Kelly leads Oyster Bay to Class B title

Chris Kelly called it his most vivid baseball memory.

He was in ninth grade and had only one varsity appearance under his belt, but his 22/3 innings of scoreless relief helped Oyster Bay clinch its second straight Nassau title.

It was, in short, the genesis of a big-game pitcher.

It stands to reason, then, that Tuesday's performance against No. 3 East Rockaway -- a 13-3 win to clinch the Nassau Class B championship at Hofstra -- was no revelation.

Kelly, one of two seniors on the team, allowed one earned run, five hits, one walk and struck out five in the complete game. He also had a two-run double in the fifth to put the Baymen up 7-1.

Around him, Oyster Bay amassed 18 hits (13 singles, five doubles) as it wore away at three East Rockaway pitchers. The Baymen, seeded first, had won Game 1, 15-6.

It is Oyster Bay's fifth straight county title.

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"I think it shows pride," said Willie Treiber, who was 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs out of the leadoff spot. "At the end of the day, we put the individual player aside and focus on execution."

Phillip Mihlstin (2-for-5, three RBIs),s aid: "It's commitment. I don't think anyone has missed a single practice."

Oyster Bay (21-1) broke it open with a five-run second inning, stringing together five straight one-out hits. The Baymen scored five more in the fifth to extend to a 10-1 lead. Every player in the starting lineup had a hit, and five had more than one.

East Rockaway finished 13-12.

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On the mound, Kelly, a soft-tossing righthander with impeccable control, flummoxed and frustrated an aggressive East Rockaway lineup.

"The way East Rockaway is, they swing at first-pitch fastball," Kelly said. "I threw maybe 90 percent first-pitch changeups."

When he needed an out, he stayed off-speed, with a 12-to-6 curve that froze hitters or induced weak grounders. "My secret weapon is that I'll throw off-speed on a full count," he said. "If I throw it well in the bullpen, I know I can throw it for a strike."

So Tuesday must've been a great bullpen session, right?

"Actually, no," he said. "I was on [four days'] rest, so I wasn't 100 percent. I thought I'd hand it to the bullpen after five."

It wasn't to be. Kelly powered through a laborious final two innings, nipping and fighting through three errors and two unearned runs as the bullpen stayed quiet.

Big-game pitchers, you know. They do that sort of thing.