Lou Petrucci
Ward Melville Looks to Build on 19-Win Season
by Max Edelman Special thanks to Metamorphosis Landscape Design for sponsoring this year’s season preview series. Paul Gibson Award winner Charles West gets the start for the Suffolk All Stars against Nassau in the Grand Slam Challenge pic.twitter.com/cOlUKKZTMK — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) June 14, 2023 Last season, the Ward Melville Patriots rode a 19-win season to the conference finals. Unfortunately for the Patriots, it wasn’t meant to be. Head coach Lou Petrucci, who is going into his 17th season as head coach of Ward Melville, looked back on what was a good season, despite it not ending with a conference championship. “We won 19 games.” Petrucci said. “We advanced to the conference finals, it was a good season for the boys. I’m disappointed on how it ended, lost to P...
Ward Melville Ready to Continue Winning Tradition
by Andy Smith The captain delivers! Tom Ribaudo crushes a 3-R HR to give Ward Melville a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth pic.twitter.com/llOyO2d6th — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2022 Ward Melville is coming off another successful season. The Patriots finished with a record of 16-9 and qualified for the playoffs once again. The Patriots season came to an end after losing to Longwood in the Long Island Class AA Semifinals. Head Coach Lou Petrucci reflected on what lessons were learned during the season. “We learned how to battle through adversity and the importance of concentrating on every pitch.” Petrucci is entering his 17th season as the head coach of the Patriots. Petrucci, a native of Connecticut, played college baseball before taking on the responsibilities of ...
Tom Ribaudo’s Three-Run Blast Propels Ward Melville to 4-2 Win
Ward Melville catcher Tom Ribaudo following his late game heroics in the 4-2 victory over Commack pic.twitter.com/JGicHCGMmL — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 5, 2022 When Commack and Ward Melville square off, there is guaranteed to be some sort of dramatic finish. We’ve seen it time-and-time again, most notably that 2019 semifinals matchup at Ward Melville. This game did not feature nearly as much offense or ejections, but there was an exciting finish with an exclamation point from the captain. Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning against reliever Matt Mayer, Ward Melville captain Tom Ribaudo stepped to the plate after a 4-6-3 double play briefly took some of the life out of the home faithful. A walk drawn by Rob Looney flipped the lineup and brought up Ribaudo....
Ward Melville Ready for New Challenges of League II
By Daniel Lopes Phillies prospect Ben Brown (Ward Melville 2017) getting some work in. Fastball back up to 95. The 6’6 RHP has a minor league career ERA of 3.41 pic.twitter.com/zZOpsd4UDD — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) January 30, 2022 After a 13-5 season in 2021, head coach Lou Petrucci and his Ward Melville squad are ready to enter a new era of the program, as they will play in League II for the first time of Petrucci’s career with the program. “I’m going to miss all of my friends in League I,” said Petrucci. “But I’ll try to make new friends in League II.” As they make this transition, they will be without two key players and leaders who have since graduated in Luke Gacovino and Mikey Mortilla. Petrucci praised Gacovino’s ability to lead the team even during an uncertain s...
Ward Melville Excited to Start the Season and Debut New Field
On Monday, Steven Matz will start for the Toronto Blue Jays and on Tuesday, Anthony Kay will start for them. While they are four years apart and never actually pitched on the same team, the two southpaws graduating from Ward Melville HS and winding up on the same pitching staff is an incredible story. Additionally, Ben Brown – four years younger than Kay – has been steadily rising up the minor league ranks in the Phillies minor league system and has a shot to be the third Patriots to be in the big leagues at once. While he will tell you otherwise, Ward Melville HC Lou Petrucci is a big reason for that success. The Patriots head coach is as passionate and knowledgeable about the game as there is and the players gravitate towards it. And with a third former player on the cusp of ...
Kyle Brennan Living Out Dream To Coach at The Professional Level
(Photo Credit: James P. McCoy/Buffalo News) by Justin Joseph Not every athlete gets the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach the sport that they love at the next-level. Kyle Brennan, 25, got his chance on February 1st , when he was hired by a professional baseball team, in the Houston Astros system, to become a Minor League Player Development Coach at the Advanced-A level. “I was obviously ecstatic,” Brennan said regarding his initial reaction to the job offer. ”I texted my family first and then afterwards Tom Downey [who] is the Phillies scout I knew for years. He has been pulling for me to get into pro baseball for a while now,” Brennan said. Brennan began to really get serious about baseball in high school, where he played for Ward Melville. In high school, Brennan served as a capt...
Ward Melville Remains a Championship Contender Entering 2020
by Tony Genualdo Max Nielsen strikes out 18 batters to send Ward Melville to the Suffolk County AA Finals ! pic.twitter.com/RtJrqe4y4p — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 31, 2019 Ward Melville’s run to the Suffolk County title game last year was just the latest in a string of successful seasons for the Patriots of League I. Connetquot would win the championship over Ward Melville in three games, but Coach Lou Petrucci said that he couldn’t have been prouder of his team. “Our kids learned to play in some amazingly energetic and competitive environments,” said Petrucci. “They well exceeded our expectations.” Among those kids from last year were Matty Maurer and Brady Doran, two players who were dominant at the top of the batting order for the team. They would set the tables for fello...
Lou Petrucci Wins Steve Lembo Award
(Photo Credit: Ray Nelson) Ward Melville Head Coach Lou Petrucci received the Steve Lembo Memorial Award last week at the annual N.Y. Pro Baseball Hot Stove League dinner in Great Neck. Petrucci has not only been one of the most successful Head Coaches in Long Island since taking over 12 seasons ago (6 League I titles, 1 Long Island Championship) but he has sent dozens of players to Divison-I programs and an unprecedented three pitchers drafted in the past decade (Steven Matz, Anthony Kay, Ben Brown). Additionally, seven of his former players are now Division-I coaches. The Patriots have compiled a .673 winning percentage during his tenure, which trails only Tom Migliozzi, Jim Moccio and Ken Klee among active coaches with 9 or more years of experience in Suffolk County. “I wish to th...
Ben Brown on Getting Drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies
(Ben is a 2017 graduate of Ward Melville HS. He just finished up a tremendous season in which he led the Patriots to the League I title and an appearance in the Suffolk Count semifinals. He compiled a record of 5-1 with 67 K over 40 IP while allowing only 17 hits. Today he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 33rd round of the 2017 MLB Draft. The following words are his own.) So, in the weeks leading up to the draft, I knew I had a chance of having my name selected–I was invited to a few pre-draft workouts but I decided to go to the Twins and Phillies ones. They were both great experiences and there were a lot of draft picks there. I knew there was no shot I would go in the top 10 rounds, but I had an idea that I would go today but I had no clue which round or which team&#...
