Kennedy rally falls short

Two months ago, Kennedy baseball coach Eric Passman wasn’t quite sure what he had when injuries forced him to elevate a number of sophomores up to the varsity level.

Fast forward to the present, and it’s clear the Cougars are one of the top programs in Nassau County. A 3-2 loss to No. 13 Seaford last Saturday knocked No. 4 Kennedy (15-8-1 overall) out of the Class A playoffs, but in advancing to one of the last five standing the young team learned it can already stand toe-to-toe with the best in the county.

“I’ve never had more underclassmen,” Passman said. “But without the 10th graders, we’d be nowhere near where we ended.”

With a regular season Conference A-II title under their belts, the Cougars won three of five playoff games. And because of an odd quirk in the format, Kennedy actually played Seaford three times — winning once —including last Saturday.

Trailing by three in the sixth inning of the final meeting, the Cougars’ offense finally strung some hits together allowing junior Kelvin Pabon to drive in a run via sacrifice fly and junior John Hulkhower plated a second run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. “We had the bases loaded, [another time] we had second and third and we couldn’t get the big hit,” Passman said. “I give [Seaford] credit. They made the pitches and they made the defensive plays.”

Junior Justin Stybel took the loss, but it was his strong pitching—six innings, four strikeouts, two walks and just one unearned run allowed—that kept Kennedy close. “We needed someone to pitch,” Passman said, after his team played a fifth playoff game in just seven days. “We had played four playoff games and needed a fresh arm. Right from the first inning he threw differently than he did all year. He kept them off-balance from the start and that was a good sign.”