Carey gets hot on diamond

Junior Anthony Licata’s one-out single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Mike Marino from second base to give Carey a dramatic 11-10 victory over visiting Mepham last Saturday in a Conference AA-I baseball game.

The win, which was the fifth in six games for the Seahawks, gave Carey (8-5) sole possession of third place in the conference. Junior catcher Nick Vilchez was 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI.

Carey coach Marc Hedquist was spent after the game. “This game had a little of everything. I’m exhausted,” Hedquist said. “It was like a roller coaster ride. Both teams had chances to win it. Our goal is to finish among the top four teams in the conference, and earn a first round bye in the playoffs. This was a big win.” 

Hedquist sent John Augello to the hill. Augello showed some big-game moxie when he dominated first-place MacArthur a couple of weeks back in just his second career start. The senior right hander took a 7-3 lead into the top of the fifth, but Mepham’s powerful offensive attack knocked Augello out of the box.

A three-run homer by shortstop Kyle Demeo, who leads the team with a .455 batting average and an on-base percentage of .556, in the bottom of the fifth gave Carey a 10-6 lead, but the Pirates wouldn’t go away. Homers by Doug Marshall and Mike Spadaro narrowed the gap in the sixth, and a double by Spadaro tied things up in the seventh. 

Things got dicey in the top of the eighth, as Mepham put men on second and third with just one out. Hedquist called on Demeo to put out the fire. The relief specialist retired the next two batters to begin 4 2/3 innings of brilliant relief. Demeo, whose ERA dropped to 0.95, didn’t surrender a hit or walk, and struck out seven batters.

Marino opened up the bottom of the 12th by lining single to left. Vilchez laid down a perfect bunt to move him into scoring position. After an intentional walk, Licata stepped to the plate. With the runners in motion, Licata drove the ball through the hole between short and third for his second walk-off RBI in a week. 

A day earlier, Carey and district-rival Elmont met in the annual Bob Walpole Classic. Senior Paul Collazo more than made the most of his first high school pitching appearance. The senior right hander took a perfect game into the seventh inning. Despite surrendering a run and a couple of hits, Collazo struck out 16 batters and went the distance to lead the Carey nine to a 14-1 win. 

Hedquist is happy with the wins, but hopes his team’s best baseball is still to come. “We need to be more consistent,” he said. “I still believe it takes good pitching and strong defense to win. We have to tighten up our defense, and hit better in the clutch.”

Carey hosts Baldwin on Monday at 4:30 p.m.