(Photo Credit: D1baseball.com)
by Vinny Messana
For the man who lives and breathes Ward Melville baseball, there’s not much sweeter than having two of your ace pitchers drafted by the New York Mets within seven years of each other.
“This does not happen,” said Petrucci on the incredible distinction of having Steven Matz drafted No. 72 overall in 2009 and now Anthony Kay drafted No. 31 overall.
Kay pictured with his family after getting selected by the Mets
“Today is the second best day in the history of Ward Melville baseball–behind Steven getting drafted. This would not have been possible without Steven Matz,” he added.
Like Matz, he is a southpaw that dominated League I baseball like very few pitchers in Suffolk County history have. During his junior year, he won the Paul Gibson Award (given to the best pitcher in the county) for his unbelievable season that included 0 ER in 53 IP. He followed that up by leading the Patriots to the first Long Island Championship in school history over Massapequa. He won four playoff games that season, with all of them coming on normal rest–according to Petrucci. They were fortunate to have Chris Cepeda and Greg Coman alongside him in the rotation–both Div-I caliber arms.
Where he differs from Matz is his durability. While Steven has undergone Tommy John surgery and been sidelined with a lat injury last year, Kay has not missed a start in seven years.
He pitched three seasons at UCONN, where he quickly established himself as the Friday night starter as a sophomore and proved his mettle by dominating in the Cape Cod League and while pitching for Team USA.
This season he was 9-2 with a 2.65 ERA over 17 starts for the Huskies. He fanned 111 batters over 119.0 IP.
Additionally, he is “more of a practical joker” than Steven Matz, according to his former Head Coach.
“Anthony used to turn Joe Flynn’s bag inside out every day before practice,” he said. “And I used to tell him, ‘you’re messing with a kid that got a 33 on his ACT.”
One thing that’s not a joke is his performance on the mound. As a freshman, he defeated my alma mater, Centereach HS, in the playoffs with a 5-1 victory. The Centereach lineup hit .375 as a team and it included one of the top hitters in the county, Nicholas Luciani, as well as All-State second baseman, Andrew Abreu, and All-County third baseman, Bret Derosa, as well as New Paltz’ commit Matt Dixon.
Kay went 5-1 as a freshman and Petrucci knew he was going to be good–maybe not special, though.
It has been a roller coaster of emotions for Petrucci, who recently had his house burn down. Even so, he maintains a positive disposition and remains one of the friendliest and most upbeat individuals you can meet.
“God only gives us what we can handle,” he told me.
“The fire took my house, but look what the baseball community gave us today.”
