by Trevor Dugan
First baseman James Millman bounces one off the wall and clears the bases to give Clarke an early lead!
Clarke 3 – Carey 0
End first pic.twitter.com/q5dK9n2ufw— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2026
A bases-clearing double and complete game shutout propelled W.T. Clarke High School to a 6-0 victory and 1-0 series lead over H. Frank Carey High School Thursday in the Nassau County Class AA Quarterfinals.
Both teams entered their first head-to-head matchup of the season on the heels of a playoff victory over Long Beach. Carey defeated Long Beach 10-0 Monday, while Clarke defeated Long Beach 13-1 the very next day to set up Thursday’s matchup.
Hofstra-commit and senior Matthew Kurz took the mound for Clarke, pitching seven shutout innings to lead the Rams to victory with some early help from his offense.
Following a quick and easy top of the first, Clarke grabbed the lead on their first trip to the plate.
Three walks by Carey starting pitcher Luca Lentini loaded the bases for junior first baseman James Millman, who drove a fastball to the left field fence to score all three runners and give Clarke a 3-0 cushion.
Millman finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored in Thursday’s win.
One inning later in the bottom of the second, Clarke added to their lead when junior designated hitter Nick Buffolino drove home junior third baseman Vincent Juliano with an RBI groundout to stretch things to 4-0.
Kurz could have lived with just one run the way he was pitching Thursday. The Division-I bound right hander needed only 83 pitches, 52 of which were strikes, to finish off his complete game, and recorded just two strikeouts, a testament to the faith he has in his defense.
“I just wanted to throw strikes and attack hitters, I know my boys behind me will make any play,” Kurz said after the win. “We have all the confidence in the world right now, our goal is a state championship, and we just need to stick to what we’re doing and succeed game to game.”
Clarke got him a few more insurance runs anyway. Left fielder Luke Walker roped a line drive down the left field line for an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-0 Clarke. Then, the Rams got their sixth and final run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Buffolino to push their lead to 6-0.
Kurz strands a runner on second to keep his shutout going
Clarke 5 – Carey 0
Mid sixth pic.twitter.com/mwT39ngltU— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 14, 2026
Buffolino finished Thursday 1-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Kurz tossed a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to finish off his complete game shutout and an impressive 6-0 victory for Clarke, moving them to within one win of the Nassau County Class AA Semifinals.
This year’s Clarke team is no stranger to postseason play. No player on the current roster has ever missed the playoffs as a member of Clarke’s varsity squad. But head coach Tom Abruscato says this group has improved in some key ways.
“All the seniors this year were starters on the county championship team two years ago,” Coach Abruscato said. “This year there’s been a major improvement from them with regards to maturity and decision making, and that’s been a big difference.”
Clarke will look to end Carey’s season and move one step closer to a second county championship in three years in Game 2 of their series Friday, May 15, at H. Frank Carey High School.