Seahawks fall in state semis

The magical run has come to an end.

The Carey Seahawks saw their season come to an end with a 7-0 loss to Victor (Section V - Rochester) in the Class AA state baseball semifinals at Union-Endicott High School’s Sylvester Field in Endicott.

Junior southpaw Matt Portland went the distance, striking out six while allowing just three hits to lead the Blue Devils (23-1), who went on to win the state championship with a 5-4 win over Shaker (Section II – Albany.)

Despite the loss, Carey head coach Mark Hedquist was proud of the team. “This by no means diminishes what we’ve accomplished,” Hedquist said. “We’ve had two weeks of dog piles. The boys won the school’s first county title and first Long Island championship. Nobody can ever take it away from them. We got beat by the best team in the state.”

Ironically, Carey (20-7) was beaten at its own game. With first and third and one out in the opening inning, Victor head coach Sean Rucker called on Portland, his clean-up hitter, to lay down a suicide squeeze. The bunt scored leadoff man Cory McDonald. 

Carey pitcher John Daddino, an All-Long Island recipient, fought back to strike out the side in the first, and cruised through the second and third innings. The top of the fourth was his undoing. A hit batsman, a couple bunts, and some uncharacteristic shoddy fielding was part of a four-run inning for the Blue Devils. 

Carey had just one scoring opportunity against Victor’s crafty lefthander. Trailing 5-0, Tom Rydzewski and Ed Eymold led off the sixth inning with singles. All-County shortstop Kyle DeMeo hit a bomb to the deepest park of the park, but the ball was run down in right center to put an end to the threat. Victor tacked on two runs in the top of the seventh for the final margin.

In a tremendous display of community support, the Carey bus was detoured to the Franklin Square Little League picnic at Rath Park before returning to the high school. All Little League games were stopped and the Seahawks took a curtain call in center field before a cheering crowd.

Hedquist, who was named the Nassau County Coach of the Year, sees the championship season as the culmination of a long-term plan.

“This goes back to all the guys who played here at Carey before this team,” Hedquist said. “Over the past few years, we got a new batting cage, a dugout, and new uniforms; it’s all part of the building of the program. We had advanced to the semifinals and the county final, but always came up short. We finally had the mental toughness to take the whole thing.”

He credits his coaching staff for much of the success. “My assistant Mike Farina does an outstanding job as hitting coach, and with his work with the outfielders,” Hedquist said. “He’s a master motivator and has a terrific rapport with the guys. The JV coach Pat Frino and junior high coach Ron Giarraffa do a great job with the young guys.”