Seaford varsity pitcher is truly one of a Kind

Seaford High School senior Billy Kind said he was so excited that he couldn’t fall asleep just hours after pitching a perfect game in an 11-0 win over Locust Valley on April 25. For his achievement, Kind was named Newsday’s Athlete of the Week on April 28.

“I was definitely in shock,” Kind said. “It was unreal, because I kept thinking about how many things happened in the game — my teammates saved me a few times, for example. So many things could have happened or gone wrong, but they didn’t. It was perfect.”

Kind struck out five batters in the game, and threw only 70 pitches.

“He’s everything that you could possibly ask for from a frontline pitcher,” Mike Milano, Seaford’s baseball coach and a history teacher, said. “He gives you everything he’s got. . . . He’s physically gifted. He’s a big, strong kid with great legs for the position, great arm action and a great work ethic.”

Kind, who attended Seaford’s Harbor Elementary School, has played baseball since he was 3. He played competitive baseball from a young age, bypassing the kinds of youth clubs where a tee is used after a player strikes out. He then played at Seaford Middle School and for the high school’s junior varsity team — although his freshman season was cut short by the pandemic.

Kind, who also plays first base, has committed to attending Adelphi University in August, and plans to pitch for the school next season, in addition to studying math education.

“They’re going to get a kid that’s going to improve every year,” Milano said. “They’re going to get a kid that cares, a kid that was raised right. They’re going to get a kid that really understands the game and loves baseball.”

Kind could follow in the footsteps of Seaford alumnus Sean Nolin, a 2008 graduate who pitches for the Miami Marlins. Nolin previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Oakland Athletics and the Washington Nationals.

Kind has nothing but good things to say about his baseball upbringing in Seaford. “Coach Milano puts together a plan for every single day in every part of practice, and he always does it in a way that best suits our upcoming schedule,” Kind said. “It always prepares us. Mr. (Michael) Spreckels always helps me and the whole baseball team stay in shape and healthy with his athletic training.”

Kind, a Mets fan, said that David Wright was his favorite player when he was growing up. He added that his all-time favorite pitcher is Corbin Burnes, of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Despite his personal success, Kind said he is keenly aware that baseball is a team effort, and he gave credit to his teammates. “My catcher, Stephen Ierides, was especially helpful in that game against Locust Valley,” Kind said of his fellow senior.

Outside of baseball, Kind enjoys fishing in the bays and ocean and visiting the beach.

“Professional leagues are obviously the dream,” he said of his potential career. “But whenever play ends for me — hopefully not soon — I’ll probably go into coaching and teaching.”