Thursday, October 1, 2026
On-base percentage and contact percentage are the formulas for Carey baseball’s offense. Out of Class AA, the Seahawks are fourth in run differential at plus-84, but it’s also a credit to their pitching staff.
“One of the things we have a lot of stock in is guys who can get two-out hits,” said coach Doug Robins. “That’s what we call, ‘keeping the inning going, kind of passing the baton.”
In a series where Carey (13-5-1 overall, 11-4 in Conference AA-2) dropped two of three to MacArthur, Robins said it didn’t have many “two-out hits,” but that’s been the bread and butter all season.
The offense is led by two seniors in pitcher/infielder Mark Vera and outfielder Jayden Gigante. Vera finished the regular season tied for first in Nassau County in home runs with six, with Gigante on his tail, smashing three.
“Mark right now is one of the hottest hitters on Long Island,” Robins said of Vera. “Even his outs are hit hard. He just hits the ball hard every time up.”
The Seahawks ended the regular season strong, sweeping a three-game series against Hewlett. The Seahawks outscored Hewlett 39-3 from May 5-8 to cruise into the playoffs. Vera had back-to-back multi-hit performances in the first two games of the series, while Gigante and senior catcher Dominick Paluso joined the multi-hit party on the 6th.
“We pitched well as a staff, and we hit the ball from top to bottom of the lineup,” Robins said.
Seniors Tristan Hickis and Ryan Kunkel both recorded five wins for the Seahawks. Kunkel earned the win and clinched the series victory in game two against Hewlett, striking out five and allowing two hits over four innings to earn the 2-1 win.
In the team’s 20-2 win in game one, Hickis sent nine batters back to the dugout over five innings of work. The ace did what aces do.
“Tristan’s our number one,” Robins said. “He has the type of stuff to beat anybody. We had a non-league game against Bellmore, and he went five innings of shutout ball and was very dominant and they’re one of the better teams. Bellmore knocked us out in the semifinals in game three two years in a row.”
Freshman Jack LaDuca has come out of the bullpen and earned two saves, pitching meaningful innings. Another senior outfielder who has produced is Michael Agostino. He went 2-for-2 with three RBI in the 17-0 season finale win over Hewlett.
Though Carey finished strong, its losses have come against higher Class AA seeds with two from MacArthur, a pair from Garden City and one non-league loss to Bellmore JFK. Is that a concern for the Seahawks entering the postseason?
“We always say we like to be in good leagues because we want to be battle tested,” Robins said. “We don’t want to play in easy leagues and the playoffs come around and we don’t know what to expect. The last couple of years, we’ve played some really good clubs and that gets us battle-tested for the playoffs, which is what you need to do.”
Carey begins its playoff journey this week as the No. 7 seed.
