By Matt Schneidman
June 30, 2014

Grant Kay made his debut with a bang. Photo by Joe Cavanaugh

On Sunday, Grant Kay (Louisville) stood in a gray Louisville t-shirt as he watched Cotuit fumble its way to a one-run loss against Wareham.

Twenty-four hours later, he made his Cotuit debut with a bang.

Kay went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and a RBI, which came when he annihilated a solo home run over the left-field fence in the sixth. The bomb made it 10-4 in favor of Cotuit in a game that was hardly ever in doubt, as the Kettleers (9-9) powered their way to a 16-6 thrashing of Bourne (11-7) at Doran Park on Monday night.

“I just got lucky,” Kay said. “Got a call from Coach Roberts and I’m on the team now, so I’m excited.”

Kay started at second base, but said he is capable of playing anywhere on the field except pitcher and catcher.

Even though head coach Mike Roberts knows he can put the utility man anywhere, he was impressed with what he saw on Monday as the Lousiville rising senior was involved in turning multiple double plays.

“I just see a really mature player,” Roberts said of Kay. “I thought he looked really good at second base tonight.”

In his second at-bat, Kay beat out an infield single and eventually came around to score on a Jackson Glines (Michigan) RBI single.

He then walked and after Austin Byler (Nevada) singled to center, Roberts put up the stop sign as Kay approached second. Kay ignored it and trucked to third with ease, eventually scoring on a Jake Fincher (North Carolina State) triple.

It’s those kinds of instinctive decisions where Kay trusts his own abilities that already show Roberts the kind of player Kay is.

“In this league, you make progress, you have a chance to be successful because you get mature players,” Roberts said. “And he’s obviously a very mature player.”

It’s already evident that Kay will fit right into Roberts’ speed-happy baserunning style, but he didn’t have to worry about being thrown out running the bases after sending a first-pitch curveball well over the left-field fence in his fourth at-bat.

The ball seemingly hung in the air forever and as left fielder Brett Sullivan (Pacific) drifted back, he eventually ran out of room as the ball finally dropped from the stratosphere.

“I just got a first-pitch hanging breaking ball, and I didn’t try to do too much with it, just tried to put a good swing on it,” Kay said. “Our whole team really hit the cover off the ball today.”

And that it did.

Sixteen runs for Cotuit on 16 hits and the Cardinal got in on the fun.

First impressions are always important, and on a day where every Cotuit starter registered a hit, Kay certainly got his fair share.

Said Kay: “It feels great to just get back out here and play the game I love so much.”