At LI Ducks open tryouts, about 45 players take shot at their baseball dreams

It was Saturday morning and Matt Crowe had nothing do, so he decided to try out for the Ducks. In reality, it took a little more planning than that, but that was the idea at its core. For Crowe and the approximately 45 other men who came to the Ducks open tryout Saturday at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, the picture-perfect afternoon offered them a shot at a dream and a chance to continue their baseball career.

Crowe, a Malverne native pitched in the Chaminade program from 2011-2015, hadn’t played since high school – opting for rugby in college. He said he worked out for the last three months to try to get back in pitching shape, losing 20 pounds in the process.

"I’ve always had a really strong arm and I thought that if I was ever going to give it a try, I’d give it here," said Crowe, 24. "[The ballpark is] close. It wasn’t going to have to be some overnight stay or anything. I just thought, ‘why not?’ I had nothing to do on a Saturday morning, so might as well."

Participants paid $100 dollars to try out (or $125 if they waited until Saturday to sign up). They spent the morning working on individual drills and played a game in the afternoon.

Crowe faced three batters, walking two and striking out one.

"I haven’t pitched in a while, so I was expecting to be a little wild," said Crowe, who is close to finishing his graduate degree in management at Iona College. "My command was off, but the movement was good enough for me. Hopefully they like what they saw, and we’ll see."

The Ducks season begins on May 28 against the Lexington Legends in Central Islip. It will be their first season since winning the Atlantic League Championship in 2019. They did not play in 2020 after attempts to gain an exemption from the state’s decision not to allow fans into professional sports venues were unsuccessful.

Decisions on who from the tryout will be brought back to spring training, which begins on Monday, will be made either late Saturday or Sunday, Ducks manager Wally Backman said.

"We were looking for a really solid outfielder, one that could be a fourth or fifth outfielder, and a catcher that we could use in the bullpen," Backman said. "…There were a couple pitchers that really interested us. We’re going to talk about all those guys and just kind of go from there."

Backman continued: "From what we’ve seen, there’s a possibility that we’ll bring, maybe, three of them to spring training and see how they do against some live hitting."

There certainly is precedent for tryout attendees making the roster and having an impact. Pitcher Brandon Sherman of Island Park was invited to camp off the 2019 tryout and made nine appearances during the Ducks championship run. Pitcher Jason Creasy tried out in 2018 and later had his contract purchased by the Diamondbacks.

"We’re looking for guys that can come in and fill a role if we lose a player," Backman said.

Creasy, a North Carolina native, also proved that being from Long Island is not a prerequisite to having success at the tryout. Kilian Bloat of upstate Liberty drove approximately 2 ½ hours Saturday morning to try out. He said he had friends who live on Long Island and told him about the tryout earlier this week.

"I’m always in baseball shape," said Bloat, 23.

Bloat, who is getting his master’s in school counseling at LIU-Post in Brookville, played college baseball at Chicago State University and Prairie View A&M University in Texas. The outfielder had a single, walked, and struck out during the tryout.

"It was different," he said. "When I was younger, I did showcases, so it was kind of like a showcase. There’s always the good and the bad. I got lucky. I faced good competition."

Rivera Gone

Former Met T.J. Rivera had his contract purchased by the Pirates this weekend, Ducks president and general manager Michael Pfaff confirmed on Twitter. Rivera, who played 23 games with the Ducks in July of 2019, re-signed with them last Monday.