Author: Vinny Messana

With about six weeks remaining in the MLB season, most of the key awards are becoming extremely tight. This will add intrigue to a season that will feature little-or-no-drama in many of the division races unlike the past two seasons. Here is my take on the AL MVP. AL MVP: 1) Miguel CabreraStats: .360 AVG, .452 OBP, .689 SLG, 40 HR, 120 RBI, 89 R, 306 TB, 72 BB Cabrera looked at his 2012 numbers an...

Seven years since the apex and five years into the stadium the fans have yet to experience anything close to prosperity, aside from Johan Santana’s no-hitter on June 1, 2012 and Matt Harvey’s All-Star Game start on July 16 of this year. While not all teams are able to create a new identity immediately as the 2008 Rays did by changing their name, logo and uniform, it was realistic to ex...

In a move that is sure to bring mixed feelings to Yankee fans in the area, the Boston Red Sox have signed Bobby Lanigan to a minor-league deal. Of course, a great deal of pride comes along with having a graduate of Adelphi University given the opportunity to further advance his career after stalling in the Minnesota Twins organization. At the same time, however, Yankee fans would prefer not to roo...

Photo is credited to J. Conrad Williams Jr. Despite Mariano Rivera receiving a hero’s welcome upon entrance into the All-Star game, which was won by the American League 3-0, Joe Nathan received the save. Nathan, a graduate of Stony Brook, has been one of the more unheralded pitchers in Major League Baseball throughout his career which began in 1999 with San Francisco. Now 14 years later, Nat...

There were zero Long Islanders drafted on the first day of the draft, which included the top two rounds. That was not a shock. The next day was different. Hofstra’s Bryan Verbitsky was selected in the third round by San Diego. In a bit of a surprise, Stephen Woods of Half Hollow Hills East was picked by Tampa Bay in the sixth round. Woods, 18, compiled a 5-1 record, fired back-to-back no-hit...

Hofstra right-handed pitcher Bryan Verbitsky was selected in the third round of the 2013 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres. “So grateful and blessed to be a part of the San Diego Padres organization!! Dream come True!” Verbitsky had a solid junior season as he compiled a 3-4 record with a 2.66 ERA in 44 innings, accumulating 51 strikeouts and limiting the opponents to 27 hits and 10 wa...

Farmingdale 1 @ Ithaca 4 Coming off a big win in the opening round of the New York State Regional, #3 Farmingdale State Rams went up against #1 seed Ithaca on Thursday afternoon. They would have to face the incredibly tough pitching staff of the Bombers. Ithaca’s four starting pitchers on the year compiled a perfect combined record, going 31-0 with an ERA of 2.83, and would be sending out Jo...

It is rather ironic that the two players that I interviewed early in the season both were named All-Americans in 2013. Call it what you want, I call it impeccable talent evaluations. Dillon McNamara became the 14th Adelphi baseball player in the program’s decorated history to be named All-American, and the first since Robert Nixon went 11-2 in 2011. David Zilnicki became the first player (To...

Photo Credit: Farmingdale Athletics 2013 did not feature the firepower that 2012 did in terms of Long Island baseball prowess. To be fair, not many years ever do. There were so many impact players it was easy to confuse Long Island for a southern baseball powerhouse like Texas or California. This year there was a significant drop off, but that is not to take away from the players that are on this ...

The New York regional may be owned by Cortland, but Farmingdale is looking for revenge on last year’s loss in the finals. They defeated Neumann (29-14) 7-2, behind the strong pitching of Mike Dolce and Alex Weingarten. For the fourth consecutive year, the Farmingdale Rams have won the first game of the Regionals. They are hoping to advance to the Division-III College World Series for the sec...

The Stony Brook Seawolves will conclude their 2013 regular season this weekend at Hartford with a postseason berth on the line. It is a unique feeling, however, considering the Seawolves will be fighting for their playoff lives. They sit 1.5 games ahead of Hartford, which means it would take a sweep to fall behind. They entered the year as the overwhelming favorites due to their recent run of succ...

In a rather surprising turn of events, Molloy upset Dowling with a 6-0 shutout, eliminating the Golden Lions from the ECC playoffs in the first round. Dowling, who struggled offensively all season but had terrific pitching, was held to seven hits and their ace, Tyler Badamo, yielded six runs in five innings to drop to 7-4 on the season. Max Schonfeld tossed the complete game shutout, walked none a...