(Editor’s Note: Max Nielsen announced yesterday that he has decided to transfer to University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). He played his freshman season at UCONN but decided to transfer to Saint Anselm’s but has since changed his mind. He had Tommy John surgery last month and will likely miss the 2021 season.)
When he was in sixth grade, Max Nielsen remembers going to the Ward Melville varsity baseball games watching Anthony Kay star for the Patriots.
That was in 2013 when the southpaw was dominating Suffolk County hitters and leading the Patriots to the Long Island Championship.
Six years later, it was Nielsen who was the key piece to the Patriots claiming the League I title and making a deep postseason run once again into the semifinals of the Suffolk AA postseason. They won the league title four of his five seasons on varsity.
The hard-throwing Nielsen was the recipient of the coveted Carl Yastrzemski Award, which is given annually to the top player in the county. He went 5-1 this season with a 1.44 ERA while notching 103 strikeouts including 18 in a dominant complete game shutout against reigning Suffolk AA Champion West Islip late last month.
“This award just represents how much my coaches, friends, teammates and family have helped me,” said Nielsen. “This means more to them than it means to me,” he added.
Nielsen was already a terrific performer on the mound and at the plate but he took his game to new heights this season after working out all off-season with 2008 Yaz Award Winner A.J. Nunziato whom he said he “trusted 100 percent.”
The Patriots have a storied history and have become one of the dominant programs on Long Island under Head Coach Lou Petrucci.
While Steven Matz put the school firmly on the map in 2009 after getting drafted by the New York Mets and since pitching in the World Series in 2015, the program has also sent Anthony Kay and Ben Brown to professional baseball.
If he continues on his current trajectory, there is no reason to think Nielsen won’t join that group.
For now he is focused on the next phase of his career which will be at UCONN in the fall.
“I just want to make an impact on our team in a winning way and help the team to succeed.”
Other Notable Awards: Joe Savino (Connetquot) captured the Paul Gibson Award given to the top pitcher in Suffolk County and Mike Draskin (Hills West) captured the Silver Slugger Award given to the top hitter in Suffolk County. Matt Brown-Eiring (Connetquot) was named Large-School Playoff MVP and David Falco (Center Moriches) captured the Small-School Playoff MVP, helping Center Moriches finish off an undefeated season and winning their second straight Class B State Championship.
