And because of that, put their best defensive players on him, he’d still make the catch. He likes that type of best-on-best competitiveness in football, and there’s a lot of areas in football where he excels.”īuda will be taking his talents to Hobart and William Smith Colleges to join the football team, but said he’ll never forget where he came from. He was very coachable - anything I told him to do, he’d do it. “Right off the bat I knew he was going to be a playmaker,” Colucci said. He said too it was a privilege to watch Buda excel the way he did. Being a teacher at Northport he’d coached Walsh on the junior varsity level. His two-year head coach Rocco Colucci said for him personally the moment was fitting. Gavin Buda rips the ball deep into the outfield during the Blue Chip Prospects Grand Slam Challenge. A step ahead of the defender, he said there was no way he was letting the ball drop. Knowing Northport quarterback Ryan Walsh, he said during the call in the huddle he told Walsh he could beat out the kid that was guarding him deep. In the Empire Challenge game, he made a 30-yard reception during a play he wasn’t even slated to be a part of. “To get on the mound and face those guys one last time was a great way to go out, and luckily, I did pretty good.”Ī week later, he’d put down his glove and bat to strap on some football equipment. “To end my high school baseball career being selected to play alongside players that were drafted to the MLB or heading off to colleges like Vanderbilt to play baseball is just awesome,” Buda said, although he joked if he let up a homerun he might not have been as happy. The pitcher and outfielder took over on the mound in the bottom of the fifth and retired the side in order. Joseph’s College, Buda tossed a baseball for what might be the last time. In Suffolk County’s 5-4 loss to Nassau June 8 at St. “He was a special player, and what really stood out at the end of his tenure wasn’t even so much what he did at the plate but his defense in the outfield and ability to pitch were huge.” “From a young age you could tell the kid was super athletic - he stood out among his peers, and from there, he put in a ton of hard work to really hone that and continue to stay ahead of the pack,” said Harborfields baseball coach Casey Sturm, who coached Buda since he was in seventh grade. Gavin Buda makes a catch between two Rocky Point football players during Harborfields’ homecoming spoiling win. He said winters were intense, spending time indoors at batting cages while also gearing up for the fall football season, working with trainers like Jay Fulco, Mike Bouranis, Mike Feldman, James Brady and Jay Fiedler.īuda this month became the first Suffolk County athlete to play in both the Rawlings Blue Chip Prospects Grand Slam Challenge and Empire Challenge football game, with Wantagh’s Ryan Sliwak achieved the feat in 2011. Buda said he had no idea the history he’d made at the time he was selected.

He never gave up on either sport, spending three days training for football and the other three for baseball. The knowing that you have each other’s backs - that feeling made me think if I work hard enough, this is the sport I’d like to play beyond high school.” “This bond that is created between teammates that only happens in football. “There was a feeling I got playing football that I never felt playing baseball,” he said. The team went undefeated, and the wide receiver was hooked. “It just seemed my path was set to play baseball in college,” he said.īut during his sophomore year, he decided to try out for the junior varsity football team with some of his friends.

He played for the varsity team from freshman through senior year of high school, also competing on high-level travel teams and tournaments in other states. File photo by Bill Landonīaseball was his first love, he said, signing up for every team he could play on. “I’ve been playing sports as far back as I can remember.” Harborfields wide receiver Gavin Buda waits for the ball to drop along the sideline during the Empire Challenge football game. “True story,” the Harborfields dual-sport standout athlete said. Gavin Buda hurls a pitch during the Blue Chip Prospects Grand Slam Challenge all-star baseball game.

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