Sports
Great Start For Freshman Flamethrower Max Bruckner
This week's athlete of the week is Harrison sophomore Max Bruckner for his fantastic week with the varsity baseball team.
Going into last week Harrison's varsity baseball team had the difficult task of playing four games in five days, three of which were on the road.
With the difficult schedule ahead, Harrison's head coach Marco DiRuocco challenged his squad to win two of the four games against some of the best competition the section had to offer.
The Huskies were up for the challenge as they went 2 - 2 and beat Byram Hills twice in one week. On Monday the Huskies won a nail-biter against the Bobcats 3 - 2 at home and later in the week, on Wednesday, the team traveled to Byram Hills and relied heavily on one of their youngest players to lead them.
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Sophomore Max Bruckner was given the opportunity to start for Harrison on the mound and bat in the middle of the Husky lineup. The prototypical high school sophomore may have succumbed to the pressure of just one of these tasks. But not only did Bruckner meet his coach's expectations, he exceeded them.
After a loss on Tuesday the team needed a solid pitching performance from Buckner, they needed both quality innings and longevity from the sophomore. He did not disappoint, on the mound Bruckner gave the Huskies six innings of work only giving up three earned runs. He also collected four strikeouts and only two walks. He was the team's winning pitcher in Wednesday's 13 - 7 win.
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As good as Bruckner was on the mound he was equally spectacular at bat. He was inserted into the lineup for Wednesday's game and made it impossible for Harrison's coaching staff to take him out of the batting order later this season.
In the win at Byram Hills Bruckner was 5-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and a game high four RBI. His day at the plate gave DiRuocco the confidence to keep Bruckner's bat in the starting lineup in the team's final game of the week at Horace Greeley.
"Max had a tremendous game on the hill for us, he was around the plate all day and he has really impressed us this year," said DiRuocco. "At the same time he has been a big part of our offense. We gave him an opportunity to hit the ball today and that's exactly what he did. He left it all out on the field today, he is a hard worker and an intelligent player."
In Friday's game against Greeley Bruckner played an error-free first base and went 1-for-3 with an RBI, Harrison lost the game but Bruckner added to his season statistics and may have established himself as a mainstay in the heart of the Harrison batting order.
DiRuocco summarized Bruckner's fantastic play this week best.
"Max had one heck of a week for anyone," said DiRuocco. "Let alone a sophomore."
Best of luck and continued success to Max Bruckner, Harrison Patch's athlete of the week for April 18 - 24.