Chris Roller playing a dependable centerfield for Ducks
The Ducks' Chris Roller bats against Lancaster on Sunday at Fairfield Properties Ballpark. Credit: George A. Faella
Before Long Island Ducks outfielder Chris Roller became a professional baseball player, another Chris shined in the family.
Roller’s mother, Kappy Allen, and her horse, Risky Chris, won the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Title in 2000, four years after her son was born in Texas.
“Seeing her put the work in, day in and day out, and achieve the goal she had set out to achieve to be a world champion,” Roller said, “I give a lot of the credit to her for my success.”
“Seeing her put the work in, day in and day out, and achieve the goal she had set out to achieve to be a world champion,” Roller said, “I give a lot of the credit to her for my success.”
Perhaps Roller learned from the rodeos he grew up watching, something that saw the centerfielder place third on SportsCenter’s Top 10 after a tremendous lefthanded snag over his shoulder against Staten Island on June 26.
Roller is one of two Atlantic League centerfielders to have surpassed 400 innings played, making zero errors in that span with a position-high 127 putouts. It’s that reliable defense in the outfield that led him to be called up for his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in May 2024.
Even that memorable day wasn’t without its chaotic moments.
“You work your whole life to get in that position,” Roller said. “They let me know the night before, I flew out there and got there 15 minutes before the game . . . It was a dream come true.”
Just over a year later Roller stands at the ready for Long Island. Troy Viola could certainly say the same.
Pinch-hitting for catcher Chris Suleski, Viola stroked one to deep leftfield to clear the bases for a walk-off, three-run double. His hit capped a five-run ninth inning as the Ducks battled back to beat Lancaster, 6-5, Sunday afternoon at Central Islip’s Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
“You got to stay ready, and when your number gets called you got to be ready to go,” Viola said. “You’re on the bench all day, watching and hoping the guys put something together as they did in the ninth. Just to get an opportunity at that moment is incredible.”
Tim Melville started and earned the win, conceding three hits and four unearned runs across six innings with five strikeouts. Second baseman Ed Johnson had a dominant day for the Ducks (2-4, 37-32), going 3-for-3 with a triple, a walk and a run.
Flores, Town earn All-Star nods
Catcher Ronaldo Flores and outfielder River Town were named to the midseason Atlantic League All-Star team this week.
Flores, who was placed on the seven-day injured list on July 7, led the league in batting average (.362) when healthy. The 23-year-old has 30 RBIs and seven homers through 46 games.
Town boasts a .335 average with 42 RBIs, 32 walks and 20 stolen bases through 63 games. His .430 on-base percentage only trails Lancaster’s Mason Martin and Lexington’s Brady Whalen among players with at least 200 plate appearances.
First half in the books
Long Island enjoyed a strong first half of the season, placing second in the North Division with a 35-28 record from April 25 to July 6 after going 30-33 a year earlier.
The Ducks also finished the first half with the second-fewest runs allowed with 327, averaging just over five runs allowed per game. That only trailed first-half South Division champions High Point, which held the best record in the league at 41-22.
Long Island has Monday off before traveling to Staten Island for a three-game road series.
Michael Sicoli covers high school sports for Newsday. He graduated from Quinnipiac in 2022 and left with a master’s degree in sports journalism in 2023.
