Ward Melville Not Taking Anyone Lightly in League I

Ward Melville has been a Suffolk County powerhouse since Head Coach Lou Petrucci took over in 2007. The effervescent skipper is not one to take credit for that success, though.

“Like the great Jimmy Leyland said, ‘A great coach has great players”, he said.

They have certainly had some sensational players in recent memory. They’ve had two Carl Yastrzemski Award winners in A.J. Nunziato (2007) and Steven Matz (2009) and two Paul Gibson Award winners in Anthony Kay (2013) and Joe Flynn (2015).

But Petrucci said they will not be taking anyone lightly this year with the level of competition across League I. “Sachem East will shock everyone this year–mark my words.” He added that teams like Pat-Med, Brentwood, Longwood and Lindenhurst have legit players all over the diamond and there will be no easy games–especially having to face pitchers like Josh Rovner and Anthony Siroka twice each.

“We can’t ride on the coattails of Steven Matz and Anthony Kay forever,” he said.

Now they will be looking for someone to fill the shoes not only left by those great players but also the talent that graduated in 2016 that were a part of the 16-win team that made another postseason appearance. They graduated Nick Vitale (NYIT), Troy Davern (Monroe), Dominick Lamonica, Pat Morelli and Brandon Lee. That group made an impact on the program for their grittiness and ability to win close ballgames. Morelli was an All-County player that drove in 30 runs but opted to play football at Hamilton.

Fortunately, they have plenty of talent in their dugout this year again.

The staff will be led by Siena-commit Ben Brown. The 6’7″ RHP put himself on the map in 2015 with an 8-win season as a sophomore for a team that made it to the Suffolk County Class AA finals. Last year, he had an emergency appendectomy which was a life-threatening situation. Petrucci noted they are lucky to have him back.

He will be the No. 1, and he will be joined by UCONN-commit Max Nielsen. The southpaw fired two one-hitters as a freshman last year and Petrucci stated that he is working on a slider to add to his repertoire.

“He’s going to have to prove himself this year–he’s got to be consistent, throw strike one and he’s got to throw his curveball for strikes,” he added.

Rounding out the rotation will be sophomore Matt Digennaro.

Handling the pitching staff will be catcher Tom Hudzik. His brother, Matt, was the League I MVP in basketball this season and will be the closer.

Petrucci is very high on SS Logan Doran. He stated that he is a very “heady player and is a big-time prospect” that used his glove to win two games last year picking off runners. He started at third base last year but will be making the shift to the middle of the diamond. He’s been getting plenty of looks from Div-I programs and his academic prowess will put him on the radar of several elite schools.

“There’s a ton of good shortstops in League 1 this year,” said Petrucci. Playing alongside him will be the underrated Michael Sepe, who had a fantastic showing in the Dominican Republic last month.

Center field will be patrolled by Monmouth-commit Joey Rosselli. He possesses great speed and is a three-year starter for the Patriots.

Petrucci stated that he will be using several pitchers in the first week to see what they can do. They will be opening up against Brentwood with Brown taking the hill.