from their shared love of the sport, which they wanted to bring closer to home.

Barylski is a lifelong New York Mets fan and landscaper by trade who has been playing on and managing baseball teams for the past 30 years in men’s leagues throughout Long Island, and he’s also competed in regional and national baseball tournaments. He still has dreams of cracking the New York Mets starting rotation, but HAH might be the next best thing.

Another diehard NY Mets fan, Kinnier is a Sag Harbor resident and teacher who has played in “up-island” leagues for the past decade, and has fond memories of playing in the Play at the Plate Cooperstown tournament (run by Scott Green). “Baseball is America’s sport, and Pete and I are proud to start this local baseball league,” he said of launching HAH last season. “This could be the beginning of something great for the community.”

As noted above, this summer’s HAH 2022 season will feature 2021 champs, the Harbor Krakens (managed by Tim Pilinko), along with the Southampton Brewers (managed by Pete Barylski), Sag Harbor Royals (managed by Jim Kinnier), and East End Ospreys (managed by Michael Chiarello).

For more information about Hamptons Adult Hardball, including game schedule and registration info for prospective players, visit hamptonsadulthardball.com.