Seaford boys bowling comes just three pins short of state title

The Seaford boys bowling team could almost taste it.

The Vikings entered the sixth and final game of the Division II boys bowling state championship in first place with a 43-pin lead over second-place Marlboro.

But Marlboro finished strong.

Seaford finished in second place with a total score of 6,465, just three pins behind Marlboro’s 6,468, Sunday at AMF Strike 'N Spare Lanes in Syracuse.

“They bowled their hearts out,” coach Scott Nastazio said. “We couldn’t have bowled any better, we just didn’t get the breaks, the pinfalls. The kids are upset, but you can’t take anything away from coming in second. They did their best.”

Andrew Ceraulo had the sixth-highest individual series (1,323) and Matt Mele came in seventh with a 1,319. Jack McKenny rolled a 1,281 series, good for 15th in the tournament.

“It’s great to know we came in second place for the entire state,” McKenny said. “But to think of it as we lost by three pins today, it’s tough.”

Mele had the highest average through five games (228.80) and finished with a 219.88 average.

“Honestly, I thought we were gonna win. I didn’t expect to lose,” Mele said. “It was pretty nerve-racking at the end, because we weren’t sure if we counted it wrong. But I think that was just our way of coping.”

Mele, McKenny and Ryan Jebaily are the team’s only seniors.

Throughout the regular season, McKenny had a 184.50 average, but he took a big step forward this weekend. McKenny took fifth as a member of the Nassau all-stars in Saturday’s Division II composite competition with a 220.50 average. He followed it up with a 213.50 average on Sunday.

“Jack had his ups and downs during the year, but at the end of the year, we focused on making the all-star team as a wild card, which he did,” Nastazio said. “It gave him the confidence to know that he is a good bowler. He threw a great ball this weekend. It was probably the best 12 games I’ve seen him bowl in four years.”

Brendan Dennehy shot a 1,250 series and Brian Karaman totaled 1,196 pins.

The entire team showed great improvement from last year, when Seaford took sixth place in Division II with 5,841 pins. The Vikings, who returned every bowler from last year, made a 624-pin improvement this year. Seaford won its eighth consecutive Nassau championship in February.

“It’s been surreal to watch everyone get so much better,” McKenny said. “Thinking back to when I was a freshman, everyone has gotten so much better and I couldn’t be more proud of everyone on the team.”

“It shows how much practice is worth,” Mele added. “It shows how far you can come.”