Zeppieri gets go-ahead hit for Carey

Anthony Zeppieri stood tall.

Listed at a generous 5-3, the wisp of a player looked back at hulking reliever Jon Goldberg, waiting, sitting on the curveball. Zeppieri’s Carey Seahawks were down by one run with two outs in the sixth, and he had two strikes against him.

“He hung it a little bit,” Zeppieri said later, grinning. Because you see, if there’s one thing we can learn about No. 4 Carey’s 6-5 win over first-seeded Calhoun in the Nassau Class AA semifinal, it’s that the little guys can come up big.

Zeppieri snuck a line drive inside the leftfield line to score Harry Smith and Anthony Licata from second and third to put Carey up 5-4. Zeppieri scored when Tom Rydzewski’s grounder was misplayed at second base.

Carey pulled off the stunning sweep of Calhoun (20-3), which lost only once before the series. The Seahawks will play No. 2 MacArthur at 11 a.m. on Monday at Farmingdale State.

“Anthony Zeppieri . . . 5-3, all heart,” Carey coach Marc Hedquist said.

“He plays the hardest rightfield in Nassau County,” he added, referencing the uneven, short porch in right (it’s so shallow that anything over the fence is ruled a ground-rule double).

SEE PHOTOSCarey 6, Calhoun 5

Zeppieri seemed to epitomize the grit of a team that suffered a three-game sweep against Calhoun. The Seahawks (17-6) were down 4-0 after five-hit first inning highlighted by Robbie Rosen’s two-run home run to right-center.

Rosen went 3-for-4, while Thomas Viverito went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Carey’s Smith was 1-for-3, with a homer, two RBIs and two runs.

Pitcher Jesse Montalto — another spindly kid that Hedquist described as “130 pounds, soaking wet” — buckled down and shut down Calhoun, not allowing another run until Thomas Viverito’s solo shot in the seventh.

Montalto allowed five earned runs, nine hits and two walks. His seventh strikeout ended the game with the potential tying run at second base. “I painted that corner with the fastball,” Montalto said of the third strike.

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Though Montalto categorizes himself as a ground-ball pitcher, he lit up a scout’s radar gun, regularly hitting the high 80s and low 90s.

Calhoun ace Joe Christopher also was effective, but pulled himself from the game after five innings of seven-hit ball.

“I was feeling tired towards the end and I trust my teammates,” Christopher said. “I had an absolute blast with my teammates, but I have bigger things around the corner at St. John’s.”

The Fairleigh Dickinson-bound Montalto said he felt no nerves going up against the Newsday All-Long Island selection. He may be Joe Christopher, “but I’m Jesse Montalto.”

Score one for the . . . well, you know.