Pierson Honors One of Its Own, Then Beats Glenn for Third Straight Win

A little over two weeks ago, Kyle McGowin received a text from his godmother Karin Schroeder asking him if he could come back to his hometown of Sag Harbor on April 19, which was this past Saturday. It didn’t take too much digging to find out why.

McGowin, 33, a 2010 Pierson graduate, was honored by the Sag Harbor School District in front of about 250 fans at Mashashimuet Park on Saturday for what has been a successful Major League Baseball career, and one that is still ongoing. He threw out the first pitch to Brian Schroeder, who is more or less a little cousin to him, prior to the Pierson varsity baseball team’s game against Elwood-John Glenn, and then Schroeder and the Whalers handed a plaque to McGowin. The plaque, which includes photos of him as both a Pierson Whaler and Washington National, explains his career highlights and it will be installed somewhere near the Pierson High School gym.

“It’s something we’ve talked about for a while, my family, former coach Sean Crowley and everyone else,” said McGowin, who now lives in Florida. “Karin put it into motion, which was pretty awesome.

“It’s always nice being home,” he added. “I don’t get to come home too often during the season, so having a moment to come home, especially on a nice day like today, it’s always nice.”

McGowin was a solid pitcher for Pierson during his high school years, but it wasn’t until he got to Savannah State University in Georgia where he really started to develop into a Major League Baseball prospect. Eventually, he was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the fifth round of the 2013 draft and played in the organization until 2016, when he was acquired by the Nationals. He made 48 appearances with Washington from 2018-2021, and even earned a World Series ring with the organization in 2019. In 64 ⅔ Major League innings, he’s struck out 77 batters over his career.

The long work stoppage in MLB in 2022 more or less forced McGowin to take that season off, but he was right back at it in 2023, latching on with the Houston Astros’ triple-A affiliate, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, and pitched for the Chicago Cub’s triple-A affiliate, the Iowa Cubs, last season.

McGowin plans on playing this season for the Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic League — the same league the Long Island Ducks play in — but he said, “hopefully I’m in and out of there pretty quick,” as he hopes to get scooped up by another MLB team sooner rather than later.

“I was [in Charleston] last night. I threw a bullpen yesterday and I go back and throw live tomorrow,” he said just prior to taking the mound on Saturday. “Hopefully, I can go there and show teams I’m ready to go.”

Beating Port Jefferson at Mashashimuet Park was probably his most fond memory of high school baseball, McGowin said, but also playing for his hometown Sag Harbor Whalers of the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League was something he also appreciated.

“That was the one we always circled in high school was Port Jeff,” he said. “But there are a lot of memories here. We went to counties and all that summer ball with the Whalers was always fun. I made a lot of friends playing on those teams, people who I still talk to till this day, which is pretty awesome.

“It’s been a long career,” McGowin added. “I’m 33 now and still going. I’m happy with where I’m going and the fact that I’m still able to play baseball.”

After the festivities, Pierson and Glenn took the field for a game that was almost two in one. The Whalers broke out for six runs through the first three innings of the game, plating four in the bottom of the third. Lucas Iulo had scored on a wild pitch, Braeden Mott doubled in Max Krotman and then Schroeder had the big hit in the inning, a base hit to right field that scored both Mott and Jeffrey Gregor.

Schroeder said it was nice being a part of the win and also catching the first pitch from McGowin.

“I feel like it’s going to be a thing that’s going to be talked about a few years from now,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to be a part of.”

The six runs seemed to be more than enough for Pierson starting pitcher Spencer Cavaniola, who worked around a walk and a single in the first inning but settled in nicely from there. He allowed two unearned runs on one hit and two walks while striking out eight.

“I was just trying to keep focus with me and the catcher and just hitting my spots,” he said. “I wasn’t trying to walk anyone, just trying to put the ball in play.”

But the Knights didn’t go down quietly. They scored five runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined, and by the time the top of the seventh came around, it was a close 8-5 ball game. Pierson turned to Paul Roesel to close the game and he got the first two batters to ground out quickly, but then he walked a batter, allowed a single and an error, allowed one of those runners to score making it just a two-run game. But Gregor gunned down a base runner caught off first base to end the game.

After losing six games in a row, the Whalers have won three straight after back-to-back victories over Southampton last week prior to the win over Glenn. Pierson head coach Bob Manning said it’s nice to see his team playing well and winning games going into what is really the most important part of its schedule now facing all fellow Class B teams going forward, starting with Port Jeff on Tuesday.

“When we sat down at the beginning of the season and looked at the schedule, we knew our opponents were going to be tougher, there was going to be more games, it was going to be more taxing and we talked about adversity,” he said. “We faced that adversity early and they responded. They beat the teams that they should have beaten and as a unit they have improved every single day. So we’re moving in the right direction and really excited about what the rest of the spring has to offer.”

Andy Wayne, who surpassed 100 career strikeouts on the mound in a 6-0 win at Southampton on April 16, said it was good to put that losing streak behind them.

“We’re all looking forward now,” he said. “I think we’re a good team and can beat all of these teams.”

Cavaniola added that it was nice to score some runs, and to that point, Manning and his assistant coach Tyler LaBorne noted that the team went for what felt like a week where it didn’t score any runs. In reality, it was just three games, but the offense has seemed to have awakened, having scored four runs or more during the three-game win streak.

“It was brought to my attention that we didn’t have a walk today and we had one hit batsman, so we manufactured all of those runs with timely hitting, heads-up baserunning and capitalizing on their mistakes,” Manning said. “It was a total team effort.”

Manning said McGowin being present at Saturday’s game certainly helped fuel his team and he thanked everyone for putting it together.

“Kyle being a former Whaler gives these guys a little bit of insight that it’s possible for them, that this small town on the East End isn’t overlooked,” he said. “These guys can do the same thing that he did. Having him down here with the fans definitely had us amped up at the beginning of the game. We love the atmosphere, it was great. Shout out to all the parents, the school, to you guys, for being out here and supporting us and Kyle like that. It’s a real community feel and we felt it today, so I’m happy to get the win. These guys had a blast.”