Carey answers challenge with another huge inning in 10-run win
Jayden Gigante of Carey makes solid contact during a Nassau Conference A-II baseball game against Roslyn on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Carey sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning against host Roslyn and scored six runs. Then it gave up every bit of that lead to find itself in a tie game at the end of four frames.
Carey’s response to having its character tested? A six-run fifth inning that set it on course for a 17-7 Nassau A-II baseball victory.
The Seahawks loaded the bases with none out in that frame and then eighth-grade leadoff hitter Jayden Gigante ripped a two-run single to center for a 9-7 lead. Two batters later senior Teagan Graham hit a titanic two-run triple to leftfield to make it 11-7 and Carey never looked back.
“It wasn’t perfect the way it happened with us getting flat and giving up the lead, but we showed how resilient a group we are,” Teagan said. “We put that six-spot right up as soon as the lead was gone. We never stop playing.”
“There’s no quit in our guys,” Carey coach Doug Robins said. “Even though we’d made a few mental and physical errors and let them even it up, our guys believe in themselves.”
Graham went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs, Gigante was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Justin Babiak had three RBIs, including a two-run single to left in a four-run seventh inning for the Seahawks (7-0-1).
Junior righthander Jake Perlowitz was summoned to pitch in relief with the Carey lead down to 7-6 in the fourth and though he did allow an inherited runner to score the tying run, he ended up pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts to keep the Bulldogs (3-5) in check.
“The leadership on our team is awesome and they stepped us to put us back on top,” Perlowitz said. “I was just happy I could do my part by keeping them off the board.”
Roslyn’s Tyler Giordano had three RBIs, including a two-run double in a three-run fourth that tied it at 7. Lucas Weisser had two RBIs and brought Giordano in with the tying run on a single to right.
Gigante said he only intended to try out this season for the junior varsity team and things got interesting for him when Robins asked him to join the varsity workouts. “It feels really good to have a part in all this,” he said.
“[Gigante] amazes us all,” Perlowitz said. “He does things you’d never think an eighth-grader could do. He’s become a big part of what we do.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
