Kennedy Baseball Swept by Carey With Playoffs Ahead

The Kennedy Cougars baseball team will head into the postseason following up a tough series sweep at the hands of Carey this past week.

The Cougars (10-9 overall, 8-7) hung tough in the three games, but the Seahawks (13-6 overall, 11-4) displayed why they have been one of the top teams all season in a challenging Conference AA-III pool.

On Monday, Carey took the opening game of the series with a 10-6 win on the road. John Daddino pitched six innings while striking out 11 batters and Anthony Licatta collected three hits with a pair of RBIs for the Seahawks.

Robert Delgado and Noah Shulman both hit home runs for Kennedy in the losing effort.

In the second game on Tuesday at Carey, another solid pitching performance led the way for the home team. Jesse Montalto gave up five hits to Kennedy and struck out 12 to pick up the win in a 10-1 victory. Tom Rydzewski was the top hitter on the day, going a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBIs.

In the series finale and last regular season game for both teams, Kennedy tried to salvage one game on its home field after dropping the first two. After Carey scored three runs in the opening inning, the Cougars found themselves in an early hole similar to the previous game.

In the bottom of the second, Delgado hit an RBI double to get the Cougars on the board. Evan Krohn drove home two runs on a single and Justin Harrison hit an RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 4-4.

However, Carey produced another strong inning to follow up, scoring four runs in the top of the fourth to lead, 8-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, Shulman hit his team-leading fifth home run for the Cougars. The homer would be the last of the offense for Kennedy, as Carey completed the sweep with a 9-5 win.

Ron Licciardi struck out 11 batters in the win for visiting Carey.

Heroes: Noah Shulman hit two home runs in the series and provided solid offense for Kennedy during the week. He has been a top contributor on the offensive end of things throughout the season.

Turning Point: After Kennedy played a close first game at home, despite losing 10-6, the dominant performance by Carey in the following game, a 10-1 win, clinched the series for them and set the overall tone.

Quotable: “I think we showed that we can play with anybody despite the losses. The first two games we played hesitant, but the third game, we hit well and played good defense,” Kennedy head coach Eric Passman said. “We will start with our number one pitcher, Andrew Wood, to start the playoffs. He’s been lights out the whole year, so we are confident.”

Bottom Line: Kennedy could potentially get the ninth seed in the upcoming playoffs and must wait to see who their first-round opponent will be following Thursday night’s seeding meeting.

Box Score (for game on 5/11):

WP: R.Licciardi (C)

LP: B.Lerner (K)