Kellenberg was on top of the world the last time it took the field, capturing the Nassau-Suffolk Catholic High School Athletic Association baseball title for the first time since 2017. A little over two weeks later, its season ended in disappointing fashion as it was held to two hits in a 4-0 loss to Canisius (Buffalo) in a state CHSAA semifinal Friday at St. John's University. 

“You gotta tip your cap to them,” Kellenberg coach Pat Miles said. “They put the bat on the ball early in the game. That ended up being the difference in the game.”

Gavin Eynon led off the game with a single. Two pitches later, he stole second base and later scored on a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Canisius added two runs in the second, the second when Nick Marcello raced home from third on a passed ball. 

Kellenberg starter Jack Durso settled down after that, going six innings. He allowed three runs and four hits. 

“I don’t think I had my best stuff, but I pride myself in leaving it all out there,” said Durso, a Miami-commit southpaw who threw 102 pitches. 

Canisius (18-12), which will play for the state title at 1 p.m. Saturday, tacked on one more run in the seventh inning when a ball popped up into no-man’s land in rightfield just beyond the infield dirt fell in, driving in Eynon. 

Kellenberg (19-9) didn't have that kind of luck. It was no-hit until the fifth inning, when Andrew Noe singled up the middle. Michael Cotto recorded the other hit in the seventh. 

“It certainly isn’t for a lack of other opportunities that we had out there," Miles said. "We had guys on second base and a hit would have changed the whole [trajectory] of the game."