Center Moriches baseball erupts for 22 runs in win over Bayport-Blue Point
Max Rayburn of Center Moriches, left, celebrates his second-inning home run with Michael Gold in a Suffolk League VII baseball game against host Bayport-Blue Point on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr.
It is very rare that a series this early will matter so much, but that is the case in Suffolk League VII between Center Moriches and Bayport-Blue Point.
The two teams entered this week unbeaten through three games — all of which were league games — and are facing off for a three-game series. The series opened with the visiting Red Devils beating the Phantoms, 22-2, in Bayport on Tuesday night.
The win is a smaller step toward a larger goal, as Center Moriches (4-0) now has the advantage to secure the head-to-head tiebreaker over Bayport-Blue Point (3-1) in the standings. The winner of this series will own said tiebreaker.
That will be a huge step towards winning the league title, as they are arguably the league’s two best teams when considering returning talent, experience and record. Where the league’s banner hangs may hinge upon the result of this series.
Knowing that, it feels good to be ahead of the curve.
“One step further is great for us,” Center Moriches senior first baseman Max Rayburn said. “I want to say we should be comfortable, but we can’t be. We’ve seen what that does, where teams who we think we should beat sneak up and beat us. We’re just going to stay locked in and keep playing our game.”
Rayburn led the onslaught for the Red Devils, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs, three runs scored and two walks.
While leading 4-2 in the second inning, he blasted a first-pitch, two-run homer to right-centerfield to emotionally galvanize Center Moriches.
“That’s what it takes for us to shift the energy back,” Rayburn said. “I knew from there, there was no chance we were letting them score another run, and that we were going to run away with this.”
The Red Devils finished the day plating 19 unanswered runs. Leftfielder David Spina led that spree with four RBIs from the nine hole, finishing 2-for-4.
“It feels great to do this for the team,” Spina said. “After dropping six games to them last year, it gets the energy up and keeps us motivated.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
