To Tyler Durkin, playing for and representing the Ketcham baseball program is a privilege, one that he’s been able to experience for nearly five years ever since joining the varsity squad as an eighth-grader.
Experiencing every single emotion from winning a state title in 2023 to losing back-to-back state championship games the following couple of seasons, there are few things the star two-way player hasn’t seen or felt on the diamond. With just a couple months until his seemingly endless ride with the program comes to a close, he wants to finish out representing the program that he’s grown up with in the best way possible.
“Everyone as a kid always grows up wanting to play for Ketcham baseball. All the kids go to the game and dream about ‘that’s going to be me soon,’ that’s a big reason for the success. Everyone knows the dynasty and the standard we play at.” Durkin said in an exclusive interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal.
More than just a piece of the puzzle for a program that has won four straight Section 1 championships and seven out of the last 15 in total, Durkin has proven himself to be a leader and one of the most consistent forces in the lineup for the past few seasons. It’s something he doesn’t take lightly given the significance of what Ketcham baseball means.
“I like to be in the spot, I want to be relied upon and I want to be trusted to make the big play,” he said. “I think I have the experience of seeing a lot of baseball, playing with a lot of great guys and just been under a lot of wings, especially coach [Pat] Mealy. I just feel like we have a trust in each other.”
Playing at a program with so much tradition and has reached the state title game each of the last three seasons, there’s really only one goal in mind for the team this season. Seeing so much baseball, though, Durkin knows that it’s not a quick and easy process to get back to that stage. It truly is a day-by-day and game-by-game approach, something he’s trying to instill with a team full of veterans.
“It’s obviously something we can’t think of right now, but it’s definitely something that’s obviously going to be in the back of our mind. We want to get there and we want to win,” he said. “Just working hard every day, I think that’s why we had such a successful season last year … I was really proud of us. Just to go into this year with pretty much the same team, it gives a lot of confidence knowing we can hang in there and we can win.”
While the playoffs will seemingly come out of nowhere, there’s still ample time for Durkin to try and enjoy every single aspect of his senior season. Despite being in the middle of the schedule, it still feels unreal to the five-year varsity player that his days as a member of the Storm are coming to an end.
“It’s actually insane to think that I’m a senior now. I’ve always thought about when the other senior night’s go past I was like ‘Oh that’s so long away,’ and know mine’s in two weeks,” He said with a smile and a slight laugh. “It’s just crazy to believe how fast it’s gone by.”
The days of donning a Ketcham jersey are coming to an end, but the story of Durkin on a diamond is nowhere near being complete. Committing back in August of this previous year, the 2025 All-State third team member made his decision to play collegiately at Division 1 St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey.
While admitting that he focuses more on his game on the mound as a pitcher, the Peacock program gave Durkin the opportunity to do something that a lot of other schools weren’t – he’s going to be a two-way player. Getting that nod of confidence, trust and more opportunity to get on the field and play was a big deal in Durkin’s ultimate decision to commit to the school.
“It means a lot to have another coach believe in you, wants you to be a part of their program and thinks you can be a big help.”
More often than not, it’s unique for a high school program to have multiple people in the same class commit to play into college. For Ketcham, it’s just another season. By the time the end of the fall came around, Durkin was one of eight players on the team to commit to a school at a ceremony. Joining him was Nick Mondesando (Monmouth), Josiah Figuereo (Farleigh Dickinson), Christian Maltais (Endicott), Giancarlo Henry (Mahattanville), Ensley Perez (Cortland), Shane Finnigan (Manhattanville) and Chris Lupo (Herkimer).
Getting the opportunity and chance to continue each of their baseball dreams was something that was truly special for Durkin.
“It’s great, just to see all of your boys be able to go play in college, it’s something we’ve all been talking about since we were young,” he said. “We all earned it and we all worked hard to get here.”
He’s been playing with his boys for what seems like forever at this point. Forever comes to a close soon, but he’s still trying to create one more legendary season for such a heralded program on the diamond.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Durkin determined to lead Ketcham to glory with senior season underway
Reporting by Eric Decker, Poughkeepsie Journal / Poughkeepsie Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
