Double threat

???Very few baseball teams can get their hands on a player who can not only pitch well, but also provide consistency in the batter's box.

???Buffalo is very fortunate to have a two-way player of its own.

???Junior Chris Ciesla has been hitting and pitching since his sophomore season with the team, and has become the leader in both areas for the Bulls.

???Ciesla grew up in Endicott, N.Y. before he even thought about playing baseball in college. When he first got his hands on a baseball, he knew he loved the game.

???"My brother used to play baseball and my dad started me out in little league when I was five or six," Ciesla said. "I've loved it ever since."

???Ciesla brought this love of the game to Union-Endicott High School. Playing baseball wasn't all fun and games at first for Ciesla. He had a tough tryout his freshman year and didn't make the team. This small setback only increased his motivation to do his best out on the diamond.

???"I stuck with it though and tried out the next year and made it," he said.

???It was a decision the team would not regret. Ciesla went 7-0 as a senior pitcher with a 0.61 ERA and was named fourth-team All-New York State. He also played on Union-Endicott's state championship team in 2003.

???Bulls head coach Ron Torgalski saw a lot of promise in Ciesla as a high school player.

???"I started recruiting Chris out of high school," Torgalski said. "He was a great kid and wanted to get better and was serious about his academics as well as baseball. We wanted guys who could come in and handle the academic load as well as perform for us."

???Ciesla liked what he saw out of Torgalski and the rest of the baseball program. He was also being recruited by Siena and LeMoyne at the time, but Buffalo ended up being his final decision.

???"Two of my best friends were coming here, and it's a lot easier coming here with them than being alone," he said. "Plus, it's a Division I program, and I knew we'd be faced with some good competition, so it would be a great experience for me."

???Ciesla started with Buffalo as a pitcher, but soon realized that he also wanted to hit. With some encouragement from his teammates, he took the initiative to try and get into the lineup.

???"My friends told me to ask Coach if I could hit, and I did all right so he put me in the lineup my sophomore season and I ended up doing both."

???The experiment proved to be successful. In his first season as a pitcher and a hitter, Ciesla led the team with three home runs and 34 runs batted in. He was named Mid-American Conference Player of the Week during the season and had numerous multi-hit games.

???Torgalski liked what he saw last season. In the future, he plans to use Ciesla even more.

???"He's going to be a two-way guy for us," he said. "First, he's a very good pitcher. Last year we used him as an outfielder and [designated-hitter], so we're going to throw a lot at him. He'll pitch and get a lot of innings for us, so he'll be seeing quite a bit of time in different spots, wherever he gives the team the best chance to win."

???Ciesla doesn't mind the expectations that come with being a two-way player. He also likes what he sees with this year's team.

???"I'm real excited," Ciesla said. "This is the best team I've seen since I've been here. We have a lot of good pitchers which can go a long way and our offensive lineup is the best I've ever seen it."

???Ciesla isn't ruling out possibly making it to the big leagues after college. He also sees coaching as a possibility as well as something else a little unexpected.

???But for now, Ciesla is concentrating on helping Buffalo make the MAC Tournament for the first time since joining Division I.