Tags Posts tagged with "Chris Buehler"

Chris Buehler

by -
0 2968
Chris Buehler hurls a heater. File photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon & Desirée Keegan

There are a few more Ward Melville pitchers following in the footsteps of alumni Steven Matz, Anthony Kay and Ben Brown.

Senior Chris Buehler and junior Max Nielsen are being added to Lou Petrucci’s pitching prospect pack after strong first starts to the season.

Max Nielson fires from the mound. Photo by Bill Landon

Buehler notched six strikeouts over four hitless innings in the Patriots’ 5-0 season-opening win over William Floyd Colonials March 26. Ethan Farino went two innings and Drake Eggleston pitched one in the combined one-hit shutout.

“We’re just a bunch of guys that are all one big family — we’re all brothers,” said Buehler, a lefty who’s committed to Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. “We’ve been working hard in the offseason. I think we’ll be pretty good this year.”

Nielsen secured his first “W” of the year in Ward Melville’s 6-1 home victory against Patchogue-Medford Raiders the next day.

“We just have to get the bats going this season, we’ve got to hit the ball because there’s a lot of great teams in our division,” said University of Connecticut-bound Nielsen. “Pat-Med always gives us a great series.”

Nielsen’s got the pitching and the hitting taken care of. The junior lefty had a two-run single in the top of the sixth inning to give Ward Melville a 3-0 lead over William Floyd. Senior shortstop Logan Doran had an RBI-single in the seventh inning of that game. He and his brother Brady hit doubles in the win against Patchogue-Medford.

“We’re ready,” said Logan Doran, who noted it was a bit challenging getting ready for the season indoors. “Our pitching is still dominant across the Island, but our hitting has stepped up. [We’re starting] the season with the mindset that anybody can beat us, taking nothing for granted.”

Logan Doran celebrates scoring a run. File photo by Bill Landon

Senior center fielder Trevor Cronin said his team will continue to capitalize on two of its strengths.

“We have a size advantage,” the captain said. “But our pitching [is great], especially with guys that work this hard.”

Buehler said the Patriots have a target on their back, but said his team feeds off of that.

“We just have to limit the mistakes — limit the errors — limit [our] strikeouts and we have to score runs,” Buehler said. “Our biggest challenge this year is putting some runs together, but if we play small ball, I think we can win some games.”

He said he sees Sachem East being one of Ward Melville’s biggest threats. After hosting Longwood April 2 at 10 a.m. and Brentwood April 3 at 2 p.m., the Patriots will be put to the test. They’ll face the Flaming Arrows on the road April 5 at 10 a.m.

“I think they’ve done a great job in their offseason workouts, especially this winter,” Petrucci said. “When the kids look up to Steven Matz, Anthony Kay and [most recently, Ben Brown] — they’ve all been an inspiration to all of us — the pitching staff has taken on a whole new dimension here at Ward Melville.”

by -
0 150
Chris Buehler hurls a pitch. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Just call on Joseph Rosselli to get the job done.

Tom Hudzik lays down the bunt while Joseph Rosselli races across home plate for a 2-0 lead. Photo by Bill Landon

Ahead 1-0, the race was on for the Ward Melville senior who was attempting a move that hadn’t been successfully completed since 2006. With a big leap off third, he rushed toward home following a successful Tom Hudzik bunt for a suicide squeeze that put the Patriots up 2-0 en route to a 4-2 win over Brentwood May 1.

“Coach Lou [Petrucci] brought us in and told us he wanted to attempt it,” Rosselli said. “The batter’s got to make contact with the ball because if he doesn’t, I’m out 100 times out of 100, so the pressure was on Tom Hudzik, and he came up big for us today.”

As the Brentwood catcher chased down the dribbler, Rosselli snuck across the plate, and although Hudzik was tagged out, his job was done.

Brentwood responded in the top of the second when Cooper Maselli blasted a home run over left center to make it a one-run game. A shot to center field that caused a collision placed the tying run at first, but starting left-handed pitcher Chris Buehler fanned the next two batters to extinguish the threat.

“I had my stuff, but I was leaving some pitches up,” Buehler said. “I got them down and then I felt I could go the distance. They had their ace throwing hard, good pitches — good curves, so we just had to get a couple of runs.”

James Curcio dives to make a catch in center field. Photo by Bill Landon

Petrucci had all the confidence in his starter.

“He’s a competitor and an outstanding young man,” the head coach said. “He’s not fazed by these big situations.”

Even after Brentwood made it a new game with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth, and Maselli threatened to make matters worse for Ward Melville with a shot to deep center that after some debate wound up a ground-rule double with no outs, Buehler made sure Maselli never made it further than third. Then, his Patriots worked to get those runs he was talking about.

“Chris Buehler struck out three good hitters,” Petrucci said. “He concentrated. He’s been a great force for us this year — he’s 4-0 so far — he’s our Monday guy.”

After a base hit by junior Trevor Cronin, sophomore Max Nielson smacked a ground-rule double of his own. With two outs, a walk was drawn to load the bases, and Rosselli moved into the batter’s box. The senior waited for his pitch, and jumped on a fastball. He sent it deep to right field for a two-run double and a 4-2 lead.

Brentwood made three running errors over the next two innings, and Ward Melville’s defense made its opponent pay each time to preserve the lead.

“Once we give our dominant pitching staff a lead, it’s almost always a solidified [win],” Rosselli said. “So once we got that 4-2 lead, everyone settled down a little We put our faith in our pitchers, and that’s what we’ve been doing all year.”

Vinny Pepitone grabs the ball before tagging out the runner. Photo by Bill Landon