Ken Klee
Smithtown East Entering Uncharted Territory
50 wins over the previous three seasons. That’s what Smithtown East was able to accomplish thanks to a seemingly never-ending pipeline of pitching talent coming through the system that has extended back into the middle of the decade. While they weren’t ultimately able to get over the hump and capture a County Championship they were firmly in the mix in each year under Head Coach Ken Klee. They were eliminated by Longwood in 2019, Connetquot in 2018 and Ward Melville in 2017. The core of those teams were pitching – specifically upperclassmen. The 2020 team was going to be built similarly as Klee noted he had 15 seniors on the team last year. Four of them are currently playing in college and they are Mike Ciminiello (Seton Hall), Nick Dagnello (Charleston), Ryan Klee (Ander...
Smithtown East Looking To Break Down The Barrier
By Joseph Langan Over the past five seasons, there hasn’t been a team more successful during the regular season than Smithtown East. Unfortunately, they have been unable to get over-the-hump in the postseason and capture that elusive county championship. As they prepare to hit the field for their 2020 season, coach Ken Klee and his team “prepare to be successful every game.” Coming off a 17-5 season, Coach Klee is no stranger to regular season success, but when it comes to the playoffs, things haven’t gone as smooth. With Coach Klee well aware of his team’s talented roster and championship potential he “expects to win a championship” adding “there is no backup plan.” With that, he is also well aware of his teams past shortcomings, explaining that “the last two years we did not ...
Smithtown East With Unfinished Business in 2019
Heading into the postseason as the number one overall seed in 2018, Smithtown East seemed destined to become Class AA County Champions. After finishing the regular season with a League III regular season title and a record of 16-2, they went on to lose two of their three playoff games and were eliminated as a result. Obviously, they picked a bad time to play their worst baseball of the year, losing to Bay Shore and Connetquot. Returning 15 players from last year, however, Smithtown East expects to repeat their success from last season, while altering the ending with a County Championship. Given the talent they have, they know this is a very attainable goal and they have been knocking on the door for the past several seasons. The clear strength of Smithtown East is their returning pitchers....
Will Kennedy: Why I Committed to Hofstra
Editor’s Note: Will Kennedy is a 2019 LHP from Smithtown East. He plays his summer ball with the HDMH Titans. After a terrific summer season in which he went undefeated, he also dominated down in Fort Myers, FL where I watched him throw 4.2 shutout innings with six strikeouts in a victory. He committed to Hofstra University last Friday. The following words are his own.) The recruiting process started for me when Titans recruiting coordinator Tom Downey met with me and my family to go over what I needed to do to prepare for being recruited. He advised to me to figure out a major I was interested in, how far away I was willing to travel for college, and when I should be taking standardized tests. He also outlined how important my GPA would be in getting aid from schools. He was very in...
