Focused Montalto pitches Carey to semis

On days Jesse Montalto pitches, the car ride is a silent one for Kyle DeMeo. The Carey shortstop picks up Montalto every day and when the righthander gets in his zone, it's as if DeMeo is by himself.

DeMeo certainly will go through this a few more times, if necessary. Montalto is assured of at least one more start after he went the distance for No. 4 Carey in a 4-1 win over host No. 5 Farmingdale yesterday to sweep the best-of-three Nassau Class AA baseball quarterfinal. Carey (15-6) will play in the best-of-three semifinals beginning Monday.

"He's more relaxed in school," DeMeo said, "but once he comes home you can't even text him or call him. I had to ring his bell and his mother answered. When the game comes, he's ready."

Montalto proved it against Farmingdale (11-10). The Fairleigh Dickinson-bound righty allowed six hits, walked none and struck out five. The lone run came in the fifth on a home run by Nick Colasurdo.

"My fastball hit the spots," Montalto said. "It took time for my curveball to come around. I'm not a power pitcher. My defense was great behind me. My infield was terrific."

DeMeo went 2-for-2 with two doubles, a walk and a hit by pitch, and he stole three bases. Anthony Zeppieri went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and sacrifice bunt.

Anthony Licata, the eighth-place hitter, doubled to lead off the third and scored on Tom Rydzewski's sacrifice fly to give Carey (15-6) a 1-0 lead.

SEE PHOTOSCarey 4, Farmingdale 1

A three-run fourth inning provided fundamental ball at its finest. Steven Marino executed a perfect hit-and-run to the right side to put runners at first and third. Jack Young followed with a run-scoring single and later in the inning Licata pulled off a suicide squeeze to make it 3-0. Zeppieri then hit a slow roller down the third-base line that stayed fair and scored a run.

"It's the best feeling," Licata said. "Small ball wins playoff games and it helped us move on. We practiced the last four days hitting to the right side on hit-and-runs and getting down bunts. That's what we did in the game."

The bottom two spots in the order came through with three hits, two sacrifice bunts and the squeeze play.

"The bottom of the order was very clutch," DeMeo said. "They got down the bunts we needed and that's going to help us win games."