LuHi's Tommy Bressmer steps up to the plate (and behind it)

Tommy Bressmer knew the moment he heard it his season was about to drastically change.

Bressmer, standing on first base after a single, heard when catcher Griffin King got hit by a pitch for the Long Island Lutheran baseball team last week. By the sound alone, he knew it was serious.

“It sounded like it completely shattered,” Bressmer said.

King suffered a broken hand. Bressmer instantly knew someone was going to need to do something uncomfortable and take over behind the plate.

And he wanted to be that someone.

“I just wanted to help my team out,” Bressmer said. “I like to call myself someone who always likes to help the team out and that was a need. With Coach Manning relying on me as one of the leaders on the team, I thought it would have been my duty to step up.”

Bressmer said he hasn’t caught since around age 10, but he was willing to take on that challenge at a pivotal position.

“I kind of knew right then and there when it happened that I was probably going to have to, but I was also willing to do it,” Bressmer said. “It was something I was thinking about even at the beginning of the year. I figured it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

Bressmer, primarily an outfielder, is committed to play at St. Peter’s University. He hit over .400 last season. He’s a five-tool player that also pitches for the Crusaders. He’s proven throughout his three years at LuHi that he’s willing to do basically anything for the team.

“It feels good knowing I get to leave my mark on the team as the dude who stepped up when he didn’t have to and played a position he was unfamiliar with and did what he felt like he needed to do to help the team out,” he said. “And I hope the younger guys recognize that as they get older.”

LuHi, which went 17-7, has won the last two PSAA titles – in large part to a neighborly connection. Michael Malherb, a senior outfielder/pitcher, and Bressmer live five houses away from one another in Floral Park. They’ve played baseball together as far back as they can remember.

Malherb has developed a knuckleball, which Bressmer has experience catching in a casual setting. But the two believe their chemistry off the field will translate as a battery.

“I’m a little nervous but I definitely have a lot of confidence in him,” Malherb said. “I threw a bullpen with him and he’s catching, blocking, doing everything you’re supposed to do. When he takes the gear off, you can see the sweat so that’s how you know he’s putting in all the work.”

The Crusaders don’t want to dwell on the previous success. They want to take home another title.

“I think they are very motivated,” coach Shaun Manning said. “They’ve seen what it takes to win and they’ve continued in that footprint and model and picked right up where we left off.”