Sports

Baseball: Former Tomcats pitcher makes MLB debut

Nick Tropeano, who pitched for the Riverhead Tomcats in 2009, won his first MLB game Wednesday. (Credit: Garret Meade, file)
Nick Tropeano, who pitched for the Riverhead Tomcats in 2009, won his first MLB game Wednesday. (Credit: Garret Meade, file)

Nick Tropeano, who in 2009 dominated in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League as a member of the Riverhead Tomcats, made his Major League Baseball debut Wednesday night with the Houston Astros. 

Tropeano pitched 5 innings, giving up two earned runs while striking out five in a win over Seattle. Tropeano earned his first career major league victory.

He became the third Hamptons League alumni to reach the big leagues this season. Earlier this summer, Nick Ahmed became the first alumni to play in a big league game when he was called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ahmed played for Westhampton in 2009. Ahmed appeared in 19 games and batted .228 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

Phil Klein, a pitcher who played for Sag Harbor in 2008, was called up by the Texas Rangers this summer.

Tropeano is a Long Island native who played baseball and football at West Islip High School. In Triple-A this season for Oklahoma City, he posted a 3.03 ERA.

After yesterday’s game, he told the Houston Chronicle: “It’s a little surreal. Just major league debut, kind of all just kind of happening so fast, just glad I got it out of the way and got my feet wet and helped contribute to a win.”