When Gary Kucich was looking to expand the brand of SSK Baseball, he did the smart thing–he looked at the youngest, brightest stars in the Major Leagues and was able to ink them to deals to wear their gloves. Their list of MLB players reads like an All-Star roster with players like Ronald Acuna Jr, Javier Baez, Fernando Tatis Jr, Bo Bichette, Robinson Cano and Noah Syndergaard.
“The brand in the past year has really been recognizable by everybody because of our social media and–of course–our great players,” said Kucich. “We have some of the best young players in baseball. Those players, along with our social media, has really helped elevate the brand and we’re no longer ‘who’s SSK?’ people really recognize SSK and when they buy our product, they really see the craftsmanship and the pride that goes in to every product,” he added.
So why were they interested in partnering with a Long Island-based travel team that is in their fifth season?
Enter Cristian Lynch, the founder of the Long Island Strong. He’s an individual that has really put his blood, sweat and tears into building his own organization. The 2013 graduate of McGann-Mercy HS has built up the organization into one of the up-and-coming programs on the island. In 2019, they really took off. Their scout team featured 14 players that went on to play at the college level. Lynch played a big role in that. Here’s where they are currently at.
Sean Coveny – Binghamton
John Doughery – NY Tech
Elian Pimentel – Herkimer CC
Brad Sakellarides – Herkimer CC
Jose Matos – Adelphi
Steven Murphy – Adelphi
Nick Lopez – Adelphi
Blake Bergen – Concordia
Nolan White – Farmingdale State
Derek Shreve – St. Joseph’s LI
Corey Tingo – Mercy
Jake Parisi – Manhattanville
Ethan Angress – CCNY
Griffin Bell – CCNY
Lynch is a sales ambassador for the SSK brand and he developed a relationship with Kucich which is where the story begins.
“He’s been doing a lot and buying a lot of product for SSK and he’s a strong believer in SSK. We started talking and he’s got this team that is a powerhouse 17U team that’s going to be traveling along the nation and playing in tournaments and SSK has been looking for a special team to be called our first SSK team. In talking to Cris and looking at his roster, we came up with SSK Strong and we’re really looking forward to working with him and this is my first day actually seeing them. Cristian is a really special sales ambassador and I just think this is going to be a long-lasting relationship and I’m really here to help these kids and take SSK to the next level and hopefully take the Strong to the next level as well,” he added.
One aspect that makes the team unique is the presence of President of Operations, Jarad Vollkommer. If you’ve been following us, you are probably familiar with him as the Assistant Director of Performance at Infiniti Sports Performance in Bellport. He has an undying passion for how to bridge the gap between scientific research and application that will give his athletes a competitive edge in enhancing their on-field performance.
Having a coach on staff that can bring that expertise to the table plus having played at a competitive program like Center Moriches is a great combination.
Their 2020 SSK Strong team features a bevy of talented players. Here’s the list of commits so far:
Ryan Brewer – Johns Hopkins
Andrew Smith – Queens
Joe Pasqua – Adelphi
Jacob Pedersen (2021) – Adelphi
Danny Deutsch – Manhattanville
Jackson Baris – NYU
Ryan Smerechniak – Ithaca
“We think it’s best to keep the same kids together throughout the program so that it’s like a small community in a way,” said Vollkommer. “This is now the fifth year we’ve been an organization and every year we kept getting better and better, winning a lot of tournaments and getting exposure to a lot of colleges. Even colleges coming down to our winter workouts is really great. The biggest thing for us is that we care so much about this game. Cristian and I are up at like 11:30, midnight talking about these kids and about what college we think is best for them. Along with the training that we do on the side–we start October 1–I don’t think anyone else is doing. We are sold on the philosophy of getting bigger, faster, strong and more athletic. Trying to develop through out the fall and entire winter that way by the time they get out the field they are more than ready to get out and play baseball.”
The players have enough that as well. Jackson Baris, who recently committed to NYU and also attended our Ducks Stadium Showcase is one of their top pitchers in the organization.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here so much the guys all respect each other, you’re not just a number. We’re a family. Everybody goes to the games, everybody is chatting it up–we’re all friends,” he added.
(If you would like to join the Strong you can contact Cristian at 631-294-4669)
