Thursday, October 1, 2026
Carey’s baseball team has unfinished business.
There’s a nucleus of hungry multi-year veteran players who had their seasons end agonizingly close to competing for a county championship, losing in the decisive third game of a best-of-three semifinal series in each of the last two years.
Nine seniors are desperate to take that next step. And the first step has been a positive one, with the Seahawks off to a solid 4-1-1 start and 3-0 in Conference AA-2.
“The kids, besides having talent, are very goal-oriented,” Carey coach Doug Robins Jr. said. “I don’t just mean individually. As a team, they want to get back, they want another shot at competing at the highest level.”
Leading the way is senior centerfielder Jayden Gigante, a five-year player and five-tool standout who is committed to St. John’s University.
“He increased his speed, he increased his power, his defensive skills are minor league caliber skills, the way he roams center field,” Robins Jr. said. “There are a lot of kids who might just say, "Hey, I'm getting a scholarship, I’m gone.” He wants to go out on top. He’ll do anything for the team, whether that’s relief pitching or whatever, he’s a team guy first.”
Gigante, Carey’s all-time hits leader, bats leadoff and is hitting .615 early this season. In a 5-2 win over Manhasset on Friday, he hit a home run, walked three times, and scored three runs.
Tristan Hickis, a Hofstra commit, has been lights out on the mound. The senior four-year player is 2-0 with one no-decision and has struck out 26 in 16-1/3 innings, while hitting .353.
The hard-throwing righty struck out six and scattered two hits in a five-inning 13-0 season-opening shutout of Herricks on March 24. Against a loaded Bellmore-JFK team with four Division I players on its roster, Hickis pitched five shutout innings in a 5-2 loss on March 31 and was pulled only because of pitch count.
Hickis struck out 13 and allowed one unearned run in a 7-6 win over Manhasset on April 7. And when he’s not on the mound, Hickis is an elite defensive first baseman.
“He might be, in my 27 years, the best defensive first baseman I’ve ever coached,” Robins Jr. said.
Mark Vera is a Division I-caliber senior who has proven to be a dual threat as a third baseman/pitcher. He is batting .462 with two home runs, including one in the 5-2 win over Manhasset in which he struck out five in two innings of relief of Ryan Kunkel, who got the win, allowing three hits and striking out seven in five innings.
Vera also went 3-for-3 with two runs scored in a 4-2 victory against Manhasset on April 8.
Behind the plate is senior Dominick Peluso, who has taken the next step to call more of the pitches this year.
And a pair of freshmen have proven that the future is also bright at Carey. Jack LaDuca comes out of the bullpen and plays first base when Hickis pitches, and second baseman Jasper Persaud is a good contact hitter and a solid defensive player.
