Westhampton - Even though summer ball is often viewed as relief from the daily strain of the spring collegiate season – and rightfully so to a point – one couldn't have argued that on Monday. The Kaiser Division championship was at stake, and the Westhampton Aviators and North Fork Ospreys, two-fifths of the teams that make up the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball organization, had come too far to let the aches and pains from the arduous path to the decisive third game show on the field.

Westhampton's Joe Vaskas ropes a double down the left field line to drive in two runs in the third inning.

With a virtuoso performance in the works by Mike Mandarino on the mound, the second-seeded Aviators tried mightily to shake the pesky Ospreys and finally did in the latter innings. Westhampton pushed four runs across in the eighth to let the drama subside, and when Peter Budkevics induced a lineout for the 27th and final out, the Aviator bench poured out onto the field to celebrate a 7-1 victory that secured the 2009 division title.

The teams split a doubleheader in Peconic on Sunday, with North Fork scoring four runs in the eighth – including three on a homer by Adam Clear (San Francisco) – to win the opener 7-6. The Aviators answered with a convincing 9-2 triumph under the lights, pushing the best-of-three series to the distance. With a win Monday, Westhampton advances to the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League title game where it will face the champion from the Wolff Division, which consists of teams from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and upstate New York. Regular season champ Jersey doubled up No. 4 Quakertown 2-1; in the other semifinal on Monday, Lehigh Valley swung its way to an 8-1 victory over three-time defending league champ Kutztown. The Pilots and Catz will square off in a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday.

The Kaiser Division All-Stars already disposed of the Wolff's best back on July 12 with an 11-0 win at St. John's; winning Thursday would only put an exclamation point at the end of the statement made by the East End squads, particularly the Aviators. "We had a stretch where we went 4-10 one time, but the kids played hard," Manager Dave Walker said. "We had 20 kids here while everybody else was going home. We stuck it out through thick and thin. It was a great year. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun. The rain threw everything into a little bit of a tailspin but it was worth it."

Mike Mandarino tossed eight innings of one-run ball to pick up the division-clinching victory at Hite Field on Monday.

Westhampton tied for the league lead in runs by averaging nearly six per game, but it took a while for the bats to come alive against Ospreys starter Ryan Messmer (Youngstown State). The night before, Messmer was pulled after two-thirds of an inning in relief and was tagged for four runs, three hits and three walks during his short stint. Still, the Ospreys, who had had several pitchers return to school or hurt, were left with just Messmer to throw in game three. He stepped up to the challenge, keeping North Fork within 3-1 before Westhampton finally broke through in the seventh.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more out of him," Ospreys Manager Shawn Epidendio said, "especially after throwing yesterday and not really having that good of an outing. He came out and pitched his tail off."

Messmer's record was clean through six if not for an infield error that led to three unearned runs in the third. Kevin Roebuck (Lamar) stood at second with two out when Chris Griffin (Iona) slapped a routine grounder to short. Tom Rombilus (New Haven), ordinarily an outfielder or third baseman, mishandled it and Griffin was safe at first. Westhampton pounced with the extra opportunity; Alex Aycoth (Campbell) ripped a single to left to bring in Roebuck and then Joe Vaskas (Concordia) doubled down the left field line to clear the bases and give Westhampton a 3-1 edge.

Westhampton, which disposed of Southampton 17-0 during Saturday's semifinal round, finally put the game away in the eighth, chasing Messmer with a leadoff single by Griffin and then going to work on Rago, who hadn't thrown an inning all season for the Ospreys. Aycoth greeted Rago with a single to left to move Griffin to third and he scored on a grounder by Joe Vaskas (Concordia). Tingos reached on an error, Chris Walker (Fordham) laced a single to right to drive in Vaskas, and Mike McCann (Manhattan) officially blew the game open with a lined shot into the right center field gap, making the score 7-1.

North Fork's Jason Rago victimized Mike Mandarino for a homer on June 17 but was unable to duplicate the performance on Monday.

On the hill, Mandarino was on point from the get-go. He gave up a solo home run by Jeff Melillo (Rutgers) in the second, temporarily giving the Ospreys a 1-0 edge, but then retired 11 of the next 12 North Fork hitters. He didn't allow a runner to reach second base – aside from Melillo on his home run trot – until the seventh inning. North Fork's best threats came then and in the eighth inning when it placed runners at first and second base and brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Shortstop Nick Ahmed (Connecticut) made two plays in the field to stem both rallies, first flipping to Gerard Tingos (Long Island U.) for a 6-4 force to end the seventh; an inning later, Ahmed collected a grounder by Jason Rago (Fairfield) and fired across the diamond for the final out of the eighth. That was it for the the Massapequa product, who went eight strong, giving up three hits and four walks while striking out nine.

Budkevics (C.W. Post) came on in relief and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth, the final out coming on a lineout to Tingos. The Aviator bench then sprung into action, mobbing Budkevics and Co. to the right of the mound. Asked about what keyed the Aviators' run to the division title, Mandarino replied, "We worked together. No one was getting on each other. Everyone did what they were supposed to do, everyone knew their roles and they executed."

North Fork completed its season with a 27-17 record, having locked up the regular season title with a late surge. Even though they came up short of the ultimate goal – a league title – Epidendio was pleased with the team's effort, particularly under pressure and being short-handed in such spots.

"They came, played hard and respected the game," Epidendio said. "They did a lot of the little things right that made my summer fun and easy. If they want to listen and get better, I'll throw [batting practice] until my arm falls off. They came out every day wanting to get better, wanting to learn and playing the game hard, and that's all you can ask for."

Westhampton, also 27-17, will look for one more well-rounded performance from its crew of players, who will enjoy two days off before retaking the field Thursday with the ACBL crown at stake.

"It would mean a lot [to win the championship]," Mandarino said. "We're just going to play the game like it's 0-0. We go and play like every team is better than us and try to go and beat them."

Aviators Manager Dave Walker is doused by ice water following the win, much to the delight of his players.