Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s series
by George Caratzas
The streak is over
Port Washington 2, Massapequa 1
WP: Jackson Garcia 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 4 Ks
Save: Jeff Radinsky 3 IP, 0 H, 7 Ks
Derek Fine RBI single
Max Spiryda 2 for 3, RBIPort Washington advances to the Nassau AAA Finals against Farmingdale. This ends Massapequa’s run of 6… pic.twitter.com/LXQSnOIcra
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 22, 2024
Coming off consecutive 15-win seasons and an appearance in the Nassau AAA County Finals, the Port Washington Vikings are looking to build off that success and claim a league title. A season ago, the Vikings went 15-11-2 including an upset over 6-time reigning County Champs, Massapequa, in an intense best-of-3 series.
“We definitely started off a bit slow,” Holzer said in an interview with Axcess Baseball. “We got it going towards the end of the season and then we were able to ride that hot streak into the playoffs and made it to the County Finals last year against Farmingdale.”
One obstacle will be replacing all their impact senior pitchers from last season. Holzer enters the season after losing four of its top six arms. Leading the returners is Koki Maezawa who serves as the team’s ace, while also spending some time at the hot corner.
At the plate, Maezawa hit .301 with four doubles, a home run and 13 RBI. He also scored 17 runs. However, that pales in comparison to his ability on the mound as he entered last season as the team’s third starter and was the ace by season’s end, even throwing a gem in a playoff game against Massapequa.
Overall, he threw 35 innings while striking out 29 batters and pitching to a 2.80 ERA. Maezawa developing into an ace helps the Vikings to lessen the blow of losing starters Hunter Trenamen and Jackson Garcia.
“[Koki’s] mental makeup is a huge positive,” Holzer said. “He doesn’t get rattled on the mound. He stays focused very well, through the good and the bad. He doesn’t get too high or too low and throws a ton of strikes with some really good offspeed stuff.”
Moving from the bullpen to the rotation is senior right hander Jake Scharlat. He gives Holzer potentially the team’s best strikeout stuff, as he punched out 22 batters in 16 ⅓ innings in 2024. Serving as Port Washington’s closer, Scharlat picked up a win and two saves while pitching to a 3.00 ERA.
Scharlat provides the Vikings with tons of versatility both on the mound and in the field.
“We envision him as a starter,” Holzer said. “Jake is a big strikeout guy and when he’s not pitching, he plays a phenomenal defensive shortstop.”
Three more options for Holzer on the mound are three seniors in Mikey Solomon, Robert Higgins and Jack Russo. The latter of the three shined as a junior varsity player in 2023 before suffering an ACL injury which sidelined him for much of 2024.
“[Russo] had a monster 10th grade year on JV and we’re looking forward to getting him fully healthy this year,” Hozler said.
The biggest offensive loss for Port Washington is outfielder Anthony Iuorio, who hit .417 two years ago as a junior.
“He was a phenomenal three-year varsity player,” Holzer said. “He will definitely be missed but I think we have enough returning players — especially offensively — to have not just one player stepping into that role, but a couple guys coming in to fill that void.”
One of the Vikings breakout pieces that complemented Iuorio last season and should shoulder much of the load this year is third baseman Derek Fine. During his junior year, Fine did not become a full-time starter until the middle of the season, but took advantage of his chance as he hit .397. Additionally, he proved to be a key run creator, driving in 10 runs and scoring 17, thanks in part to 15 stolen bases.
“He came into last season banged up,” Holzer said. “Once he came back healthy, we put him in the lineup permanently and he really helped to jumpstart our offense.”
Port Washington’s biggest run producer coming back will be Max Spiryda, who profiles as one of its middle of the order sluggers. Spiryda — who split time last year between first base and designated hitting — hit .290 with a home run and 15 RBI, the most of any returning Viking.
“He had a phenomenal season last year,” Holzer said. “He is just a really good hitter. Right handed hitter that doesn’t try to pull the outside pitch. He’s another kid last year that we weren’t sure what we’d get out of him but he really took control of a starting role and never really gave it back.”
With a mostly rebuilt pitching staff, defense will be a key cog in the success of the 2025 Port Washington Vikings. Scharlat manning shortstop helps that cause, as does senior Brayden Corber who should get some reps at first base.
Potentially the biggest defensive impact player is sophomore catcher Jake Wilber. In his freshman year, Wilber nabbed 28.6% of would-be base stealers and earned his stripes by managing a mainly veteran pitching staff.
“[Jake] did a great job last year controlling the running game and working with our pitchers and I think he’s only going to get better,” Holzer said. “Defense is very important to us … he really changes the complexion of the game because he gives us such a greater margin for error once someone gets on base.”
Having enjoyed regular season success, Holzer wants to see his team replicate their toughness from the past few years.
“They refuse to lose,” Holzer said. “They refuse to give in and refuse to quit … I can’t really explain it, but we just worked and worked and worked and I guess the bottom line is that they just refused to quit.”
They will open up on April 1 in a non-league game against Garden City at home. Their first league game April 8th against Syosset at home.
