Seahawks hold off Mepham

Carey’s Al Gentile wasn’t thrilled with the way he was swinging the bat entering the third and deciding game of last week’s Nassau Class AA baseball quarterfinal series against Mepham, but his first plate appearance May 20 set the tone for the Seahawks’ 10-8 victory.

He laced a two-run double, stole third and scored to ignite a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the second inning, which was capped by Kyle DeMeo’s grand slam over the fence in left. “I’ve been working hard to get out of a slump and was just looking for a pitch to drive,” said Gentile, who also recorded the final out on a grounder after the Pirates staged a furious rally and had the tying run on base. “We’ve got a resilient team, and it showed again today.”

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 15 hits in the series finale, with all but one coming 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 at third.

“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 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 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.”

John Daddino helped the Seahawks push the series to the limit with a stellar pitching performance in Game 2. He scattered six hits and struck out 14. DeMeo and Tom Rydzewski drove in two runs apiece.

“Last year’s playoff run put us on the map,” Gentile said. “We’re a very young team, but we’re capable of going all the way. We can hit and play defense, and we sure can pitch.”