Blue Waves clinch baseball playoffs with a must-win shutout in season finale

After losing the first two games in the season’s final series against Walt Whitman — the last of which ended on a walkoff hit in the bottom of the seventh inning — the Riverhead varsity baseball team was down to one last game to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Matthew Zambriski, the Blue Waves sophomore ace, took the ball in the most important game of his young varsity career. 

“It felt like the longest day of the year at school today,” Zambriski said. “I was so anxious to get out there. I just wanted a shutdown inning to start the game, and hopefully, the boys would have my back out there.”

Zambriski struck out the first two batters he faced and got the third batter to ground out. The righty fireballer had it going all day; he kept Whitman off the board for seven innings while striking out 11 in a 8–0 victory at Pulaski Street Sports Complex on Friday, May 16, to punch his team’s ticket into the postseason. 

“After losing the last game, we just had to stay positive,” Zambriski said. “The team group chat last night was buzzing. We were all fired up about coming back today and getting it done at home.”

Riverhead (10–8, League I) got on the board immediately in the bottom of the first inning. After Camden Wallace singled, Brady Hubbard and Zambriski followed up with walks, before Max Gajowski delivered the major blow, nailing a 2-RBI double. Drew Legrady added another run on a groundout to give Riverhead a 3–0 lead early on.

“We knew we only had one game left,” Wallace said. “There was no tomorrow if we didn’t get it done today. There was no room for mistakes. We had to play clean and play strong and play hard. And now we get to enjoy this.”

As the innings ticked up, so did the score. The Blue Waves kept tacking on runs, and Zambriski continued his dominance on the mound. Despite having runners on third multiple times, Zambriski refused to give up any runs.

“The poise he’s shown this year is incredible,” Riverhead head coach Kevin Kerman said. “When the going gets tough, he gets stronger. He really emptied his tank out here for the team.”

Hubbard delivered an RBI sac fly in the bottom of the third to add a run. JJ Perez did the same in the following inning to make it 5–0. Jason Davis, Wallace and Hubbard registered RBIs in the bottom of the fifth inning to boost the lead, but nobody let off the gas pedal.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be over until the final out was made,” Wallace said. “Nobody was ever comfortable with the lead. We had all the confidence in the world in Matt, but we all still needed to make our plays.”

Zambriski refused to come out of the game and shook off any attempt for Kerman to take him out.

“As his pitch count was rising and the lead grew larger, I went to him a few times,” Kerman said. “He wanted to do this himself. After the season he had, he deserved an opportunity to seal something that hasn’t been done here in quite some time.”

Riverhead had been one win away from clinching the postseason with four games to play. After suffering three straight losses, they finally got it done. Heading into the double-elimination playoff bracket, Riverhead got No. 12 seed and will traveling to No. 5 Sachem East Tuesday at 4 p.m. The second game will be played either Wednesday or Thursday pending the Game 1 results.

“The vibes are high,” Kerman said. “Nobody expected us to be here after the last two years. I know nobody in Suffolk County wants to go up against Matt. We’re going to use that strategically. We’re going to play our brand of baseball once Tuesday rolls around. We’ll be ready.”