Sunday, June 15, 2025
Even in setting a school all-time mark with 17 strikeouts on the day – a game-high in Nassau this spring – Kennedy pitcher Derek Yormack found he’d been overshadowed.
By himself.
Leading his Cougars to a 10th straight win – a streak that has stretched to 14 games at Herald press time – Yormack used his record-setting outing to hurl his first no-hitter, blanking league foe Long Beach 6-0 at home on April 24 as Kennedy stayed unbeaten in Conference AA3 baseball and secured first place.
Encapsulated in the sophomore righty's epic individual effort is a notion that’s also borne out in season leaderboards: If someone this spring’s going to upstage a Cougar, likely as not, that player will be a Cougar.
“Derek works hard and he’s been great for us,” Cougars coach Mike Gattus said of last season’s AA3 Pitcher of the Year, who in 25-plus innings this season has yet to surrender an earned run. “And really this year we had strong offseason commitments from everyone. Now a lot of our guys are doing well.”
Ranking first and second for home runs in Nassau are Kennedy’s Ryan Yormack – Derek's identical twin and last season’s Player of the Year in AA3 – with eight and Cougars senior infielder Vito Mannino (6), while Derek – whose five wins (5-0) rank No. 1 in Nassau (tied) – has four blasts tying for fourth-most in the county.
Kennedy’s torrid two-way production is reflected in the club’s spate of ongoing blowouts dating to April 24, which has seen the Cougars outscore opponents 58-2 across five matchups. On May 1 at Hewlett, Kennedy matched its highest margin this spring in a 15-0 league romp over the Bulldogs, the Cougars paced by All-County senior Eli Lowenstein’s homer and 3-for-5 day at the plate, while Derek Yormack fanned eight in four innings en route to his fourth win.
Identified early by opposing coaches as one of this spring’s teams to beat in Nassau Class AA, Kennedy (15-2, 12-0 AA3) has revealed few if any holes in its roster. Teams prematurely heaving a sigh at missing one of Yormack’s starts have found little comfort facing senior Cougars right-hander Zack Adelstein (3-1, 1.35 earned run average), or relievers Cenzo Caravello and Alex Demas (2.05, 2.86 ERA, respectively).
“The depth of our pitching has been great,” Gattus said. “Some of our relievers are talented enough to be starters.”
Added Gattus: “But also, up and down the lineup we’ve been hitting very well, with great approaches.”
Kennedy, as a club, is batting .488, paced by Ryan Yormack’s blistering .568 average, followed by Lowenstein (.512), Derek Yormack (.511), Demas (.394), outfielder Aaron Zacharia (.375 ) and infielder Frankie Stella (.345).
No less dauntingly, the Cougars teamwise sport a .504 on-base percentage, with six regular players posting on-base-plus-slugging figures above 1.00 – Ryan Yormack the team leader at 1.523.
A 20-win season last year saw Kennedy advance the county finals for the first time since 2019. On pace to enter this month’s playoffs as a top seed, Kennedy, it seems, is taking a businesslike approach as it barrels towards the postseason.
“We just focus on ourselves,” Gattus said. “We're very excited for the players this year, and we'll see where it takes us.”
