LI's Kourie and Ducks are perfect match

Jon Kourie always had designs on being a Long Island Duck. As a sophomore at Oceanside High School in 2000, the Sailors won the Long Island baseball championship on the Ducks' home field before going on to win the state tournament upstate.

Even then, it seemed somehow preordained that the 27-year-old Kourie would find himself back at the home of the Ducks, now Bethpage Ballpark.

"We won it here, and I guess I just had a feeling," Kourie said before the Ducks' 6-2 loss Friday night in their home opener against the Bridgeport Bluefish. He went 0-for-3 and played rightfield. "I just had visions for myself that I would be here."

Kennard Jones hit a pair of solo home runs for the Ducks.

Kourie, after graduating from Oceanside in 2002, played two seasons at Briarcliffe College before transferring to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

After some semipro ball, he graduated to the professional ranks in 2010 with the Washington (Pa.) WildThings of the Frontier League and hit .301 in 47 games. Opportunity knocked when the Ducks invited Kourie to spring training, and the utility man impressed the organization with his "jack of all trades" arsenal.

"He knows his role, as far as not playing every day, and he accepts that," Ducks manager Kevin Baez said. "You always see him hitting, taking ground balls and fly balls, hitting in the cages and working out."

Early-season injuries to outfielders Lew Ford and Matt Esquivel shifted the starting lineup, "I always hoped to start the home opener," Kourie said. "Unfortunately, a couple of guys got injured and you never want to see that happen, but it gave me a great opportunity to play tonight in front of my family."

His mother, father and two of his three brothers were there to watch his first home game. "To see him out there and playing rightfield, it's just fantastic," said his father, William Kourie. "And looking at all the people around here, that gives me great pride.

"He has been chasing this for a long time. To see him play with former major-leaguers is just a great feeling, and I know he feels like he has paid the price to get here."

Before the game, Kourie shared another vision, one that would take him where 11 of his Ducks teammates have been before. "I also envisioned myself in the big leagues," Kourie said. "It's still a dream of mine, and I will do everything in my power to climb that ladder. But the Ducks is something I always felt like I would be a part of."