On Saturday, Feb. 20, Shepherd University outfielder Ryan Messina was one of 125 players to be selected to the Tino Martinez Division II Player of the Year Award watch list. Former Shepherd teammate Nathan Minnich won the award two seasons ago.
“It’s a big honor. I’m very happy,” said Messina, the senior left fielder orginially from Long Island, N.Y. “It also brings attention to Shepherd University.” Messina contended that the added exposure could hopefully lead to stronger recruiting in the future. Messina was also a part of the team when Minnich won the award in 2012. He said that he was trying to follow in Minnich’s footsteps by trying to win the award, and winning it would be an “awesome feeling.”
Messina went to Smithtown High School East in New York and originally went to college at the University of Tampa. He transferred to Shepherd during his sophomore year but was happy to make the transition. “It’s definitely a lot colder up here,” he jokingly said.
Messina was coming off a strong season where he was named an All-American. He had a batting average of .444, which ranked third in the nation amongst division two players, and he belted 14 home runs. Despite those numbers, Messina said that those numbers became meaningless when he made the final out of the season because they didn’t win.
Messina, as well as his teammates, spent the summer and fall prepping for the upcoming season and trying to improve their game. He also added that he couldn’t do what he does without his teammates. His success came from them and they will only succeed as a team.
The Rams started off the season 0–3 in the Prestige Appliance Classic; however, the slow start didn’t worry Messina. “We were going against some of the top teams in the country,” he said. “We made some mistakes, but we are just as good, if not better, than those teams.” Messina also said that this was the best team that he has been a part of at Shepherd. His hopes extend beyond just winning the conference. “We’re going to do some damage,” the Long Island native added.
After sitting down and talking to Messina, there are two things that become obvious about him. One is that he is barely swayed by pressure. He goes out in front of major league scouts and can still play at a high level. “I just play the game,” he said, referring to feeling pressure when playing in front of the scouts. The other thing is that he genuinely cares about his teammates. He stressed how important they are, not only to the team, but also to him. He also hopes that one day his other teammates are drafted to teams and that he can play alongside one or more of them.
It is a very realistic possibility that Messina could be drafted. He worked all of his life to get to this point: “I would love to be drafted. I dreamt of it as a kid.” Messina noted that he was born and raised a New York Mets fan and would love to be drafted by them.
Messina is very active in his school work. He is a sports management major and said he hopes to work in either sports marketing or sports advertising. He also mentioned that he would like to manage a pro team.
Messina and the Rams baseball team do not play again until Saturday, March 1 where they have a two-game series at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
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