Like most stories related to Sachem history, this one came about by stumbling upon something interesting. The trophy cases in the gym lobby at Sachem High School North are ripe with history going back decades, artifacts that tell stories, and memorabilia that honors hundreds of graduates.
In the baseball trophy case there are a handful of balls representing notable moments from Sachem’s illustrious 60-plus years on the diamond. One ball stands higher than the others, elevated on a trophy made of bronze bats with a black base that reads, “Sachem’s First No Hitter, John Russ, May 26, 1965.”
Decades before Sachem pitchers like Neal Heaton and Mike Parisi would play in the big leagues, it was a gentleman by the name of John Russ who made Sachem history and tossed the first gem for the Flaming Arrows.
The name Russ stood out. Ron Russ taught science in Sachem for nearly 30 years, so there was an initial inkling that they were related and sure enough the dots were connected; Ron is his younger brother. Phone calls were made, and even a handwritten letter was sent to John at his home in Arizona and this story came to life.
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Russ was a righty hitter and southpaw on the mound, who threw fastballs in the high-80s, and breaking pitches to compliment his speed. He wasn’t afraid to work around the plate and often had hitters backing away and guessing at his pitch selection. He threw five no-hitters as a youngster in the local Babe Ruth League.
Moving to Sachem from Brentwood in middle school, he began playing ball for the Flaming Arrows in ninth grade at Sagamore, which then housed grades 7-9.
When he wasn’t pitching, Russ played outfield and he could hit too. His only home run came as a senior.
“They had to send out two cut off men to get the ball because we didn’t have a fence,” he recalled. “Mr. Kreutzer measured it the next day and measured it where it hit the ground, 415 feet or something and rolled another 50 feet. By the time that happened I was sitting on the bench huffing and puffing.”
Even with two varsity no-hitters under his belt by the time he graduated, Russ’ fondest memory from the mound is when he faced Smithtown’s John Curtis, who enjoyed a successful collegiate career at Clemson before spending 15 seasons in the Major Leagues, most notably with the Red Sox. He threw upwards of 90 mph in high school and had a .400 batting average as a senior.
“One game we had a pitchers duel,” Russ said.
The battle was waged directly at Curtis, who happened to strike out four times and lower his batting average significantly after that game.
“I kind of killed it for him,” said Russ.
A three-sport athlete, Russ also played football at Sachem, and was a member of Kerry Lawler’s 1965 and 1966 varsity squads, as well as the basketball team. Baseball was his true love.
“We always had a respectable team considering we were the youngest school in that division,” he said. “We were a fairly young school and we didn’t have the population that we would have.”
Sachem’s senior class in 1965 had 305 students compared to the 1,100-plus senior pool in the district now split between two high schools.
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After high school, he played a little semi-pro all and made a few try outs with the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. He recalls throwing three-innings of no-hit ball in front of a Braves scout at one point.
Russ said the scout told him, “‘it’s a shame the government draft will get you before we can draft you.’ Everybody was getting drafted.”
In the late 1960s, most people weren’t fixated on high school baseball. The Vietnam War was in swing and Russ would soon be on a new team. After graduating from Sachem in 1967, Russ was drafted to serve and endured two tours of battle.
“I always think about playing baseball,” he said. “I played a lot of baseball, but the draft got in the way. It was kind of a big obstacle.”
Russ hurt his shoulder when he was blown into the air by a mortar.
“We lost a lot of guys in mid ’60s,” said Russ, who moved to Arizona in 1987 and went into air conditioning and refrigeration. “We lost a lot of [Sachem] classmates. I don’t remember how many we lost, but we lost a good percentage of guys I graduated with.”
There’s no telling if Russ would have played professionally, or cracked a big league roster. The percentages are slim, but he was ahead of the curve at the time making multiple big league tryouts. Sachem has graduated 50,000-plus students since its first class in 1959. Of those 50,000, four were drafted by Major League teams, two played in the big leagues and a smattering of others played in the minor leagues with free agent contracts. It’s not easy.
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During the district’s 10th anniversary of existence, and Russ’ sophomore season at Sachem High School, he completed a task that was largely unexpected. Late in the season, during just his second career varsity start, Russ retired 21 Deer Park High batters (seven innings) without allowing a hit. Sachem won, 2-0, on the road against the Falcons.
“I didn’t know about it until after the game was over,” Russ recalled. “I started putting two and two together why everybody stopped talking to me during the game. They wanted to leave me alone. After the game, everybody started jumping all over me. [Sachem coach] Fred [Kreutzer] said it was first no-hitter in the history of Sachem High School.”
Later that season Russ said he two-hit Deer Park in 2-0 shutout, and two years later he threw Sachem’s second no-hitter at home against Port Jefferson High.
It’s been 48 years since that road game against Deer Park. Nearly half a century since Russ really recalled the moments, the jubilation after the game, the convo with Kreutzer what signified it was the first Sachem no-hitter. It’s been awhile. Russ said he doesn’t remember much about the day, or his mood, but, “it couldn’t have been too bad,” he said. “You’re kind of in a zone. I was in the zone.”
You never know what’s at the bottom of a trophy case.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro