Two years ago,
Tyler Buffett walked off the mound in a state of shock.
The right-hander — then a sophomore — had just given up eight runs in the first inning of his team's eventual 4A state baseball championship game loss to Piedra Vista (Farmington).
"I felt defeated, just terrible," said Buffett, who stars for
Albuquerque Academy. "But that game is one of the biggest reasons why I've improved over the years. It really humbled me a lot and drove me to get better."
Tyler Buffett, Albuquerque Academy
Courtesy photo
It shows. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound right-hander has been nearly untouchable ever since, with last Friday's start against Miyamura (Gallup) being the prime example. Buffett, an Oklahoma State-signee, needed just 70 pitches to throw his fifth complete game of the season, leading Academy to a 2-1 win in the opening game of a best-of-three series to open up the state playoffs.
The No. 6-seeded Chargers (16-9) went on to sweep Miyamura and now play No. 3 Farmington (20-8) in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Buffett's latest performance — he's 6-2 with a 1.69 ERA and has 62 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched — was a masterpiece.
"He's been our horse all year, and to average 10 pitches per inning shows just how efficient Tyler has become," Academy coach Andy Williams said. "He really challenges hitters and makes them put the ball in play, but at the same time he's got put-away stuff and can rear back and blow one by a hitter if he needs to."
Buffett has an assorted arsenal of pitches at his disposal, including a fastball that regularly tops out in the low 90s, along with a wicked slider and darting change-up. Buffett throws all three pitches from basically the same arm angle and release point, making it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball.
"My slider is eight to 10 mph slower than my fastball, and my change-up is a little slower than my slider," Buffett said. "I was really excited about my last start because one of my goals is to be as efficient as possible."
Williams was even more proud of the fact that his ace once again showed resolve in a situation where everything was on the line. Miyamura put runners on second and third base — the tying and potential go-ahead runs — with one out in the top of the seventh inning. That's when Williams took a visit to the mound to discuss strategy with Buffett.
"I was thinking about putting the No. 8 hitter on to get to the No. 9 hitter," Williams said. "But Tyler wouldn't have it. Then he strikes out the eighth hitter and gets the next guy to pop out to end the game. As a coach, that's what you want to see in a player, to step up in a moment like that."
Ever since Buffett started pitching at the age of 11, he's shown a nonstop and hyper-competitive drive to be the best. A year after Piedra Vista pummeled him in the state championship game, Buffett was once again on the mound against his one-time nemesis, this time in the state semifinal round. Although Academy lost again, 3-2, in nine innings, it was through no fault of Buffett, who went 8 1/3 innings, allowing just two earned runs in the process.
"I told myself that I would get another chance to prove I'm as good as people say I am," Buffett said. "We ended up losing, but I felt like Academy and I showed we aren't to be taken lightly. As tough as it was to get hit like that in my sophomore year, it was necessary because it quickly made me realize that I had to keep on working hard."
Buffett said he received athletic scholarship offers from LSU, New Mexico, Pepperdine, Rice and Texas Tech, but it was Oklahoma State that had him at first pitch.
"I love the campus, the town, and if I wasn't going to play baseball, Oklahoma State was the school where I wanted to go," Buffett said. "But they have a pretty good baseball team, too, so it was a great fit."
When Buffett is not pitching, he plays catcher or third base. Talk about a dual threat: Buffett leads the Academy starting lineup in batting average (.383), doubles (10), RBIs (25) and slugging percentage (.531). Williams has seen firsthand Buffett's enormous talents.
"Tyler does something in practice all the time where you say, ‘Man, this kid is special,'" Williams said. "We know his future is well beyond high school baseball."
Buffett's Twitter handle, Candyman1111, has a unique story behind it. Buffett's grandfather, George, who died last year, started Buffett's Candies in 1956, a landmark store in Albuquerque.
"My grandfather was known as the candy man, so I went with it," Buffett said. "I was pretty close to him, and he definitely got the most out of his life. I'm going to focus on that and get the most out of life and my baseball career."
