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06/17/2015 12:00 AMAfter a year hiatus, the Madison Senior American Legion Baseball program is back in 2015 with a new leader and youthful bunch who are ready to produce an upstart club in Zone 3.
Jeff Buck takes the reins as skipper for Post 79 with assistants James Powell and Jason Vitale at his side. While Buck is glad to see this highly competitive level of the sport return to Madison, he’s additionally pleased with how his athletes are handling the packed schedule that accompanies Legion ball.
“I’ve always been a fan of American Legion Baseball and its competition. I like the series format of the scheduling. It gets you into that college/professional-level atmosphere. You get to play teams in a series and play them as hard as you can. The kids are trying to play at that next level, so you have to get used to the constant games with not too much practice time and have them learn from their experiences in games,” said Buck. “A personal goal of mine this year is to just see them get better over time because they are very young with the average age of the kids on the team being 16-17 years old. They are playing versus mostly seniors on the other teams, yet they are competing with them, so I’m happy about that.”
Even with the youth factor, Madison will still look to a strong core of veteran leaders this year in pitcher Joe Hill, Ray Miklos manning the hot corner at third, Blake Egan at catcher on the heels of his freshman year at Colby College, plus hurler Brian Anderson.
“Joe Hill was one of the captains last year [for Madison AAU 19-U Travel ball] who just finished off his senior year at Hand. We will look for him to be a big contributor on the mound,” Buck said. “Ray is a big bat in the lineup. He is in the No. 3 spot and has been tearing the cover off the ball. Even when he is out, he hits it hard. Blake Egan has been a strong catcher. Brian Anderson is coming off of an injury, but he is a good pitcher that also gets on base.”
Buck’s club also boasts potential sparkplugs in pitcher/first baseman/right fielder Ryan McAneany, pitcher/second baseman/right fielder Magnus Grigor, catcher/third baseman/pitcher Matt Sampson, and outfielder/pitcher Rob Bordiere. Each of these athletes have already shown ability at the dish and with the leather in their multiple slots around the horn.
“Ryan has had a couple of starts already and has done really well. He’s pitched well and done well at first. He will play hard no matter where you put him,” said Buck. “Magnus has done great on the mound as he’s always good to go five innings and sometimes seven, Matt has done great catching, and Rob is starting to see the ball well and putting good wood on it.”
Post 79 concluded its first week of Zone 3 action at 2-6. First, Madison swept away zone rival Guilford on the road by scores of 2-1 and 7-6 in a double dip on June 7. For the 2-1 victory, Grigor pitched five frames while Bordiere came on for the final pair. McAneany went the distance on the bump for the following Guilford game.
Buck's boys then were swept in a three-game set versus first-place Cheshire on June 9-11 with 7-4, 8-4, and 8-2 decisions, respectively. In the series opener, Joe Hill threw for 4.2 frames while Bordiere tossed 2.1. Nine days later, Madison hosted Middletown Red for a doubleheader and dropped the series by losing decision of 9-4 and 6-2.
“I like playing Middletown as they are always good competition in our zone, as is Cheshire,” said Buck. “Our rival Guilford is also good competition, plus East Haddam is pretty good. They are building their confidence, getting used to the wooden bats, and swinging at different pitches.”
Rounding out the roster for 2015 are pitcher/third baseman/shortstop Michael Elias, outfielder/pitcher Jonathan Girardi, outfielder/catcher Sam Herwig, outfielder/hurler Cashen Keeler, outfielder James Kim, infielder/pitcher Evan Lohn, infielder/outfielder/pitcher Pat Nelson, infielder/pitcher David Nuzzo, right fielder/pitcher Aaron Rubin, and outfielder/second baseman/pitcher Ian Tolis.