Sports Chatter By Andy Loigu

Anthony Veniziano became the first Warren Hills Blue Streak to play in a major league baseball game when he came in from the bullpen for the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, September 26. Now, as this is being written, he has appeared in one more game and still has yet to yield an earned run. After 2.1 innings of work in the American League, he still had a perfect ERA of 0.00 as the Royals went into the final weekend of their season.

His call-up from Triple-A affiliate Omaha occurred on September 19, which perhaps non-coincidentally, marked the nine-year anniversary of the death of Anthony Veneziano II, his father.

Veneziano told the media that his father always gave him confidence he could make the grade in baseball, if he kept playing and learning from coaches and successful players. He recalled watching Andy Pettitte pitch for the Yankees. Since Pettitte, just like Veneziano, was a tall lefty on the mound, he held the Yankees’ big-game ace up as a good example to follow.

At 6-5 and 205 pounds, Veniziano was the starting center on the Warren Hills basketball team. Many told him he could earn a college scholarship pulling down those rebounds on the basketball court, but his choice, when it came to his future, was baseball. He said his dad had a lot to do with the decision. “When I went to Coastal Carolina to play baseball, I knew that’s what dad would have wanted,” he stated. One of America’s most successful baseball programs, Coastal Carolina has now sent 15 players into the majors.

Veneziano said he also often remembers an inspirational former high school teammate, Evan Murray, who died while they were high school athletes. He said his heart is solidly connected to Warren Hills, because he got support and encouragement from the many friendships he was blessed with there. The Blue Streaks were a marvelous baseball team that was well coached and boosted by a legion of loyal fans, as was the sectional champion basketball team.

Since he was drafted in 2019 by a team situated on the western side of our great nation, Veneziano played in minor leagues which were far away from home, in Arizona, Iowa, Arkansas and Nebraska.

He struggled in Double-A (5.72 ERA) but he never gave up on himself, and neither did the Royals, who promoted him because he was showing improvement. He gained the kinds of skill sets and command of an arsenal of pitches that it takes to get big league hitters out.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.