Westhampton’s Keys Named 2023 HCBL MVP
Photo Credit: Demetrius Kazanas
Sean Keys (Bucknell) provided tons of power to a Westhampton Aviators lineup that reached the HCBL Championship Series for the second consecutive season. Keys was rewarded for his incredible 2023 season by being named the MVP of the league.
Keys led the HCBL in home runs with 11 and finished third in league in batting average at .367 and was ranked second in RBI with 34 behind teammate Ethan Guerra (Paris JC) who had 45. Keys also led the HCBL in runs scored with 33.
The Centerport native’s biggest hit of the season was on the Fourth of July against the North Fork Ospreys where he hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the ninth for an 11-8 Aviators win. The home run was Keys’ second of the game and he finished with six RBI on the day.
Keys was picked as the HCBL Player of the Week for Week 3 where he hit .455 for the week with five home runs and 16 RBI. Keys was selected to play for the HCBL at the NACSB Prospect Games in Virginia. At the HCBL All-Star Game in Sag Harbor on July 15th, Keys had a hit in two at-bats for the Red Team with a run scored.
Keys’ 11 home runs in the 2023 added onto his five home runs from the 2022 season tied him for the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League’s all-time career record for home runs of 16 which was originally set by Alex Volpi (Holy Cross) of the Shelter Island Bucks back in 2018.
Keys finished out his summer with the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League where in 10 games, Keys hit .385 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 39 at-bats.
Keys becomes the fourth Westhampton player to be selected as the HCBL’s Most Valuable Player. Kevin Heller (Amherst) was the first Aviator MVP in Westhampton’s 2011 championship season. JC Brandmaier (Dowling) who won the HCBL batting title in 2013 was selected as that season’s MVP. Nick Bottari (Southeastern (FL) was the most recent Aviator prior to Keys who was named as league MVP having won it back in the 2017 season.
In the MVP voting, Keys received five out of seven coaches’ votes in the balloting along with a second-place vote. Shelter Island’s Conor Kiely (Stonehill) placed in second with a first-place vote and a pair of second and third-place votes. Westhampton’s Guerra finished in third with a first-place vote and two second-place votes.
South Shore’s Aidan Larkin (Molloy) and Westhampton’s Matt Torres (Dickinson) rounded out the top five in the MVP voting.
| HCBL MVP Voting | Summer Team/College | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
| Sean Keys | Westhampton/Bucknell | 5 | 1 | 0 | 41 |
| Conor Kiely | Shelter Island/Stonehill | 1 | 2 | 2 | 23 |
| Ethan Guerra | Westhampton/Paris JC | 1 | 2 | 0 | 21 |
| Aidan Larkin | South Shore/Molloy | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Matt Torres | Westhampton/Dickinson | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Milo Suarez | Sag Harbor/Dartmouth | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| Christian Fagnant | North Fork/Amherst | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Kenneth Franquiz | Southampton/New Haven | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ty Acker | North Fork/George Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |