Calhoun stunned in semifinals

There will be no repeat for the Calhoun nine.

Senior Anthony Zeppieri’s clutch two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning gave Carey its first lead, and pitcher Jesse Montalto ended the game with his seventh strikeout with the tying run on second base as the host Seahawks held on for a 6-5 win over defending county champion Calhoun May 26, and a sweep of the semifinal round of the Class AA playoffs.

The Seahawks trailed 4-3 in the sixth when Harry Smith reached on an error. Anthony Licata hit a ground rule double to set the stage for Zeppieri’s dramatics. Zeppieri, grounded a 2-2 curveball over the bag and down the left field line. He later scored on an error to give the Seahawks a 6-4 lead. A home run by Thomas Viverito got the Colts within a run.

Calhoun coach Joe Corea’s team picked the wrong time to play sloppy baseball. “We sort of had a collapse,” Corea said. “We didn’t play crisp baseball and made too many mistakes. Give Carey all the credit; they did a great job. We swept them during the regular season. They got better as the season went along.”

After losing the series opener a day earlier, the Colts got off to a terrific start against Montalto. Zach Goldstein and John Eyerman both singled up the middle to get things started. With one out, Viverito lined a double to right center to score both Goldstein and Eyerman.

The inning wasn’t over. Before the Colts were through celebrating Viverito’s double, junior second baseman Robbie Rosen (3-for-4, HR, two doubles) crushed a fastball over the centerfield fence to give Calhoun an early 4-0 lead.

The dominance that pitcher Joe Christopher displayed in the quarterfinals led one to believe that the Colts would force a third game. The big righthander yielded just two hits and struck out seven over six innings in a 4-0 win over Syosset.

But Carey came to play. Three straight singles to open the bottom of the first got the Seahawks on the board. A sacrifice fly by Smith cut the Calhoun lead to 4-2 after one inning. 

Christopher clearly didn’t have his best stuff, but the St. John’s-bound senior still managed to scuffle through five innings. He left with a 4-3 lead. The Colts, who finished with a record of 20-3, including a 15-0 conference record, entered the series riding an 18-game winning streak. Carey will meet MacArthur in the championship series.

Jake Thomas, Dan Sullivan, Frank Trimarco, and Rosen each earned All-County recognition, Alex Vargas and Goldstein were named All-Conference recipients, and Viverito and Eyerman picked up All-League honors.

Corea was proud of his team, which has 40 wins over the past two seasons. “Our guys are real scrappy players,” Corea said. “They give everything they have each time they take the field. They’re upset now, but they’ll look back and see how much they accomplished.”