by Tucker Terranova
Tristan Hickis discusses his four hit afternoon which anchored a 15 run, 15 hit contest for the Carey offense. pic.twitter.com/WEBccJe9Bq
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2025
Nearly a month after dropping its first Conference AA-2 series in a 5–0 loss to Garden City, Carey has flipped the script.
Since its first series of the campaign, the Seahawks have caught fire, winning 10 straight and taking three consecutive series before falling 3-2 to South Side yesterday.
With a chance to bounce back and clinch a fourth straight series win, Carey erupted for 15 runs on 15 hits in its regular-season finale, topping South Side 15-8 in Wednesday’s rubber match.
“We knew coming into this series that South Side was a great team,” Tristan Hickis told Axcess Baseball in a postgame interview. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but we have a great group of guys who are all determined to win and got the job done.”
Carey’s offense came out swinging with eight players reaching base, two recording four-hit games, and seven recording RBIs, led by Mark Vera with three.
A five-run inning has given Carey the lead, highlighted by Mark Vera’s second RBI single of the afternoon.
M2 | Carey 7, South Side 3 pic.twitter.com/wtGcut9DwS
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2025
Vera opened the scoring in the first, singling home Jayden Gigante before scoring himself on a Nicholas Taranto groundout.
South Side answered quickly, pushing across three in the bottom of the first on RBI singles from Jack Boyens, Derek Fessler, and Evan Wikle.
After a 45-minute first inning, the tone was set for a slugfest and Carey responded. The Seahawks batted around in the second, plating five runs. Hickis sparked the rally with a double to right-center and scored on a Dom Peluso single. Carey’s top four hitters followed with a flurry of RBIs, stretching the lead to 7–3.
South Side stayed within reach with two more in the second, courtesy of RBI doubles from Gavin Donoghue and Boyens, who finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Carey tacked on another in the third on a fielder’s choice, then turned to Mike Agostino, who quieted the Cyclones’ bats with three scoreless frames.
The Seahawks broke it open in the sixth with their second five-run frame of the game. Agostino helped his own cause, singling to left with two on and one out to drive in a pair. Hickis and Vera, who led the charge all afternoon, followed with RBI knocks to push the lead to 13–5.
“All week I’d been getting under baseballs,” Hickis said. “Today I was just trying to hit the ball on the ground and put it in play, and good things happened.”
Mikey Agostino helps his cause by driving in two Seahawks.
T6 | Carey 10, South Side 5 pic.twitter.com/SAn3zKflXJ
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 8, 2025
In a game full of swings, South Side answered again with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Gabriel Rodriguez came off the bench to drive in two with an infield single, and Boyens added a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 13–8.
Carey capped its offensive outburst with three more runs in the seventh highlighted by Hickis’ fourth hit and second RBI of the day, putting the contest on ice. Nick Medoro, who reached base in five of his six plate appearances, added the final run as the Seahawks sealed the win in the bottom half to close out the series.
“We have a great group of guys, and we all have each other’s backs,” Hickis said. “When you can trust one another, good things are bound to happen.”
Carey wraps up the regular season at 15-3 overall and 12-3 in conference play, winning 11 of its last 12 league games. With momentum on their side, the Seahawks will be a team to watch come playoff time.
