Pirates fall short at Carey

Mepham pounded out 15 hits in the third and decisive game of last week’s Nassau Class AA baseball quarterfinal series against Carey but ultimately couldn’t overcome an eight-run deficit in the last two innings.

The Pirates staged a furious rally and managed to get the tying run on base in the seventh, but Seahawks relief pitcher Kyle DeMeo induced a fielder’s choice groundout to Al Gentile at third to end Mepham’s season, 10-8.

Third-seeded Carey (14-8), the county runner-up in 2009, advanced to face No. 2 Calhoun in a best-of-three semifinal series. No. 1 MacArthur and No. 6 Kennedy comprise the other semifinal.

“You never want to lose the first game of a series,” said Seahawks coach Marc Hedquist, “but getting a bye into the second round afforded us some margin for error.”

Mepham (8-10) pounded out 14 hits against Carey starter and winner Jesse Montalto. Doug Marshall slammed a pair of homers, including a three-run shot in the seventh, and Mike Spadaro went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs. Spadaro represented the tying run when DeMeo, who relieved Montalto with one out, got Steve Luczaj to bounce into a force.

“We had a core group of seniors that left their mark on the program,” Pirates coach Bill Murphy said. “It was a tough series. Win or lose, I knew I’d be proud of these guys.”

Down 7-0 after DeMeo’s second-inning grand slam, Mepham pushed across single runs in the third and fourth, but ace pitcher Tom Pisano, who won his previous four decisions, ran into more trouble in the fifth. Pisano gave up a leadoff single to Anthony Licata, and Nick Vilchez followed with a two-run homer. Matt Dato, who earned the win in Game 1 of the series, relieved Pisano after a double by Ron Licciardi.

“It was by far Tom’s toughest outing of the year,” Murphy said of Pisano, who gave up 11 hits.

Spadaro’s two-run double in the sixth seemed innocent at the time, making it 10-4, but there appeared to be concern in the Carey dugout when Marshall went deep with no outs in the seventh to close the gap to three. “Mepham can mash the ball,” Hedquist said. “With the fence out there, no lead is too big.”

The Pirates took Game 1, 8-4. They built a two-run lead in the top of the third when Jay D’Auria and Tom DeLuca both singled and scored. After Carey pulled even with two runs in the fourth, Mepham responded with a four-run fifth to take a 6-2 lead. Luczaj (4-for-4) singled in the go-ahead run and scored along with Spadaro on JC Brandmaier’s homer.

John Daddino helped the Seahawks push the series to the limit with a stellar pitching performance in 5-1 victory in Game 2. He scattered six hits and struck out 14.