Evan Kay strikes out 11 to give Commack its second straight Long Island baseball crown
Commack pitcher Evan Kay completes the 2-1 win for the Long Island/Southeast Regional Class AAA final in Selden on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
Over the past few years, the Commack baseball program has been as dominant as any on Long Island.
And perhaps no single player has been more dominant than righthanded ace Evan Kay.
The Suffolk Pitcher of the Year worked at a lively pace Saturday, striking out 11 with no walks in a four-hit complete game to lead the Cougars to a 2-1 win over Farmingdale in the Class AAA championship game at Middle Country Athletic Complex in Selden. It was Commack’s second straight LI crown and third in the last four years.
“I was talking to some alumni yesterday; we had a fundraiser event at the Ducks game for the late Bryan Bonin, our former coach,” Commack coach Matt Salmon said. “A bunch of alumni [are] asking me about Evan. And I said, ‘Guys, he’s the best competitor I’ve ever coached.’ He has this look in his eyes almost like he can control the outcome.
“He’s got great stuff, but a lot of people have great stuff . . . The other guys feed off of Evan. He believes, and everybody starts to believe. He’s more impactful than anybody.”
Commack (18-8) will play Section V champion Fairport or Section VI winner Lancaster in the state semis at 7 p.m. Friday at Mirabito Stadium in Binghamton. Farmingdale finished 19-8-1.
“Going into it, try to just avoid thinking about the game a lot, just go and spend time with friends and stuff, before the game even,” Kay said. “This is the best one I’ve had here.”
Commack’s Dean Vincent opened the scoring with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first, poking a 2-and-2 pitch to left-center to drive in eighth-grade catcher Robbie Mascia.
Kay worked a flawless first two innings, striking out five of the first six batters he faced. He allowed back-to-back one-out singles in the third inning but got outs on his next two pitches and retired the next seven batters after the consecutive hits.
“I work so fast,” Kay said. “I get that ball, I catch it on the mound and get going.”
Farmingdale righty Jordan Welch settled in, too. Welch allowed five hits and tossed a crisp 72 pitches in six innings.
Matt Shovelson was inserted as a pinch hitter to start the bottom of the fifth and singled to right-center. Michael Heller bunted Shovelson to second and Mascia came through with an RBI single to give Commack a 2-0 lead.
Farmingdale cracked the scoreboard in the sixth. James Sebber reached on a leadoff bunt single and advanced to second on the errant attempt to get him at first. Joe Tagliavia moved Sebber to third and Welch drove him in with a long sacrifice fly in foul territory in right to make it 2-1.
Kay then struck out the side in the seventh.
“Welch is a stud,” Kay said. “To be able to compete against a couple of my guys over there, it felt great.
“But this is what I do.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.