Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

A long season will get a little longer for Alaska’s Matt Way, who pitched this summer in Texas before coming to New York this week to rack up more innings.

He has joined the Long Island Ducks for their playoff push in the Atlantic League. Way will make his first start today.

“I’m focused on having a solid outing,” he told me.

The 25-year-old lefty had a superb summer for the Lerado Lemurs, leading the American Association in wins [10], strikeouts [112] and complete games [6].

Way, of Sitka High fame, will head to Australia after his stint in the Atlantic League playoffs.

“I’m mostly heading out there to work a regular job, hang out, see Australia and then pitch a little in December and January to get ready for spring training,” he said.

“I’ve got some friends out there. From what I hear, Australia’s economy is doing pretty well. There are a lot of jobs there. At first I’ll probably work construction. My dad worked construction. I can pull my weight doing that.

“I plan on surfing a lot. It’s really why I’m going.”