Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by Max Edelman
In his three seasons as head coach of the Riverhead Blue Wave, Kevin Kerman’s team has undergone a full transformation. In his first year in charge, Kerman’s squad managed only one victory in 20 games, fast forward just two years, the Blue Wave finished 14-10, the first time Riverhead finished over .500 under Kerman.
“Last year was a huge step in the right direction for our program.” Kerman said. When I took this team over 4 years ago, we were in rebuild mode. We were a young group that needed to get bigger, stronger, and gain more experience. We went from 1-19 in year one to 4-16 in year two, to 14-10 with two playoff victories in year three. It was a massive improvement from our players and they deserved every bit of the success.”
After a season in which the Blue Wave made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, a number of standout players played in what was their final year as high school athletes. Camden Wallace, who was All-League last year, is now playing at St. Joseph’s Brooklyn, Bryce Mackie is at Western Connecticut, Brady Hubbard was all league last year, and Troy Chichotky will all be missed by the Blue Wave this season.
“All four of them were huge contributors to our success last season and will be difficult to replace.” Kerman said. “They were not just tremendous players for us, but just overall great human beings.”
Congratulations to Riverhead RHP Matt Zambriski on being named this week’s recipient of the Axcess Baseball x BK7 Brand Player of the Week. He fired a perfect game with 16 strikeouts on Tuesday while driving in 7 runs at the plate in two games. For the season, he has compiled a… pic.twitter.com/lWVaJHbPyM
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 4, 2025
Despite the losses, the Blue Wave have plenty of impact players returning to make a big impact in 2026. Junior and St. John’s commit Matthew Zambriski shined in his sophomore season on the mound. Posting a 1.50 ERA ERA in 40.1 innings pitched. Zambriski was named an All-County player due to his success.
“He threw the first perfect game in school history, was on the mound for all seven innings in our clinching game, and won the school’s first playoff game in 21 years.” Kerman said, “Matt is entering his junior year and we are looking forward to seeing what he accomplishes this year.”
Also a junior pitcher, Kerman is expecting big things from junior Drew LeGrady, LeGrady isn’t just a star on the mound, but features in both the infield and the outfield when needed.
“Drew is another huge piece to our rotation and was a big part of our success last year.” Kerman said. “He was on the hill for two huge wins against William Floyd and won our second playoff game with his best outing of the year. Drew also helps us around the diamond in the infield and the outfield.”
Entering his sophomore season, Jason Davis looks to follow up a stellar freshman season in which he hit .438 and received All-League honors. Davis primarily bats leadoff for the Blue Wave and plays second base, but he could feature more on the left side of the diamond at short.
Middle infielder Jason Davis (Riverhead 2028) is a hard hitting lefty with the @ec_lumberjacks. He was called up to varsity as an eighth grader in 2024.
His brother Braden played for the University of Maine, and is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery pic.twitter.com/9LEXOBQKRa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 9, 2025
“This year we will look for him to take another step forward on the defensive side, helping out at SS as well as his regular 2nd base position.” Kerman said. “ Jason is a pure hitter and will be crucial to any success we find this season.”
When it comes to his team’s biggest strength, Kerman believes that the experience of years past will help his team to take yet another big step forward in 2026.
“Our strength as a group is going to be the experience gained from last season.” Kerman said. “ These guys were able to finally taste what it’s like to be a part of playoff baseball and we need to use it as motivation to get back. We need to take even more steps forward with limiting free bases on the mound and consistently play good defense like every other program. Last year is over. We are onto a new season and looking forward to the challenges it will bring.”
The Riverhead Blue Wave will open their season on March 26th against Longwood.
